South Central Coastal Vietnam

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(Blog from Hue - Hoi An - Nha Trang - Dalat - to Mui Ne, including photos - click on the pics to see enlarged images)

Hue

We caught the overnight train from Hanoi down to Hue. Again we were in hard sleeper with Vietmenese people. There was an old couple on the bottom bunks whom were very drunk. The man was ordering food from the train staff, which looked like noodle soup but he was spilling it everywhere – argh. As this was our second overnight train in a row I was so tired I slept pretty well but Terry said the old guy passed out talking to himself in his sleep and kept getting up to open the door and shut it again – nightmare!



We were only spending one night in Hue and decided to go see the Citadel. This is a walled fortress and palace surrounded by a moat. Within the Citadel were the grounds of the Imperial City and within this City was the Imperial closure called the Purple Forbidden City. Here is where the Imperial Nguyen family lived during their reign. A lot of it was damaged during the Vietnam war but you could see how magnificent it once was. We spent most of the afternoon walking around the grounds.



Hoi An

Next day we caught the train south from Hue to Da Nang. We were heading to Hoi An which is about 30KM from Da Nang but there is no station in Hoi An. The plan was to then catch a local bus the rest of the way. The train travels along the coastline of Vietnam and the scenery was stunning. It is a very well travelled train route known for its coastal views so we are glad we took the train rather than a bus direct to Hoi An. Only cost a couple of quid each. Once in Da Nang we jumped on a local bus. We had been warned we would be over charged on the bus and we were, it cost us 100,000 Dong £3.40. I am sure the locals were paying less then half of this especially as the conductor whispered how much we had to pay then only collected our money once we were in Hoi An and away from prying eyes. Ah well, still cheap to us I guess and you get used to the foreign rate so no point getting upset over it.



Hoi An was nice, set along the Thu Bon river and on the evening all the restaurants have lanterns and fairy lights outside so looks very romantic. We were there at the right time as it was during a full moon where a lantern festival takes place at each full moon. Unfortunately the camera does not do the scene justice but at dusk all shops and restaurants are lit up. Incense sticks are burning everywhere as incense is thought to take their prayers up to heaven. People also light little fires outside their properties and burn fake money (well I hope it was fake) which is meant to be a way of sending this up to heaven for their ancestors – we have seen this burning ritual at a few places around Vietnam. As night fell the streets were closed off to traffic and filled up with Vietmenese and foreigners all heading to the river. The shops and restaurants that line the river turned off their lights as lots of little paper lantern stalls appear along the river bank. People then buy the lanterns, light the candles inside and head out on boats to float their lanterns down the river. Looks really good.



The next day Terry and I hired a moped. We rode to the nearest beach which is only 2km out of town. It was very pretty but we could see rubbish on the beach, not a lot but enough to put us off. Shame really as could of been much nicer if it was tidied up. We then followed the coastal road for about half hour before we came to ‘Marble’ mountain. Plenty of stalls were trying to sell us marble figurines and the place was full of marble statues from 2 inches in height to 20 metres huge garden ornaments. We paid 15,000 dong each (50p) to climb the 100 odd steps up marble mountains. There were a few caves you could climb through and many Buddha statues that grace the cliff sides. We eventually climbed to the top of the mountain which offered fantastic views over the city. We drove back to our hotel ready to move on that evening to our next city.



Nha Trang

On the 9^th January we left Hoi An on the evening open tour night bus that would take 12 hours to get to our next stop, Nha trang. We quickly jumped on the bus ready to run to grab the back seats again but we need not have worried, the bus was not full and we had the whole back sleeper seats to ourselves. Was a great journey but we only cat napped really what with the occasional pot holes in the road and a driver who liked to beep his horn constantly and pick up locals on route for what I can only presume was cash in hand favours. We stopped for dinner after only 2 hours and we saw a lad we had met on the Halong Bay tour, Danny from Telford. He was on a nicer looking bus but he complained that his driver had picked up loads of locals on route and even though all the beds were taken the people were now just sleeping in the aisles. Phew, glad we had not got that bus, I guess our driver had been too slow and the other sleeper buses had managed to pick up the locals first.



