This post won't be as long as the others because there's not a lot to say really. We were only in Mui Ne for two nights and Saigon for one as Nick's visa is running out and I need to get through Cambodia before I fly home.
Mui Ne is a really nice spot. It's a lot more relaxed than Nha Trang (we didn't get hassled once by hawkers, however bikes were ever-present as always) and it has one of the best beaches I've ever seen. Joe and I didn't find the others till the evening so we just sat on the beach and went sand-boarding on the closer 'red dunes'. Sand-boarding wasn't as great as it sounds. We were lead to the largest dune by a local kid and told how to do it so we gave him a quid/30000 dong for his trouble, which í a fair amount here for ten minutes work -I gave him 60p, Joe gave him 30.Unhappy with Joe's smaller cỏtribution he started swearing at us and crying and sulking in the hope that we'd give him more! The greedy little git deserved an oscar for his performance! Even the kids here are con-artists.
The major drawback to Mui Ne is the serious lack of nightlife. We headed out with Jake and Sam, two guys we'd met along the way, but between the two late bars there were about 15-20 people out, most of whom were couples so the night was nothing to write home about... even though I am in a way.
The next day we got scooters out and heading 30km inland to the larger 'white dunes' which were a lot more impressive. We were hoping to drive some quad-bikes but you could walk faster than the ones they were renting so we got some boards out and had another go at sand-boarding which was slightly better due to the higher dunes, but nothing special.
The best thing was undoubtedly the drive, despite having a bike that should be used for spare parts. The scenery was stunning, especially the stretch of motorway running parallel to the beach. We alighted at a random beach we found that had some really good waves and chilled out there until it started to get dark. All in all, a top-drawer day.
The next day we headed down to Saigon which is a huge, dirty, disorganized city but you can tell its the center of the Vietnamese economy. It's like an uglier Hanoi, which at least had an impressive lake in the middle of it. We headed out in the night to Apocalypse after an expensive but worth-it meal at Wayne's Texan BBQ, where we met the owner, who was a bit of a legend/alcoholic. Despite its shortcomings Saigon has better nightlife and food than anywhere else in Vietnam.
And thats it really. I'm feeling a bit ropey today but we're off to Cambodia tonight via a boat up the Mekong which should be pretty good fun as long as it doesn't rain the whole way.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Hoi An & Nha Trang
Right then, so apparently my blog has gone somewhat downhill! According to a few people its become more about how smashed I get rather than the 'culture'. Contrary to what my mum thinks backpacking is a massive piss-up! Every night is a night out pretty much unless your somewhere really dire. However, Tubing and Halong Bay were particularly big piss-ups because you are effectively drinking all day and night, which leaves little room for anything else. Aside from the Thai islands, the last couple of weeks have been the most lethal of the year. However, since leaving Hanoi I've been doing a lot more during the day and seeing more of Vietnam.
The next stop was Hoi-An, a really picturesque town with a UNESCO-listed centre. I arrived by plane with the Irish guys from the Halong Bay trip who found a cheap flight and all flew down to save time so I tagged along. On the first day we got some bikes out and headed to what were probably the most impressive temples I've seen in Asia so far (I haven't got down to Angkor Wat yet). They had been cut into the rock and built into caves on a mountain which overlooked the whole of Danang, which is unfortunately a bit of an eyesore but the view was nevertheless pretty incredible. The most impressive part must have been the 40 foot high cave with a house inside! The hundred of steps you had to climb to get there must pose a bit of an issure for potential buyers but its a pretty unique property!
Walking further on an old Vietnamese lady came and asked us if we wanted to go to 'heaven'... thats a big promise, don't tease I thought, and she lead us up to the top of the hill where you get a stunning 360 degree view of all of Danang, the hinterland and China Beach, an incredible long stretch of sand which was the landing point of the American forces at the beginning of the Vietnam war.
One great thing about Vietnam is that it is the home of the world cheapest beer, at 10p a glass... and it doesn't even taste bad. This was welcome relief after an attempted day of sightseeing the next day. In order to see the sights in Hoi-An you have to purchase a ticket which allows you in to five of about ten to twelve sights, which only costs about three quid. You get your ticket and a little map and off you go, the only problem is that the sights, according to my own experience don't actually exist! I walked around a five block radius trying to find any sight I could but only managed to find three, which were all unremarkable.
In the end I gave up and chilled out with a few beers (when they only cost 10p its easy to lose count) and caught up with some reading before checking out the market.
Vietnamese traders aren't a subtle lot... when the see a westerner they usually try to physically pull them in or bark 'You buy something!' Masters of the hard-sell. I stopped at a food place and got a weird pancake thing with some salad, an unshelled prawn and a crispy batter thing with a sweet sauce and gave it a try and it wasn't that bad.
Vietnamese food isn't anywhere as good as Malaysian or Thai but its unique. 'Claypots,' meat or fish cooked in a pot with spices and oil and served with rice like everything else in Asia. Also, fresh spring rolls are a quality little snack and healthy, and Pho, a noodle soup with random leaves and lime is a hit. There's a lot of baguettes in Laos and Vietnam as well, and they're really good too, at least the French did something right!
Lastly, Hoi-An is supposed to be the cheapest place in Asia to get tailored clothes made so I thought I'd better get something for interviews when I get home. I got two suits, four shirts, two pairs of jeans, a jackets and a pair of shoes for 180 quid! The shirts are quality, the suits are a good fit, pretty nice material and lining, the jeans are a good fit as well, the shoes are alright I suppose but the jacket makes me look like I'm heading to a drag convention, but all in all the clothes turned out pretty well.
