Advertisement
Published: February 10th 2008
Not my best week. I was stuck in MuiNe because I had forgotten my passport in the hotel in Ho Chi Minh (it is legally obliged for hotel owners in Vietnam to go show the passports of guests to the authorities, so they always keep passports of guests). It took a lot of my nervous system to try and explain the situation to the people in MuiNe. The hotel I had stayed in in HCM is in the same building as the travel agency (An Phu) where I booked my bus ticket. The people that run the travel agency are the same people that run the hotel, they work in the same office. Since the name "An Phu" is what you see when you enter the building, I never payed attention to the name of the hotel. I now know it was "An Phu Hotel".. du-uuuh! But in the An Phu office in MuiNe, they kept asking me for the name of the hotel. I tried to explain that they just needed to phone the An Phu office in HCM, and eventually the lady did. I was told to come back the next day at 4PM, as they would give my
Mui Ne - Fishing boats
Bad quality pictures for most of Mui Ne, because I had set the camera to manual light adjustment without knowing it. A pity, because I could have had much better pics.passport to the bus driver who would be driving to MuiNe the next day. The next day: no passport; the driver had forgotten to deliver it in MuiNe and had moved on to Nha Trang with my passport. Please come back tomorrow, same time. Next day: no passport and a vague story of why it hadn't been delivered and where it was now. The lady in the MuiNe office (let's call it office #1) sends me to a bigger office, 1km further on the same road (office #2). The guy knows nothing about the situation, and asks me again for the hotel name. I tell him once more that I do not know the hotel name, but that the lady in office #1 knows it. He ignores what I say and keeps telling me he can't do anything if he doesn't know the hotel name, because there are 5 An Phu offices in HCM and if I don't know which one it was, he cannot help me. I ask him to phone all 5 of them if necessary. He refuses, tells me it is not his problem, I have to sort it out with the hotel and he has nothing
to do with it. I had gotten quite agitated by that time. Not at all *equanimous*, but then I wonder how many people would not lose their equanimity in this kind of situation. He loses his nerve as well, makes a few calls and tells me to go to the main An Phu office in MuiNe (office #3) the next day around noon, 6km further on the same road. Next day, office #3: they tell me to go pick up my passport at office #2, because that's where the bus will arrive in 30 minutes. I wait for the bus at office #2, it arrives late, but no passport. I get no explanation of who has my passport or where it is again, but "please come back tomorrow here, same time". And finally it arrived the next day.
Time to book my bus ticket and get away from MuiNe.
MuiNe is nice for a few days, but aside from the beach, the kitesurfers, the sand dunes and the fishing village, there is not much to see. Not enough to fill 4 days. The area for tourists is one long road full of big expensive resorts with spa's on the
beach side of the road, and smaller hotels, shops (that all sell the same things) and restaurants on the other side of the road. So I spent one day to see the sand dunes and the fishing village on a rented scooter. The dunes are really a must see and a good reason not to skip MuiNe, but on the other days, I found myself bored most of the time. The beach is full of kite surfers, so nobody goes sunbathing there. You'd get strangled in their gear if you did, and the winds are so heavy it is impossible to just read a book. The surfers hang out with each other mostly, it's their own little community. The resort people are never traveling solo, so they have their own company and aren't usually looking to get involved with 'the backpackers'. So pretty hard to have a good conversation or have some fun! In my despair, I even sort of forced a guy to have dinner with me. I saw him eating his dinner and no sign of company around him, so I walked up to him and asked him politely if I could join him. I guess he would
have had to be pretty rude if he was to refuse ;-). But he had just been traveling with a lady friend for a while and it sounded like he was missing her a lot. He left after his meal was finished, guess he wanted to be alone. Ugh, sometimes it does get to me. I find myself wondering whether I should just take a plane to Bangkok, stay there for a few days and fly home. After all, I feel more than ready to be home and catch up with friends again. I spent one day just watching movies in my hotel room. That's the closest I could get to having a home-ish feeling.
