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Published: April 29th 2014
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Farewell cake!
This is about 4 inches of cream on about a 1 inch cake! They like their cream! Helloooo blogees!
I've been rather slack lately with my blogs but that's because so much has been happening!
I no longer have my personal trainer as he sacked me. Not 'cause I wasn't a worthy client but because he was offered classes in a gym in Danang (the big smoke) and could earn more money. Go figure! So....back to the drawing board. Still riding everywhere as I have no choice. Actually scared to hire a scooter....not because I couldn't ride one (old ladies ride them here!) but because I would probably never jump on a bike again with this heat. I'm nothing if not tenacious! I'll stick with it if it kills me!
Just over a week ago, I finished (sort of) volunteering for Lifestart foundation as I had a friend coming to Hoi An and I wanted to play! I'm still editing translations of Vietnamese correspondence for them but am planning to write an ebook in the next month.....sorry, GOING to write. Don't laugh...seems the thing to do and I need a project! Am thinking it's not going to be a breeze as I am the world's greatest procrastinator. There are always a hundred other
Good bye!
Final farewell at Lifestart! decadent things I could be doing instead eg coffee in town, swim at the beach, bike ride, beer with a friend etc etc but life wasn't meant to be this easy, I'm sure, otherwise more people would be doing it!
I have had one of my best friends, James here for the past week which was great. He arrived with the lovely Mary (from Las Vegas) in tow and we had FUN! We rode everywhere on our deadly treddly's which meant we could drink more (cocktails etc) when we arrived anywhere. Except when we turned up at the river, sitting on plastic stools at plastic tables....all very basic and not a 'fridge or bar in sight and Mary asks for the cocktail menu! Beer or coconut water! Simple choice! She chose wisely...beer!
James hired a scooter after Mary left so we went further afield, dicing with death every kilometer we traveled......and survived! Finally conquered Marble Mountain. What a little gem as far as tourist attractions! We got there early before all the fair dinkum tourists (Chinese, German and French) and experienced much more than they would've .We were actually climbing on all fours at some stages and wondering
Bike ride
James and Mary on ride to Pottery Village. how the f#*# we were going to get back down these tiny little openings high up in the caves but only because we did the Dangerous Route! There were other ways to ascend and descend but because I was too tight to buy a map, we were unaware of them....and besides, when a little old lady with red stained mouth and no teeth tells you where to go, you go! She's still laughing, I bet!
After this, we continued on along the highway past Danang following the beach. We could see a statue on a hill on the peninsula and as luck would have it, we literally stumbled upon the Lady on Monkey Mountain. The 67-meter-high statue of the Bodhisattva of Mercy is on Son Tra Peninsula in Da Nang and dominates the skyline. It's set in beautiful surroundings containing at least 4 (or more) large pagodas and provided killer views. We kept following the coast road and the scenery was spectacular. In any other part of this country, there would have been huts or shanties along the road but we couldn't figure out why there weren't any here. That is until we went further and the road improved
Thu Bon River
View from a "beer garden" and the "guard rails" had cute sculptures of monkeys on them....end of the line was the Intercontinental Hotel. James kept saying that we could've been on the Amalfi Coast for all he knew as it was that special! Also guessed that the Intercontinental got rid of all the pesky little shacks that spoiled the view for their customers. You could see all the young trees and new ground covering where they used to be. We stopped at a "carpark" on the way and went down the cliff to a magical little seafood restaurant. Another lucky find. We were on a roll that day.
Next day we played real tourists. Not as successful though. Went to My Son Temple ruins and was disappointing. Just beat the crowds but a long drive for little value. See...told you I'm a terrible tourist! The most exciting thing was stopping for coffee in a town/village and being hailed as if Wills and Kate had arrived and then, finally arriving home unscathed thanks to my ace driver!
Thought we'd go on a ferry ride to Cham Island on Saturday, so we set off with our bikes and Lisa, another volunteer from USA. Cham Island
is a snorkeling/diving destination which is 15 nautical miles from the mainland and you can see from my beach. Alas, the ferry we caught went all the way to Cam Kim, a carpentry village about 10/15 mins downstream. It was very picturesque and we cycled all the way around in stinking heat. Definitely need that beer when we got back to ferry port.
If you want to come to Hoi An and don't particularly make a good tourist, I can take you places off the beaten track and generally show you how to get lost! And have fun along the way. My services are free.....so far!
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