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Published: July 12th 2007
So it's proved to be nearly impossible to keep up with this whole blogging thing. It requires a lot of time to write down as much as we've been doing. I am doing my best to keep everyone posted. If you didn't get an email from me about my photos, then you can check them all out at http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=167380197/a=33941537_33941537/t_=33941537
Anyway, after a delightful bus ride we arrive in Hoi An, a tine little town about two miles from the beach. Hoi An is famous for inexpensive tailored clothes. They had some amazing things, but I wasn't in the mood to carry a replica Prada dress around for four months. I think I'm going to go back to Hoi An for vacation with an empty suitcase and have a new wardrobe tailored.
When we got there we found a really nice guest house that almost reminded me of a nice Mexican hotel. The price was the same as Hanoi ($3 each) and we had a cool balcony. Right away we dropped off our bags and went and rented mopeds for the two days we were spending there. Right away, being true to myself, I ate shit. Don't worry, I wasn't even moving. The bike just fell on me and I fell in the middle of the street. Then, when I picked the bike up it was still running and I gassed it into a tree. Awesome. It was hilarious, but I'm glad I didn't get hurt. So we set off and cruised around the city, saw a cool covered bridge and then hit the beach.
We set up shop on a nearly empty beach with crystal blue water. The water wasn't very refreshing, more tepid than anything, but it still was nice to swim without fear of sea monsters and whirl pools. Immediately after coming in from the water we met a woman who would soon be our new friend, Lousie. She was selling things up and down the beach. The woman had to be scorching - it was at least 90 degrees out and she was in a full denim outfit (which I like to refer to as a Canadian tuxedo), with three scarves wrapped around her face and two hats. The woman had more clothes than the four of us combined on. Anyway, she became our friend for the day, selling us water, snacks and Tigers.
At about 4 pm the strangest thing happened. All these woman carrying rugs dragged them down to the beach and set them up all around us. We were literally surrounded by these rugs. One of these rug-woman yelled at Drew while he was eating a cookie. He figured she wanted a cookie, so he gave her one. She ate it and began yelling again. I think she wanted us to pay to sit on her rug, or move or something, but we were absolutely content on our square of beach. She pretty much yelled at us on and off until we left.
We went back to the hotel and eventually ended up with the Irish again. It's like a magnet. We can't stay away from each other. We went to some bar where the owner wanted to give us free shots. Who wants to refuse something free? Not me. But I didn't really want it, so I poured my shot in Patrick's drink while he wasn't looking.
Next morning, we got on our motos like the biker gang we've become and started the 40 miles out to My Son ruins. The ride was spectacular and we only got lost once. Going 40 miles on a moped in the heat leaves you with some pretty sweet tan lines. I have a backpack tan (a first for me), Pat has a wife beater tan (thanks Mom, for sending them... now he looks like white trash with his shirt off), and Drew has a line that goes straight up his arm (I don't think he moved his arms in the whole 90 minutes it took to get there). So this ride was seriously incredible. We were alone in the country, navigating our way though little highways, through farmland and scenic towns.
When we got to My Son we hiked a few miles down to the ruins. The ruins were cool, but the ride was the highlight of my day. We actually didn't have much time at the ruins because the ride had taken so long (most people take a bus - the people at our guest house told us it was too far to ride, but we did it anyway). We explored the ruins for about and hour and hiked back to our bikes and hit the road again.
Back in Hoi An I managed to lay my bike down again while stopped in front of a tour bus. Awesome. I am pretty damn talented. We returned the bikes, grabbed some dinner and jumped on the bus that was 30 minutes early (and threatening to leave us).
Unfortunately this bus was not a sleeper and we had twelve long hours to Nha Trang. I really didn't sleep much at all. I resigned myself to reading and watching a movie on my iPod while the rest of the bus snoozed. When we arrived in Nha Trang at 6 am we were all a little groggy. We deliriously found somewhere to stay (this place was much more expensive, but we were willing to pay it due to our fatigue). We all took a 6 hour nap and got up at noon to see what Nha Trang had to offer.
Nha Trang is a beach city that has a lot of bars and clubs. If there were more westerns here it would be like spring break Nam style.
More about Nha Trang later. I'm about to hop another 12 hour bus to Saigon.
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Cheryl Parks
non-member comment
Moped... Way to Go
Ash, I was not going to comment but I have to say, I thought I was the only one in the Parks family who admitted to losing control of a bike. I did the exact same thing but reved it to much and did a wheely crash and full circle when I hit a tractor the first time I go on a motor bike when I was a kid because everyone dared me but would not show me how to use it. Also, loved the pictures!!! Cheryl