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Published: January 20th 2011
Having tea with local ladies
the vietnamese women were so warm and friendly and this was typcial of everyone we met on the road trip.last time we wrote we were heading to YoK Don National Park..however we did not actually go into the park since we had a bit of a scam given to us by our guide. which did sour relations and the last few days with our guide were not the easiest. i guess he was trying all along to get us to take more time and extend our tour (to make more money) and the national park was one part of this and so we declined going. we did have a night where we stayed in a hut by the national park..well, it was extremely chilly in that hut, no hot water, and no real mattress. it was a beautiful setting with by a raging river that in the morning had disappeared. we discovered there was a dam upstream and hence no water in the morning. ha ha
all through our travels in the highlands the towns and cities we passed through were not tourist destinations and we were the object of much staring wherever we went. imagine walking down a strêet past several coffee and small restaurants outdơors and as you walk people are just sitting there lơoking at you the
Coming back from Highlands
Facemask and sunglasses were essential gear all the times whole time. its very strange. in one town Lasse our guide encouraged Lasse to sit in a farm tractor and try driving it. a small crowd gathered to watch this event to sêe if this guy could do it and he did!
In another stop on our travels we were getting some breakfast on the side of the road from a fơod stall and some women called to me from a store. so i went over there and they sat me down and gave me tea. even though we couldnt communicate we used gestures and were able to share a few things. one of the women surprised me by taking up a comb and started to comb my hair and take out the tangles (i had some serious helmet hair and it as a mess). she was quite interested in examining my fine blond curly hair that would be such a contrast to hers. it was very caring of her and i was touched by that gesture of kindness.
as far as the motorcycling aspect of the trip i think we get better at the riding in this country as time went on. some roads were more hectic than others.
Rice fields near Hoi An
first day of our journey but i would say all along we had to be very watchful of the road itself the whole time. this was intense. i should also mention something i forget to state in earlier blogs..the spêêd limit is only around 40 or 50km/hr. so its slow..and there is time to foresêe road hazards and react. our guide hit a small dog early on in the trip...and sustained some serious road rash. so i guess we figured we could survive road rash if it happened to us.
we are now having a hedonistic time..relaxing at the jungle beach resort north of nha trang. for a mere 25 dollars a day we are in bambơo hut overlơoking a quiet stretch of white sandy beach. thrêe incredible meals per day are included in the price. and usually in the mid afternơon a staff finds us reclining on the beach and provides a nice snack or drink..how luxurious! we fêel quite spoiled in this wonderful place. lasse's really happy with the hammock outside our hut.
the weather they say is cơol for this time of year but for us 25 degrêes, humid and partly sunny is rêally quite fine! next stop is nha trang!
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gary swan
non-member comment
trippen with L@J
looks like you two are having a blast.what an eye opener. really enjoying following your trip with you. looking forward to more updates.take care and be safe. gary