We arrived in Nha Trang at 6.30am the next morning. In Vietnam you can either travel between cities via train or coach. Many travel agents offer you a ‘open tour’ bus ticket for one price from about $40 - $80, depending on the company which means you can travel on their buses leaving Hanoi in the North if you want to travel South or Saigon in the South if you want to head North.You get the chance to stop off at 7 major cities on the way but you cannot back track. All you need to do is call the bus company at least a day before you want to leave and book your spot. It is good value but Terry and I decided to pay as we go so we could decide at certain points whether we wanted to catch the tour sleeper bus or the train. The sleeper bus always stops in the centre of town outside their own preferred hotel. You are always invited to take a look at the rooms with no obligations, so far we have looked but found other hotels cheaper and better. Least we are dropped in the centre of everything rather than at an out of town bus station.



So having snubbed the hotel they offered to us we found a great place for only $6 (£4) that had a lovely balcony too. Nha Trang is beautiful place set right on the coast. Unfortunately the bad weather was still following us so the day was warm but a little overcast. We spent the day exploring the city and stumbled across a pagoda which still has residents monks and behind this was a giant seated Buddha which looks over the city. Free entrance and was pretty cool actually. On the evening we were walking through the main district of Nha Trangs resturant when Terry bumped into one of his friends from Bouremouth, Ollie. He was on holiday with his girlfriend in Vietnam but they did not realise they would both be here at the same and just happened to walk past each other whilst crossing the road - what a funny moment!



Next day we joined a tour to go snorkelling. They have party boats for only $6 (£4) you can join where you can do a little amount of snorkelling but the rest of the time is drinking and sailing to the surrounding islands. We really wanted to snorkel at the coral reef so paid $12 (£8) to vist two places and snorkel. Lunch on the boat was also included too. Well the day was very miserable but we got picked up by the tour company and made our way to the docks. There was only 7 other people with us on the boat which was really good. We saw the party boat leave which was rammed so not sure if any of them got to snorkel. Took an hour to get to the first snorkel spot, by now it was raining and we were all very cold but most of us jumped in. After only 10 minutes we got out as the visibility was so poor. Terry and I were last out as we had spotted one fish that had taken a liking to me. Was following me everywhere I went and was swimming all around me. Freaked me out as I thought I could feel it tickling me but maybe it was the straps of my lifejacket I had on. Anyway I swam back to the boat with the fish right next to me and with Terry watching the fish, we could not stop laughing was so funny, think I worried the boat men though with my screaming – oops.



We had lunch early which was a huge spread of noodles, springs rolls, something that looked like pork and lots of morning glory (type of green veg!!). At the next snorkel spot no one wanted to jump in but Terry volunteered to check it out first, I guess he is used to cold sea being from Bournemouth. Anyway he told us there was plenty of fish so we all stripped again and jumped in. I wore a life jacket as I felt it kept me a little warmer!



I swam over and was met with the beautiful site of the coral reef. I have never seen this before and was in awe. Saw hundreds of beautiful coloured fish but could only manage 20 minutes before I got too cold and had to go in. After that we were taken back to the port and driven home, two hours earlier than planned but we had seen what we wanted to see so felt satisfied.



Dalat

The next day, 12^th Jan, we were picked up by a minivan which we presumed was taking us to meet the big open tour bus but in fact the minivan was taking us the 4 hours to Dalat. The van was full so was not as comfy as would of liked but least it goes a bit faster than a large coach. Dalat is inland set in the highlands. Meant to be colder then the coast but with the weather we have had so far it cannot be that bad, can it?

Most budget hotels were priced between $8-$10 so we settled for the best of a bad bunch at $8 (£6).

