Coastal Vietnam

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Coastal Vietnam…Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue

So were off to the coast to get away from the miserable weather of HCMC. Well that was how we planned it but unfortunately as usual, things just didn’t quite work out that way. Now I must say the open tour bus ticket that we bought did not disappoint. We had opted for the cheaper seated bus tickets instead of the sleeper bus, but for our journey to Nha Trang we had a sleeper anyway at no extra cost. Nice one! Maybe this was a sign of things to come. Our journey to Nha Trang was uneventful and having arrived there we got checked into the first guesthouse we could see and headed off on our usual adventures to take in our surroundings. Bars, restaurants and very little else it would seem. Yup, just like HCMC. However, as we do like to eat as much as possible and drink more or less in the same fashion, we were not overly disappointed. We decided that as it was getting late we would head out for some grub and a wee drink, and go find the beach in the morning, or afternoon depending on volume of drink consumed.

Searching for somewhere to eat wasn’t a problem as the streets were packed with restaurants. However, we did draw the line with some places. A lot of the establishments served more than what we are used to. Its not uncommon to find a menu with chicken, pork, dog, turtle, snake, beef and so on. Now this is common practice in Vietnam, so we just try to avoid these restaurants as we don’t want to promote the culling of poor wee turtles, and we don’t want to eat food from a pan that had a snake fried in it either really. We eventually settled on somewhere, possibly the most posh place of our journey so far, bar the night we went out for Chloe’s birthday of course. Our every need was tended to and we even got a free local cocktail thrown into the bargain just for good measure. Feeling pleasantly plump, we headed off in search of the local Bia Hoi. These little bars can be found throughout Vietnam but are usually limited to just a few per town and are often quite hard to find. Famed for their super cheap beer we got ourselves seated, next to a Norse sailor no less. One 2ltr jug of beer for a dollar Wilsy and I are happy as can be as Chloe takes wee sips out of her beer, due to the unfortunate fact that bia hoi’s generally only serve beer and precious little else. Having heard a few tales from the burly tattooed Norwegian, we let the drink get the better of us and headed off to another bar. Wilsy ordered a coconut cocktail, and was surprised to find he had to drink it out of a coconut. Come on now Wilsy, were you expecting a glass! Pretty drunk we entered a pool competition, I won it due to Wilsy’s expertise at setting me up!, and we won a bottle of rum. After that other things happened that shall be censored simply because none of us actually remember. I believe we met some French people and went to another bar, got random motorbikes home and back a couple of times, and got lost. But who knows, it was fun anyway.

Now as I had mentioned in the last entry, Nha Trang is meant to be ’the fun zone of Vietnam and a haven for holiday makers. However we woke up to miserable weather the next day, and it never let up. We visited the beach one rainy day and it looked like it may have been quite nice. It went for miles, with big straw parasols and a really nice view. There was also a cable car that ran from the mainland to an island, which was barely visible due to the stinking weather. Unfortunately as it had been fashing down with torrential rain the water was a muddy brown. It seemed our plan for topping up the tan had been foiled by the weather. We stayed for a couple more days in hope that the weather would improve but it got much worse. One evening we got caught in a downpour that literally flooded the roads. We were up to our ankles in rainwater, with no raincoats, trying to read a map to find our way home. Quite funny really, but not the holiday we had planned for. This did give us time however to do a wee bit of present shopping and we picked up a few bargains.

Onwards and upward we decided. Nha Trang hadn’t worked out for us but the weather forecast suggested ‘the sun had its hat on and he’s coming out to play’ further up the coast (still not sure what that means but Chloe says it when the sun comes out). Next stop Hoi An (not to be confused with Hanoi which we shall visit later). Again we were loaded onto a sleeping bus for the journey despite having paid for a seated one. Nice one! This was more like it. The weather began to pick up a wee bit though it was still cloudy it wasn’t raining as much. Hoi An is the perfect example of Vietnams yesteryear. Influenced by Chinese, Japanese and Europeans over the years, the old town still remains as it did hundreds of years ago. The streets are all very narrow, barely accommodating a couple of passing bikes, and the cafes and niche shops line the streets giving a perfect setting for an evening stroll. It also has a beach 6km away so we were hopeful that providing the weather improved, we may get a shot at sunbathing before we get home.

We checked into a guesthouse associated with the company we had bought our bus ticket from. Half hour later we were checking out. Wilsy had give them some laundry to wash, realised he had left his wallet in his jeans and went out to reception to get it. 50 Aus dollars had mysteriously disappeared from his wallet. We kicked up an awful fuss, the manager gave the cleaner a bollocking, and we left safe in the knowledge that despite the thieving bastard cleaner stealing 50dollars, they had lost a lot more in what we would have ate, drank and spent on sleeping there. Not to worry, an early morning beer was had to calm the nerves and we got checked into a cheaper, nicer guesthouse in the centre of town. Chloe and I went for a wander towards the river which runs by the old town, in search of a cheap restaurant the lonely planet guidebook had suggested. A simple matter of crossing the wee bridge to the other side of the river, a drink and some food, then home. However, the streets had been flooded. It was so funny. The river had burst its banks and flooded the streets either side of it (that wasn’t the funny bit as I’m sure some poor wee Vietnamese peoples’ shops and pubs were flooded), prompting wee old women to get their boats ready in anticipation for the tourists who would want to get down the street for a dollar. Kids stood at the edge of the water on the street pushing tourists through the water on bicycles to get them to the boat so they could go down the street. Me and Chloe had a better plan. So off with the shoes and in we went. The flood water was only up to our knees, but as we got closer to the river there was a bit of a current. Not to be deterred, we eventually got onto the partially submerged bridge and made it to the other side safe in the knowledge that we had saved ourselves a dollar. We stopped off at a wee bar where all the locals were drinking their Vietnamese tea waiting for the rain to stop no doubt. It turns out the flooding had run off from the mountains due to the rain we had got caught up in at Nha Trang. We played some cards and two little girls watched on in wonderment at us strange folk and poked us and tickled us until we took photos of them. They were very cute but kept giving away what cards I had in my hand by showing Chloe the same cards in a deck that they had went and got…grrrr! We eventually waded our way back home to make our plans for the next day.

