Lovely Jubbely

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Hue was pretty damn nice... we were there one full day during which we rented (ancient) city bikes - the kind that make you sit up really straight and feel like you're in some old black and white film.. So anyway, getting to the point - we took these rusty piles of scrap and cycled to the imperial city. These are the remains of the government centre of Vietnam which were pretty much destroyed in the TET offensive. We wandered around them taking various photographs (we thought we'd spice them up a bit by trying to act out animals instead of just standing and smiling - we got fairly odd looks due to shouting out such things as 'you're a snake' and 'you're a guinea pig' - but they make entertaining photos!)

anyway, we then cycled to a pagoda which was allegedly 4 km down the river - we have both agreed that this was a total lie. humph. We charmed the bicycle park man into halving the price from 4000 dong to 2000 dong (a saving of approx 10p which we were very pleased with ourselves for..hmm..). The pagoda was lovely, however, this was the day that we discovered the 'flower' setting on our cameras. Therefore, although we do have photos of the pagoda, the vast majority are of the flowers in the garden. Not so interesting but we were very happy with ourselves about that too.

The following day we caught the bus to Hoi An, a little further down the coast. That place is crazy. The second you arrive you get dragged by your hostel people to a big market where they hand you a Next mail order magazine and tell you to pick what you like. Once you do that they drag you to see materials and before you know it they're trying to strip your clothes off to measure you for all the stuff you have supposedly agreed to buy. So we left with 3 pairs of trousers, 2 skirts, 1 pair of shorts, 2 bikinis and 2 pairs of shoes. On our way back we were talking about how awful we felt about spending so much money (all that cost about 30 pounds) when we noticed a little shop with some nice skirts in the window. We promptly went in and got measured up for 2 more. (I can practically hear dad sigh as I type this! - Heloise)
This had all been so stressful that the next day we hired (slightly sturdier) bikes and cycled to the nearby beach!

That night we took the nightbus to Nha Trang, a short 13 hour trip in a packed bus. I (Heloise) don't like to complain, but at this point I must take a minute to rant! The buses hoot their horn constantly. I wouldnt have thought that this would be so annoying, but by the end of these trips my nerves shatter and every hoot of the horn practically brings me to tears! A small summary of when they hoot:
1. before corners, just to warn other drivers they are coming (this makes sense when you think that they drive on the wrong side of the road all the time anyway)
2. when overtaking (drivers around here are quite erratic, so even though we are in a whopping bus that can be heard/smelt from miles away, honking seems a necessity)
3. when they see their friends in other cars (this excites them...a lot)
4. when happy (or any other extreme emotion come to think of it)
5. when they see something move within a 20 mile radius of the roadside
and many more points..
Just the other day, Laura was wondering at what age kids can start driving motorbikes when an 8 year old passed us on his... do they have driving tests?! We dont like to think about the answer to this too much.

We arrived in Nha trang at about 7 am and after deskankifying ourselves we headed to the beach... This beach was the nicest thing we have ever seen.So blue and the water so warm! we stood there for a good 5 minutes, shattered from the journey, looking horrible and feeling so unworthy of this amazing sea! we jumped right in, but the waves were far stronger than previously thought so we just ended up being thrown back onto the beach in manner of beached whale, and having our already sunburnt skin 'exfoliated' by the sand - ouch! Future attempts at sea entry were more successful!

So now we get to today...This morning we caught the bus to Dalat, a mountain town. On the bus, Laura got inundated by some massive Vietnamese family (kids, granny and all) while Heloise sat next to some Canadian who spent the vast majority of the journey trying to convince her that gem smuggling out of South America was the way forward... right then. This place has the craziest hotel - it's designed as some sort of fairy land and the rooms all have themes - giant ants, a kangaroo, a crocodile. It's hard to explain but we want houses like that when we're older (or younger?!)/richer/want to live in a fairground.

We leave to go to Saigon tomorrow... another bus, yay!

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Comments

[Olly]

Dong?!
Is this really the currency? I don't know how you haven't managed to not laugh yourselves to death if so... The last time someone asked me to pay them in dong... well lets not go there. Great to hear your enjoying yourselves and although it is concerning to hear that Heloise has a bizarre knack of attracting utter weirdos, the thought of you guys acting as snakes and guinea pigs absolutely makes it better again. Ooh and heloise I got your facebook note... why are you talking about me, you vixens!! x x x

[Jan]

Hehe this is great there's photos again! Well in the previous blog anywho. Back in leafy Surrey atm writting diss, Mum Dad and Ant say hi Lauz. Might you be in Cambodge now? As for wierdos I reckon they make a holiday to be honest, well it must pass the time on the long bus journeys! Proud of the cycling efforts. Am off to Dorset for conservation this weekend so will send an email sometime next week. Your Blog brightened up what was another boring evening. Jan x

[Emily]

hello
just thought i would say hi again.. sounds like your still having alot of fun. sounds like you have some crazy bus drivers though! haha! once again.. im in my IT lesson lol. hope your well.. xxxx