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Published: December 14th 2006
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Utilizing the road
Drying of coconut and rice along the side of the road Sun 19th: Left Hue early to head down to Hoi An. The scenery was absolutely beautiful....lush green and heavily forested hills interspersed with rice paddies and quaint villages with traditional timber houses. At Da Nang we visited the Cham Museum which I found interesting but others found as boring as watching paint dry...full of sandstone carvings of old Hindu gods 'n' goddesses. Stopped off at Marble Mountain and climbed Water Mountain to have a squizz at the view over China Beach and also the caves which contain many Buddhas. Went for a walk on China Beach and each one of us was accompanied by one of the locals. Mine was a 12 year girl with really good Englis. However, as in the rest of Vietnam you are always wondering either "What do they want?" or "How much will this cost me?". The guiding ended up costing me approx $2 so I can't really complain although it can be annoying. Hopped on our bikes for the trip down to Hoi An....a world heritage listed place. What a pretty little town it is. Lots of tailors who will rustle up an outfit, suit or any clothing in a matter of hours!!
Mon
20th: Spent the day cycling around the countryside around Hoi An. What a magical way of viewing the countryside. Rode through villages even cars would have had difficulty accessing, kids running out of houses yelling "Hello, Hello" or laughing when I said hello in Vietnamese or then wanting to 'high 5' us as we cycled past. Past through areas of rice paddies, veggie growing, fishing, water buffalo wallowing in the water/mud, fishermen mending their boats. Jumped on board a wooden boat for the trip back to Hoi An. It was a magical 1.5 hours on the river. The evening was spent at a Vietnamese cooking class then eating what we had cooked. All very yummy.
Tue 21st: Sadly, we departed Hoi An...on our bikes. I loved Hoi An and would've like to have spent more time there. Again we past through some stunning backroad countryside - rice paddies, farmers ploughing fields with wooden ploughs pulled by water buffalo. Travelled through villages where cotton weaving was done. After 35 very hot but fantastic km we jumped on the bus for our trip to Quy Nhon. Stopped off at Son my (better known as My Lai) to view the ruins and
pay respect to those killed in the My Lai Massacre in 1968. 504 villagers were shot down by the U.S. who thought the villagers were harbouring V.C. A very moving experience. Met one of the survivors of the massacre...an 81 y.o. womean who goes there every day to tend to the site. All her family were killed. Quy Nhon for the night. They are keen for tourists but they will need to clean up the beach before tourists come in any great numbers. Rob 'n' I were walking along when we came upon human faeces all over the beach. That's the point we turned around and went back to the hotel.
Wed 22nd: Another early start on the bikes to try an beat some of the heat of the day. Travelled approx. 35 km this time before getting onto the bus for Nha Trang. Lovely scenery again...past neverending ricepaddies interspersed with villages set amongst coconut palma and tropical bushes, kids running out to greet us, manouvering around herds of goats and cattle wandering along the road at various points. The Vietnamese seem to utilize every square cm of land. If they're not farning it they're use it to dry
Livestock
Pigs being carried in a basket on the back of a bike. Vietnamese carry anything and everything on their bikes their crops, set up stalls to sell whatever, sit on the side of the road and cook their food. As we got closer to Nha Trang the scenery started to change becoming hillier with giant boulders strewn about.
Thur 23rd: Cycle-free day today. The morning was spent on a boat again going around the islands which dot Nha Trang Harbour. Beautiful day spent exploring a fishing village with a local guide then sailing, swimming, eating more seafood before heading back to Nha Trang mid-arvo. Dropped off my memory card from my camera to be downloaded onto CD. Got it back with 2/3 of my photos missing....both on the CD and the Memory card!! Heaven knows what they did but when questioned blamed my memory card! Will wait until we are in Saigon to see if any photos can be retrieved/restored so there won't be too many photos on this entry.
Fri 24th: On our bikes agoin for a long ride out of Nha Trang heading towards Dalat. It was a hard ride today not only because of the heat/humidity but also because it was a little hilly. However, I managed to do the leg without piking out and
Cham Tower
Cham tower at Phan Rang on the way to Dalat getting on the bus!! Again beautiful scenery and the close to Dalat we got the hillier it became. Lots and lots of rice paddies again with coconut palms 'n' villages. Went to see a Buddhist temple in Dalat. Dalat is a very pretty town set 15oo metres above sea evel so the change in temperature was a blessing after the heat and humidity previously.
Sat 25th: On our bikes for a ride into the country to visit one of the minority groups in the Dalat area...the Lat people. Very interesting village but like everywhere else the locals keen to sell us stuff. The ride there was extremely beautiful but very tiring as it was up 'n' down hills. Dalat grows most of Vietnam's veggies and flowers and also has a big wine growing area. Have sampled the local produce and it's not too bad.
We leave here tomorrow For Siagon...a very early start as it is 300+ km and the speed limit for buses is only 60 kph. So, catch ya all soon.
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