Its been a while from we dared to hire bicycles, since the fiasco we had on Magnetic Island in Aus for those of you who have been keeping up with our antics. However the weather had improved, it was sunny and we wanted to find the beach. 10,000 dong (60cents) each and we had 3 bicycles for the day. Under normal circumstances a 15km round trip wouldn’t appeal to us but it was all pretty flat going so we had a quite enjoyable journey. We parked up our bikes beside Cu Dai beach and were hit with near gale force winds as the sea battered the beach…DOH! Not to worry, we had a wander about anyway, a wee drink, some cards and then cycled off home again. It was a shame as the beach was quite nice, only far to chilly to be sunning ourselves on. Back into the town we cycled a different direction to check out some Japanese tombs. Heading out a main road we are ushered over by a dodgy looking bloke on the side of the road with a rickety old sign reading ‘Japanese Tombs’. Unsure but undeterred we followed him down an embankment cycling in between flooded fields. No doubt this flood bank was not designed for bicycles, possibly a dirt bike but certainly not our old clapped out bicycles. He led us to a tomb and invited us to do some ritualistic prayer with incense, and then it came…donation please. We were ready for this as this always is the case at tombs and shrines. But we knew he would be pocketing it so kindly donated a minimal amount, thanked him and went on our way, dreading that he may push us into the water as we made our way back across the narrow walkway to our bikes. He did take a couple of photos of us so it was fine. As for the tomb itself, we don’t have much to report. Some Japanese emperor was buried there who had cam to Hoi An many a day ago. That’s about all the information the wee man saw fit to give us for our 10,000 dong donation. Content with our day site seeing we headed for home.

Hoi An is regarded as the best place in Vietnam for tailor made clothing. So me and Chloe promptly checked our finances, done many a calculation and decided that we would have up to and not a cent more than 100 Aus Dollars to spend on some tailor made goodies. We had always planned on getting something in Bangkok but we thought lets do it here as Bangkok is a bit cheap backpacker style and we may not get the quality we would expect for our whole 100 dollars! With probably about fifty tailors in town it was difficult to chose so we opted for one that looked professional, and still within our budget. So Chloe was to get herself a nice warm winter jacket in anticipation of the colder climates of home, and I would have a fitted suit complete with a few ties in hope that it will help me land a job when I get home. All measured up, styles and colours picked and we were happy as can be. We would have liked to get more as it was so cheap but we remained calm, and left the shop having stayed within our budget. Another day in Hoi An to adventure around brought no new delights so we made arrangements for our next stop, Hue.

Only a short 3 hour bus journey to the next stop, this would be an easy ride. This time we had a seated bus and it was a disaster. Very uncomfortable and a bit shoddy all round. But it got us there anyway. Stepping off the bus at Hue, we felt like we had just landed back home. It was bloody freezing. Well I’m sure it was 15degrees at the very least but for us it hit hard. We hadn’t travelled that much further up the coast but the temperature had certainly dropped. On with the jeans and hoodies immediately and the warmest socks we could find…..we are going to be useless when we get home if we cant hack these temperatures. Tombs and a large citadel form the basis of Hues tourism, but this was not a big draw to us anymore. Nearing the end of our adventure, we no longer felt the urge to visit historically significant attractions. We wanted sun and sea. We would simply use Hue as a stopover before making our way to Halong Bay for our much anticipated Junk Boat cruise. We just wandered about and relaxed for a couple of days. However I’ll brief you on a couple of the highlights in what was quite an uneventful couple of days. We grabbed a munch in a restaurant that was described as being run by two gregarious sisters. This place was quite funny, serving up good cheap food in big portions with those two sisters making conversation and having a laugh with us. Still not totally sure what gregarious actually means, we were safe in the knowledge that from now on when we heard the word, a wee picture of these two characters would be in our heads.

Not wanting to spend much money drinking in bars, but still craving a good old drink, we bought a bottle of rum which cost all of 1 quid! from the same place, had a wee glass each there over a few games of cards and then retired home to polish off the remains of the bottle between the 3 of us. Now, at this point I would like to make it clear that none of us were drunk but we were a little tipsy/sleepy…..well that my excuse. So while watching TV I dropped my glass on the floor, tried to catch it, I broke and I slice my hand open. Only a wee slice mind you but enough to bleed for a couple of days and merit some stitches. Chloe patched it up and after many a bloody bandage it eventually healed up after a few days. Well, as I said it was all quite uneventful in Hue. Wrapped up warm and ready for colder days ahead, our next stop was to be Hanoi. I’ll wrap things up here and pass back to Chloe for the final chapter in our adventure. Next stop Hanoi and Halong Bay…followed by a wee wrap up of our journey and what lies ahead for us. Thanks for reading folks.

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Photos

Japanese tomb
Paying respect with some incense

Lizards & Scorpions & Such
Used in wine we believe but we didnt fancy trying it