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Published: December 27th 2008
Once again my apologies for the rubbish description of the last few places. Time constraints and the constant traveling meant that I was unable to keep on top of where and what we have been up to.
So we went left Hoi An and traveled on the public bus to Denang where we caught the train, heading south and into Nha Trang. The train, once again was another 11 hour journey, this time fortunately having soft seats rather than the top bunk of a hard sleeper… to have some space whilst traveling this time was so much better than the 2 foot height of the bunk!
Arriving in Nha Trang at about 9pm we settled into a bar with all of our stuff and waited for all the touts to leave us alone before going in search of a place to stay. Off Lyd trotted and found a lovely place, 5 minutes to the sea front and right near the centre of the town. Perfect.
We spent 3 days walking around Nha Trang, once again, fending off the motorbike touts and saying no to massages, and trying to take in the town. It’s very ‘touristy’, but other than
that it’s a nice place. We headed to the beach where I spent the majority of my time juggling and Lyd soaking up the rays of the sun. Juggling has been a fantastic way to meet the local people. They come over and watch and motion to have a try, so I give them the balls and start trying to cross the language barrier, and begin to teach. If nothing else it makes them smile which is fantastic.
The beach at Nha Trang is quite nice, a long stretch of quite sharp sand and waves that always seem to look fierce. The only downside is that the minute you sit down you are approached by what can only be described as a swarm of human Vietnamese flies trying to sell you drinks, food and massages. After saying no and fending these people away you are well deserved of a lay down and a rest, but like the ever persistent single mosquito in your room at night, they just seem to keep coming back and hovering around trying to sell you stuff.
Whilst in Nha Trang we went to visit the work of a photographer called Long Thanh. His
DMZ Tour
Check the stance, the bag, the shades....cool!work is stunning and captures the Vietnamese ways of life beautifully, I’m so glad we went to see his work, it was some of the best photography I have ever seen.
We also went to the museum of Yersin who was a French scientist and biologist who moved to work in Vietnam. He had a very big hand in the understanding and vaccine of the plague amongst many other achievements, he also became a big hit with the Vietnamese people and has had various streets and buildings named in his honor.
From Nha Trang we caught the bus to Mui Ne. Mui Ne is paradise. No Ifs, no Buts, pure paradise. 6km of white sandy beaches with a fishing village to the north. Everyone here is so chilled and relaxed and very friendly. We booked into our hotel, the ‘Thai Hoa’ which had big range of the very basic to the modern. I feel I have to mention the roof, the bloody thing was thatched! I travel for thousands of miles, over mountains and seas and I still end up sleeping in a house with a thatched roof! Anyway… Understandably we had a basic room, but this time for
Hanoi
Almost got roped into buying an excessive amount of fruit for this....we ran! 3 people as a certain Miss Fran Croney was joining us! Lyd and I spent the day walking around Mui Ne (which is only one road, slightly set back from the beach) and waited for Fran to arrive.
The following day we all got up, walked for about 15 seconds out of the door of our room and onto the beach. I’m not sure how we coped, but we rallied together and pulled through somehow. And the beach is where we stayed. For the day we were lying on the beach and going for a swim in the sea, it’s like a bath! (Minus the salt obviously!) The evening we spent watching the sunset and gazing in pure amazement with the sun producing the most fantastic and wonderful colors as the day slowly got pulled into the night.
We met a wonderful family in Mui Ne who helped us out so much. We found them when looking for bicycles to rent and a friendship grew from there. The family are the Kim Loans who consist of 4 boys a mother and a father. All of the boys are very good English speakers, and make everything so easy with helping
Hanoi
Don't ask! us in our plans. Dũng (pronounced Tung) was so helpful with everything we asked of him, getting him to explain certain Vietnamese cultures to us and providing us with some rope to hang our hammocks! An altogether lovely and helpful family.