We took a walk around Dalat, it was a lot busier than I thought it was going to be, I imagined a more quieter mountainous town. Food was a lot more expensive here as well but we found a cafe called Cafe Peace which had the best value we saw and the curries were really tasty.



We then went to visit Hang Nga guest house otherwise known as the Crazy House. Cost us 30,000 dong each (£1) to enter but it was worth it. The house resembles a giant banyan tree incorporating into the design are animals, caves, mushrooms, giant spider webs was just like a fairy tale. We had great fun wondering around the maze and tunnels of the building, checking out the rooms. You can also stay at the guest house but it is very expensive, from $30 upwards and the rooms itself were not very clean and all had foam beds. Would of been great though if you was a kid.



Next day we hired mopeds and took a trip out to see the elephant waterfalls. 20km away but took a while to get there as we were riding on slow winding mountain roads. The falls were very cheap to visit, only 30p entrance fee for us both (10,000 dong) and you were able to walk behind the falls which was impressive as you really get a feel of the power of water crashing in front of you. We both got totally soaked. You can then climb up to a pagoda which behind had a huge laughing Buddha statue, it was really great to see and included in the price. On the way back we passed through many coffee plantations and villages where coffee beans were drying outside many of the homes. Dalat is famous for the Dalat wine which you buy for as little as £2 a bottle all over Vietnam. I thought we might be able to visit where it is made but in fact it is just where the mulberry fruit is grown which is used in the wine. It is a really nice wine actually.

After two days we leave Dalat on the 14^th Jan to the coastal town of Mui Ne.





Mui Ne



We arrived in the afternoon and straight the heat hit us, it was really nice to finally be in a warm place. There is no main city centre of Mui Ne, just long sprawl of hotels, bars and restaurants along the coastal road. We had met a couple from Stoke on our snorkel tour back in Nha Trang who happened to be on the same boat as us. The guy and Terry went looking for accommodation together whilst me and the lady sat and waited in the shade – it was way too hot to be walking up and down with all our bags. The place we were dropped outside, Austrian Guest House was meant to be a budget hostel but there was a Westerner behind the counter so straight away you know it won’t be really budget. Bed in the Dorms were $10pp and a private room was $25!! Very expensive compared to what we have been used to. Best Terry could find was $15, and compared to what we have been used to before it was overpriced.







Another thing we noticed was the place was full of Russian tourists with lots of money – ahhh so that is why the place has become expensive, just like in North Goa where the menus and signs are all in Russian, again here everything was in Vietmenese, English and Russian.



Very disappointed with the place actually, not just because it was overpriced (to hire a moped we were being quoted $15 per day compared to $5 in the rest of Vietnam) but the beach was not that great. Was very busy as it is currently the kite surfing season so was impressive to see the surfers out in the sea doing amazing jumps but was too windy to be a nice sunbathing beach and way too rough for swimmers. Terry asked about hiring the kite surfs and lessons but we were being quoted, $50 / hour, was way too much for us.



We did want to go visit the sand dunes, which is one of the things too see and do in Mui Ne, but what with the price of the mopeds and tours we decided it was just not worth it and decided in the end to just spend one night here and head off the next day to Saigon. Some of the agencies said the prices have only doubled this week as we are nearing TET which is the Vietmenese New Year just like in China but this celebration does not kick off for another couple of weeks so think it was just a big fat excuse. This excuse was use by some agencies when we tried to book the bus to Saigon but soon came across an agency that quoted us the correct price, exactly half of all the others, just shows!

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Photos

Too cold for me
but so impressed with the coral reef

Zzzzzz
Long Son Pagoda, Nha Trang

Terry on top of the roof
Crazy House

Kitesurfers on the beach
Mui Ne

Comments

[Pat White]

Brilliant descriptions of where you visited and stunning photographs. Made me laugh when you said higher a moped but I think you meant hire a moped. Excellent read look forward to the next one. Momma xxx