Vietnam March 12 ++

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March 12

Well Nam was right on time so right after i finished breaky we were on our way. First stop was marble mountains. Like everwhere else it was absolutely beautiful place. They had carved large budas in side caves in the mountain out of marble. Needless to say most the these caver were quite large and intricate as well. One of the caves you could climb through and end up on the top of the mt. Which of course had spectacular views of near by china beach. Then the last cave was massive, you could have fit a small office building in there. It was really huge. They had also built a few temples on the mt as well which were quite impressive. Once i finished up there i hopped back on the bike and we headed to some remote waterfalls. The waterfall itself was a small stream but it rolled down probably 15meters of rock so it was quite beautiful. There was a decently sized pool at the bottom that you could swim in. I had it all to my self for about 20 mins it was really amazing. The surrounding scenery was beautiful jungle. Then some local boys showed up and were playing around and showed me you could side down part of the waterfall and then jump off some rocks in to the pool as well. It was really cool. I spent around a hour just taking it all in. Then Nam and i carried on by this time i was ready for some food. We stopped at a small local place where i choked down to different noodle soups. After lunch we were on the road again beautiful scenery along the way, jungle mountains they were so green so much vegetation it was crazy. However it was a bit of a bummer it was hazy/foggy but it gave it a mystical feel to it. Along the way we stopped at a few local villages. Which was truly amazing. Because apparently these people have their own language and only the younger people speak both Vietnamese and their language. But the coolest thing was how friendly they were. Nam said i could just walk around anywhere in and out of their houses. So the first village i felt a lil weird walking in houses so i just looked in doors and windows. It was especially weird because the owners were generally out front doing some sort of work. Every village i went to people were saying hi, waving and staring at me. The local kids were particular excited to see a white person so they would follow in step behind me. It was so cool and they were so cute. One of the villages in particular was really amazing because the locals kids followed me for a while then they "told" me to follow them. So we trekked up this little stream to a small cascade where they all stripped down and jumped in this small crack pool in the rocks. Then were headed up a bit further to another pool where again the were going nuts jumping all over the place and would shout "hello" to get my attention before they did their jump so i could record them. It was a really awesome experience. I have been stared at before mainly because of my eyes and blond hair but not given this much attention it was really neat. Even as we were driving by road construction sites there were young workers screaming "hello" and waving. I felt like a rock star. It was so cool. Besides being so friendly many of the women were absolutely gorgeous. Real native beauty like many of the women of south America, very exotic looking. Then when i walked by one house the guy yelled and mimed me to come in to his house which was about the size of a college dorm room with bamboo floor. So i kicked off my shoes and sat down on the floor with him and his friend. They offered me some rice wine which i tasted and it super super strong, like rubbing alcohol. Then the one man i think kept trying to ask me things but i had no idea what he was saying so we all just wound up laughing. It was really amazing as well. As poor as these people are they are they have a rich view. They lived in beautiful valleys in the mountains absolutely spectacular. After a few stops like this we ended in a small village where we set up for the night. I walked around the village/town and again had kids following me one spoke a bit of english. Then Nam and i had dinner and went off to bed.

March 13

Today's view was absolutely amazing even more beautiful then yesterday. Its a shame it was still a bit foggy/misty (i dont think the photos will come out well and do it justice) but it was awesome. Every turn was more amazing then the previous i never new what was coming around the corner. Today's trip was much like yesterday stopping at villages along the way. I took millions of photos of the cute native kids and even got some of the elderly people. Along the way we stopped at a pineapple farm which was on the side of a mountain. It was amazing because they didn't use terraces like most other farmers would they just planted on the natural slope of the mountain. We stopped a bit further up the road where i got to taste one the the pineapples. Probably the freshest i will ever have however, i think they are much better in central America. They are much sweeter down there. We also stopped at another village that was harvesting cinnamon which is bark. Nam either bought me some or the guys just gave it to him but it was really good cinnamon and i chewed on bits of it through out the day. As we were driving we came to a few places where the road was washed out by mud slides and they were doing construction. At one point i had to get off the bike and walk and he got pushed through the mud.
Along the journey Nam asked if id like to walk a while to take in the sites a bit more. I said "sure." So i hopped off the bike and Nam took off. My first thought "um my driver just took off and left me in the middle of no where Vietnam" haha but i walked about a K on the road taking photos along the way and there was Nam waiting for me. It was pretty cool, beautiful scenery. Nam managed to find me dog to eat today. So for a mid morning snack we went to a small local place where i had 2 dog dishes. It really wasn't that bad. It tasted a bit like pork but the fat was a bit chewier probably because you dont have to cook it as long as a pig. But i didnt eat to much of it i just wanted to try it. We had a few more stops along the way, a massive tunnel and then a local hot spring which was really cool because who would have thought there would be hot springs in the middle of no where Vietnam. It started to rain on us but it was only for the last 15 mins or so of our ride. We warmed up showered up and then went out for some candle light dinner because the power went out haha.

March 14
Unfortunately today was rainy and cold. So we only did a few stops in small villages where i walked quickly through. Nam knew i wanted to try snake or geko. He manged to find a place that we thought i was gonna get snake but they only had gekos. Alright game on. I got to see the geko before hand and most of the cooking process. It was a little sad seeing the guy before hand. He was pretty large about the size of your forearm. But he tasted pretty good, a bit bony but not bad. It was a white slightly chew meat. It tasted like like a white fish but no fishy taste. I wont get into any more details for the queezy readers sake.
We mad it to Hue about mid day so that was kind of a bummer i had to pay for a full day when we only drove half day. My other quam with it was Nam didn't talk to much not even small talk. It would have been nice to get some history lessons or something along the way but i think he has been doing it to long, something like 14 years and probably is a bit tired of the same old things. Even so i think it was worth it. All because of the children in the villages and the beautiful views. Although it is kind of a bummer that ever one said you have to do one of these highland tours to see the real Vietnam because everything is so touristy. Which is true but you could go down to South America and get the same thing by just hopping on a local bus. But whatever.
Anyway i walked around Hue a bit trying to find a good tour to check out the DMZ zone and as i was looking in one of the cafe/tour offices i look up and saw Swiss Matt that i had meet down in HCM. So i went in and we wound up chatting all day and walking around the citadel in the city. He already had booked a DMZ tour for tomorrow so i booked the same one so we could hang out. The citadel was pretty cool apparently again much was destroyed by the wars but parts of it were pretty cool. Most of the town used to live inside and there were actually 2 citadels inside the main large one and it was even surround by a moat. After we walked around we grabbed some dinner together then headed to bed since we had a 6 am tour in the morning.

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