Blogs from Binh Dinh, South Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia

A long day starting at 7 am with a 6 hr bus trip to cover some 300 kms through the central part of Vietnam with a planned afternoon 60 km ride to our overnight stay at the Seagull Hotel in the coastal city of Quy Nhom. However the weather gods turned against us. While the whole country seems awash with water today was our first wet riding day with heavy showers all day. I would never consider riding in such conditions at home but off we set with our $0.50 plastic poncho's riding in potholed & flooded roads. By 22 kms with a winter night setting in early under grey sky's we came to a soon to be impassable section of flooded road & we obviously needed to turn back. Despite the rain it was still ... read more

Ooo early start this morning to catch the 5:30 bus to Quy Nhon which sounds like "wee'd on" when locals say it. We woke the kids up and rolled them into a taxi before first light. We hopped onto a 24 seater bus (which the lady that booked the tickets tried to talk me out of) and were shouted at to take the raised back seat (a little nervous making with 2 small kids). Our drivers attitude to braking, swerving and generally bullying other road users off the road added to the tension but I've perfected the art of holding two babies. The drive was really interesting through rice paddies, banana plantations, mountains and small towns. There was plenty of interesting sights from drying rice and rice paper to herding ducks. There was also a large ... read more

Wir fuhren von Nha Trang direkt nach Quy Nhon. Die Strasse war meist gut, jedoch voller LKWs, welche zum Teil echt gefährlich fuhren. Die LKW's fuhren am Abend mit Blendlicht, schnell und rücksichtslos. Die Velofahrer haben keine Lichter und die Fussgänger laufen einfach auf der Strassenseite und die Strassen sind meistens nicht beleuchtet, also SEHR GEFÄHRLICH! In Quy Nhon, wo Verwandte väterlicherseits von Vy wohnen, gibt es eigentlich nichts zu sehen und es hat überhaupt keine Touristen. Trotzdem ist es eine coole Stadt, gerade weil sie so ursprünglich vietnamesisch ist und irgendwie trotzdem modern sein will. So gibt es Karren, welche von kleinen Pferden durch die Stadt gezogen werden. Daneben gibt es grosse Supermärkte, wie man sie bei uns in Europa kennt und man auch Europäische Sachen kaufen kann (dazu später). Auch ganz gut waren jeweils ... read more

So myself and Vinny left Hoi An at the ungodly hour of 6am, when all of Vietnam seemed to be out and about! Vinny got his vietnamese breakfast roll while I naively thought that the bus would make stops along the way as it was a five hour bus journey to Quy Nhon, a fishing town on the coast half way between Hoi An and Nha Trang. No such luck, we were bet onto a small minibus and off we went for probably the strangest bus journey I've been on (so far!). First of all, the horn on the bus was broken and as anyone who has been to Asia will know, the horn is as important for navigating the roads as the steering wheel! But that didn’t stop them, as one guy was given the ... read more

Suzanne here... On to another beach town, but Quy Nhon has none of the facilities or tourist trappings of Nha Trang. Surprising really as there is a large stretch of sandy beach. Still, we were ready for something a bit more 'local' and less touristy. Budget hotels were few and far between, so we decided to splurge. We chose the 4* Saigon Quynhon. At £30 it was about three times what we'd usually pay. Might sound cheap to those back in England, but we're on a budget. Still, we decided it was worth it on this occasion. The hotel was not the most luxurious we've ever stayed in, but certainly one of the best on this trip (not counting the Saigon apartments of course). The room was large, modern and clean, and had sea view. It ... read more