On the bus to Dalat, I met 2 Canadians (from Montreal) and we had dinner together every evening in Dalat. IT-professionals. Always good to exchange geek stories.
Dalat is apparently called the city of "eternal spring". Indeed the weather in Dalat is spring-ish. In the areas around Dalat it is too hot, but Dalat is higher and therefor cooler. No need for airconditioning. The French
chose this place for that reason. I would have expected a lot of people to speak French here, but
that's apparently only the older generations. The young people look at me like I am an alien if I ask "Vous parlez le Francais?". The look of city is obviously still quite influenced by the French however. There is a mini-Eiffel tower that is lit up at night, overlooking the market. You could almost improvise the road from the market to the Eiffel tower to be a mini Champs-Elysees. The market is an impressive mixture of little businesses, accompanied by the unique pallet of colors and smells that make up a Vietnamese market place. Scooters fill the streets just like in HCM. I noticed that everybody just keeps their helmets on when they go shopping or even when they have a drink on a terrace. Women wear pink helmets, boys buy helmets to impress and try to make their scooters look better than the scooters of their peers. The internet cafes are full of young Vietnamese playing online strategy games. But...all bars close around 11PM. After that, the city is dead, aside from a few kids with scooters on street corners.
On the second evening in Dalat, Francis (one of the Canadians) and I had found a bar that
Mui Ne - Red Sand Dunes
A classic, but they are my very own footprints (*anipture*) was open later than the others. The Saigon Nite Cafe (mentioned in the Vietnam bible). We were the last ones to leave at around 1AM. When I arrived at my hotel, the metal fence was closed, there was nobody around to open the door and the bell didn't work. Hmmm... not planning to sleep on the streets, mind you. I walked back towards the market, in search of a telephone or someone who would lend me his mobile phone. I passed by a house where 5 locals were playing cards. They didn't understand a word of English so I tried sign language to express that I needed to make a phone call. They chased me away as if I was a beggar or drunk. I found a hotel with an open door and entered. The receptionist was asleep behind the counter. I tried to wake him up, but he couldn't hear me. So I just used the phone and tried to call my hotel (the land line). No response. I tried the mobile phone number. Fortunately, someone picked up and understood enough English to understand that he needed to open the door and wait a few minutes for me to
Mui Ne - Red Sand Dunes
... and those are my very own sandals that have carried me all the way. get there. The same scenario happened 2 nights later. But this time, nobody responded to any phone calls. So no way to get inside. Francis fortunately was still with me and invited me to sleep in their room. So while the other Canadian was already asleep in his twin bed, we shared the other 120 cm twin bed. Not especially comfortable, but better than the street. I fell out of bed a few hours later too. Oh well, part of the game. Had a good laugh. The lady who runs the hotel gave me a strange look in the morning and probably wanted to ask me who I was in order to charge some money, but I just walked out and didn't give her time to do that.
So the best day in Dalat was Wednesday (the 6th, the last day of the Chinese year). I took a tour with a guide, on a scooter. He took me to the flower gardens, the coffee plantations, the "Happy Buddha", the waterfalls and the Crazy House. It was a freeing feeling to be on a scooter on the countryside around Dalat. The vieuws are stunning. I loved the pine smell as
Mui Ne - Red Sand Dunes
Vietnamese mother & girl we were driving through pine forests. The Crazy House is definately worth a visit. Nature is beautiful all over Vietnam, but only in Dalat can you see the Crazy House. It is built in a style similar to the Gaudi style, just less luxurious. Organic shapes, playfully themed rooms.
For new year's eve, the Canadians and I went to see the fairground and the "Happy New Year" fireworks on the lake, Abba playing in the background. Wonderful.