One of the days in Mui Ne we spent on the beach and I started juggling, at which point 6 or 7 Vietnamese lads came over and started watching. I held the balls out to a few of the lads to see if they wanted a try, a couple seemed reluctant, but a couple looked as if they wanted to try and I showed them first with 1 ball, then with 2 and then with 3. it was really good fun trying to cross the language barrier and teach them how to do something, but it shows how powerful actions can be and I got one of the lads (who was the most interested) to eventually juggle with 3. It took about an hours worth of trying, but I was so pleased he managed it, I just hope he is able to find 3 stones or tennis balls or something to keep practicing. Whilst all of this was
Mui Ne
Where we stayed in Mui Ne for the first time....note the thatch.... going on I got invited by the eldest guy to come over to where they were having a fire and eat some coconut that they had roasted. It was such an honor to be invited into a Vietnamese gathering and I had a great time with them, laughing and joking with only the very smallest amounts of pigeon English and Vietnamese being passed between us. The coconut was really tasty too, so nice to think that it had come from a tree only 5 meters away and probably only picked within the hour. Fresh as you can get!
After a few days in Mui Ne we decided to spend Christmas there, but not wanting to spend over a week in one place we all decided to head to Da Lat. The honeymoon capital of Vietnam (apparently) and also a very odd collaboration of alpine houses mixed with traditional Vietnamese (thanks lonely planet). We booked tickets and so the following day we jumped on a bus and off we went to Da Lat. The most uncomfortable 4 hours of my life. As it turned out my legs are longer than the distance provided in the seats. This is never usually
a problem, I can put my legs sideways or arrange myself in such away that I make origami look simple. This journey however was different. This journey we had all our bags not being put in the bus hold underneath, but on our laps and in the isle. Again, this is usually fine and I can cope. However, the roads leading to Da Lat are some of the worst I have come across. Pot holes you could have a bath in and humps that would rival even the fattest sleeping policeman. It was like having someone pummel my knees with a block of wood for 3 hours. Anyway…Da Lat is up in the mountains and so was a lot colder than Mui Ne, there were however stunning views as we rose higher and higher.
Now Da Lat is a funny place. We arrived and did the beer trick. Off I went to find a room leaving Fran and Lyd chatting. Walked for about 20 seconds before a hawker jumped out at me and tried bustling me into the hotel. After politely declining a 25usd a night room I went on my ways again and found a cheap and cheerful
Mui Ne
With 2 Spesh kids spoiling a lovely photo! place that would take 3 people in a room, they were however the Vietnamese version of hotel mafia. When coming down in the morning and declining breakfast they asked us “why not?”, when asking to have washing done it was like I had asked if she had enjoyed the way I ran over her cat! All the staff were the same. Blunt, rude and as though we were bother rather than guests. So much for the smile front the manager put on when she showed me the room. Still, it was cheap and we were in Da Lat.
The next day we went for a walk around Da Lat, taking in the surrounding area, going to the local market and seeing what it had to offer, and in short, it had nothing. I’m glad we went, but it isn’t somewhere I would recommend and it isn’t somewhere I will be visiting again. It did have a ‘crazy house’ designed by the Hang Nga, daughter of Ho Chi Minh's predecessor which was quite interesting. But you can’t base a town around a house. I didn’t enjoy the place and was quite glad that Lyd and Fran shared my feelings too.
We went to the bus station and booked a ticket back to Mui Ne (despite knowing I was going to have to face up to another bus journey of knee smashing).
We arrived back in Mui Ne and booked into the Phuong Linnh guest houses, they were basic but provided everything we wanted, and above all else, cheap! This family run place is so homely, so much so that myself, Lyd and Fran all commented on how we felt the landlady had adopted us! She is so sweet, making sure we had everything we wanted and always smiling. She gave us plates to cut fruit we bought on and showed us the correct way of peeling them. We knew we had found a lovely place to stay for Christmas!
The next day we spent checking out the markets for foods we wanted to eat on Christmas day. We found out from Dũng that we were allowed to have a small fire/bbq on the beach which meant we could cook (or rather cremate) some chicken and cook up some veg as Lyd had brought some cooking pots and pans for when we get to Aus and NZ. So the
Mui Ne
Just starting 5 balls now!!!!!! meat was decided upon and the ideas for Christmas were coming together, and then, like in good old English fashion, it rained.