I had booked a bus ticket to Nha Trang on the 9th. Normally a 5 hours ride. The morning bus was full, so I took the afternoon bus. Scheduled departure at 13:30, it left at 15:30. We had to stop twice on the way to replace a tire. Because of all the delays, we arrived (without having stopped for dinner) at 23:00. The hotel where we were dropped was full, so all of us had to spread around in the streets hoping to find a room at this hour. Everything closed, dead streets. A hippy couple (only the girl spoke, her boyfriend didn't say a word, not even hello) asked me if I would accompany them in roaming the streets, as they
were afraid to walk around alone. Sure, my pleasure. We checked a few places, but all were full. At some point, I suggested to try one of the smaller streets, as the hotels on the main streets are likelier to be full. We found a small guest house that still had one room available. Could fit 3, but the girl made it clear immediately that she was not willing to share the room. As soon as the lady mentioned the price (10 USD, while we both knew all other rooms would be more expensive), the girls jumped inside, declared she's taking the room, urged the apathic boyfriend to follow her, and wished me luck in finding another room... Wow, each backpacker for himself apparently? I was too tired to react, but I hope it was cheap only because it was filthy or something.
I spent more than an hour (carrying 2 backpacks, over 20kg total) checking other places. Eventually found a room for 20 USD. All hotels seem to be charging 20 USD now. Only because it's "Happy New Year for us". Yes, "for us". The normal prices would be just over a third of that, or maximum half
Dalat - Rabbit Menu
What is Rabbit in Dark then?
And is there unpreserved tofu?? the price. The room was a little bit away from the busier area's, so it took another hour to find a place where I could still find something to eat. I was so tired that even lifting the can of Diet Coke was a major exercise. I took a cycle rickshaw back to my hotel and slept. But the rooms were built with holes in the walls above the door. This means that all the noises in the building fill the room as if there were no doors at all. In spite of a woman walking around on high heals and tv's playing in other rooms, I fell asleep. Only for a few hours though. As soon as the day started, the sounds in the building prevented me from sleeping. Got up, checked out
(still hadn't taken a shower since leaving Dalat, and didn't have the energy to have one now.. just wanted to get away from the noise), left my backpack at the reception desk, and left in search of breakfast. It took over an hour again to find the area where I could find toast and orange juice. But at least it gave me some energy. I found
another 20 dollar room, thanks to another couple who saw the despair on my face and decided to take a bigger but more expensive room just so I could take the small room. I must have looked *really* terrible. I spent the rest of the day sleeping and writing. Oh, and had a hot waxing again. Quite painful, but apparently a lot of fun for the girl doing it. She was giggling all the time while I had a scared look on my face each time she came out of the kitchen with a pan full of wax that was just a little too hot. And she had to stop herself from bursting out in laughter when she pulled off the wax on my armpits. At least someone was amused on my behalf ;-)
So still haven't seen much of Nha Trang yet, today is blogging day. Thinking of taking a diving initiation course tomorrow.
The weather is a little cloudy and cooler, which makes it easier to get around without feeling dehydrated within an hour.
Starting to wonder whether I should continue to go to the north of Vietnam. All the people that are coming back from
the north are saying how cold it was there. In Sapa (all the way north and one of the most interesting places) it's even snowing. It's not supposed to be rainy season anymore.. so this is probably just another unusual weather pattern caused by climate changes.
I'll have to decide in the next few days what direction to go next.
Heard that spring is in the air in Belgium... good to hear that. Hope you all enjoy the first rays of sunlight!
Hugs
Advertisement
Tot: 0.064s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0352s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
DJT
non-member comment
Passport at Hotels
The Grand Hotel in Saigon will make a copy of your passport as will others in Saigon. In Hue, we had a hotel that wanted our passports and we said, "No." We offered copies to them and they still said they needed the passport. The lady then remarked, "well, if you hear knock at door it police to arrest you." We then made the comment about finding a different hotel and they did let us stay there as we had asked without giving up our passports. It was explained to us that the Hotels pay a tax on the rooms so they showed our room as vacant for the week we were there.