Christmas Day!!!!! Both Lyd and I woke up, got some presents we had bought for each other and went to wake Fran up. We sat outside drinking coffee and opening a small amount of presents and cards which had either been brought by Fran or that we had picked up for each other en route. It was lovely, Mui Ne is such a beautiful place that Christmas felt completely different. Palm trees, sun, the fact that on Christmas day we were sitting outside in shorts and T-shirts! A lovely morning and a great way to start what was going to be a fantastic and memorable day. After our small get together in the morning we headed for the market to buy our stuff: chicken, carrots, green beans, pak choi, onions, garlic (obviously!!!) herbs, potatoes, all the stuff we thought we would need for a great British lunch! Off we trotted home to prep all the veg etc and then onto the beach where we set up camp and began setting up the fire.
Once things seemed
to be burning away nicely and embers were glowing we arranged the grill we bought over the top and put the chicken on to start cooking. We had another smaller fire going for doing the veg and after a while, everything was going fantastically. This was a Christmas I am never going to forget. Once the chicken was thoroughly cooked (burnt) we set about our delightful dinner, along with a bottle of Da Lat wine that Fran had sneakily bought! Bliss!
Just after dinner one of the lads from the juggling (the eldest I think) came over with another coconut which he put into the fire and sat with us whilst it roasted away. It was so nice that he wanted to come over and chill with us, not even knowing who we were and without the ease of communication. Once cooked he stripped the shell off and offered it around, again, such a wonderful taste to it. He then pointed at a tree and mimed drinking. We weren’t entirely sure as to what he meant, so like usual, we agreed. He stood up and walked over to a coconut tree, I followed at which point he took off
Nha Trang
Possibly the most pathetic dog ever his sandals and shot up the tree. No rope, or fall protection or anything, just straight up a tree that must have been similar in height to a 2 story house. At the top he picked and dropped down 3 coconuts, following close behind as he slid back down the trunk. It was a fantastic sight to see, like nothing I had ever seen before, so quick and so effortless. It made you realise that for these guys, climbing a tree and picking its fruit is as usual for them as going to the supermarket is for us!
He then spent the next 5 minutes showing me how to peel the green outer layer and break the top off so that you can drink the water. I have never had coconut water straight from the nut before and didn’t realise that there was so much inside. Easily a good couple of litres, and so pure and tasty!
This guy (we couldn’t even find out his name!) stayed around for a while but eventually got up to leave. He pointed at us as he did and mimed being asleep, drew a house into the sand and pointed at himself. Then
waved at his hand to follow him. We could only think that he was asking if we had a place to stay, if not we could sleep at his (might have been something completely different however!). We did have a place to stay but it was so amazing that he offered. No Conversation, but so kind in the process.
That evening we were also joined by another passing Vietnamese bloke who we hadn’t seen before, he sat with us and laughed at how we couldn’t communicate. We offered him fruit and coconut (!) and even a beer which he accepted. This was to turn out to be a really funny evening. As if from nowhere this man’s wife appeared and gave him a massive verbal spanking! We knew he was being told off by her body language, you can travel to wherever in the world, speak little or none of the language and still understand when a guy is getting torn into by his girlfriend! He reluctantly got up, waved goodbye with a cheeky smile and followed her back home. Lyd, Fran and myself found this brilliant! We were then chatting and laughing as the evening went on, keeping
the fire topped up with palm tree leaves and coconut shells when from out of nowhere the same guy appeared! Again, another cheeky smile and looking really anxious and paranoid, looking over his shoulder all the time and into the woodland area from where he came from. He sat with us for a while longer, all of us eating more fruit and drinking some more when he stopped, looked into the woods, and ran off. We looked into the woods and saw a figure moving in the shadows. About 5 minutes later an extremely bright torch was shone upon us, it was the guy’s wife, again! She spent the next 10 minutes with the torch combing over the beach to try and find her husband and give him more of the verbal lashings as before! He had scarpered, was nowhere to be seen and we didn’t see him again!
We packed up at this point and headed home for some well earned sleep. It was a lovely day and like I said before, a Christmas day I am never going to forget!
The following day we headed into Ho Chi Minh City a 6 hour bus journey away
from Mui Ne, which is where I am now. Haven’t done anything here yet so nothing to report at the moment.
Hope everyone is well.
Much love and I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.
xx
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Amy Llewellyn
non-member comment
Merry Belated Christmas
Hi Graz and Lyd, Thanks for your latest travelling update and photo's.... so pleased to hear you are safe and enjoying your trip so far. I hope you both had a lovely Christmas - certainly seems that you did! Lots of love, Ames and Rob xxx