Joe and Nick turned up the day before the Irish lads left and we got some bikes out and headed to Mae Son, which sounded really impressive the 'Lonely Planet'. The only thing impressive was the drive there and back! Supposedly the best remaining building of the ancient Cham empire, the place is pretty much piles of old bricks because the silly buggers didn't use anything to cement the bricks in place. The 'Lonely Planet' calls this a 'controversial building method'. In reality its just silly isn't it really, I mean no wonder the buggers aren't around today.
On the way back we stopped on a bridge to get a photo of the three of us on our bikes with the river behind. Normally this would be fine because there are no rules to driving in Vietnam, people drive on whatever side of the road the choose as long as they can fit in a gap. However, a bus, overtaking a lorry sped toward us on the two lane bridge we absolutely shat it, there was barely enough room for them let alone us. So we had to drag our scooters on to the cement under the railings before they became spare parts. We managed it just in time, with the lorry missing my handle bar by about two inches. That was without a doubt the closest we came to an accident driving in Vietnam!
We dropped the bikes off and got the night bus to Nha Trang, arriving at about 6 the next day and got a lush little room with cable for 4 dollars each a night - happy days! Nha Trang is the 'party spot' of Vietnam but its barely as lively as any normal Thai town. There are booze cruises but apparently they were dire according to a few people we met there so we didn't bother (I say didn't bother... we just didn't get around to booking it).
The first day we met few Irish lads the other two know from Laos and chilled out at the beach. A hawker was cooking fresh crab on the beach which was really good! Then we had our first of many carbon-copy night out in Nha Trang consisting of Why Not? bar- Sailing Club till closing- back to Why Not? bar... but were not talking about drinking in this blog anymore!
Vinpearl land is, according to the Lonely Planet 'Vietnam's answer to Disneyland'. What? Vinpearl is a glorified fun-fair without the waltzers. The theme park itself is shocking, with most of the already tame rides closed. However, the attached water park was good fun and a solid cure for a hangover, albeit slightly painful on the back, and an obvious adherent to the Vietnamese school of safety-standards.
By the next day the rain had come and we stayed indoors. The rain continued and got worse, keeping us in the hotel room for about four days which was bit frustrating, but that cable TV really saved the day, as did the miraculous delivery of two random pizzas we didn't order, which we promptly ate and then reordered for the next three days.
The rain hit the town pretty hard though, with one road under three foot of water and all the shops on it flooded. It also prevented us leaving the town for two days and stopped us going to Dalat because of road damage.
It wasn't all miserable though. Halloween was good fun, especially with a load of people from the Halong Bay trip and Simon and Kirsty all being there we had a pretty good crew. The outfits were quality too; Joe got a tailored orange waist coat with a pumpkin's face on it and matching shorts and bought me and Nick girl's one-peices and matching skirts which barely covered our groins so we were a pretty ridiculous sight, especially to the locals who had a limited concept of Halloween anyway!
We were supposed to leave for Mui Ne the day after but Joe was too hungover so stayed in bed and I forgot my suit, only realizing on the bus so had to get a cab back and head down with him the next day.
The next stop was Hoi-An, a really picturesque town with a UNESCO-listed centre. I arrived by plane with the Irish guys from the Halong Bay trip who found a cheap flight and all flew down to save time so I tagged along. On the first day we got some bikes out and headed to what were probably the most impressive temples I've seen in Asia so far (I haven't got down to Angkor Wat yet). They had been cut into the rock and built into caves on a mountain which overlooked the whole of Danang, which is unfortunately a bit of an eyesore but the view was nevertheless pretty incredible. The most impressive part must have been the 40 foot high cave with a house inside! The hundred of steps you had to climb to get there must pose a bit of an issure for potential buyers but its a pretty unique property!
Walking further on an old Vietnamese lady came and asked us if we wanted to go to 'heaven'... thats a big promise, don't tease I thought, and she lead us up to the top of the hill where you get a stunning 360 degree view of all of Danang, the hinterland and China Beach, an incredible long stretch of sand which was the landing point of the American forces at the beginning of the Vietnam war.
One great thing about Vietnam is that it is the home of the world cheapest beer, at 10p a glass... and it doesn't even taste bad. This was welcome relief after an attempted day of sightseeing the next day. In order to see the sights in Hoi-An you have to purchase a ticket which allows you in to five of about ten to twelve sights, which only costs about three quid. You get your ticket and a little map and off you go, the only problem is that the sights, according to my own experience don't actually exist! I walked around a five block radius trying to find any sight I could but only managed to find three, which were all unremarkable.
In the end I gave up and chilled out with a few beers (when they only cost 10p its easy to lose count) and caught up with some reading before checking out the market.
Vietnamese traders aren't a subtle lot... when the see a westerner they usually try to physically pull them in or bark 'You buy something!' Masters of the hard-sell. I stopped at a food place and got a weird pancake thing with some salad, an unshelled prawn and a crispy batter thing with a sweet sauce and gave it a try and it wasn't that bad.
Vietnamese food isn't anywhere as good as Malaysian or Thai but its unique. 'Claypots,' meat or fish cooked in a pot with spices and oil and served with rice like everything else in Asia. Also, fresh spring rolls are a quality little snack and healthy, and Pho, a noodle soup with random leaves and lime is a hit. There's a lot of baguettes in Laos and Vietnam as well, and they're really good too, at least the French did something right!
Lastly, Hoi-An is supposed to be the cheapest place in Asia to get tailored clothes made so I thought I'd better get something for interviews when I get home. I got two suits, four shirts, two pairs of jeans, a jackets and a pair of shoes for 180 quid! The shirts are quality, the suits are a good fit, pretty nice material and lining, the jeans are a good fit as well, the shoes are alright I suppose but the jacket makes me look like I'm heading to a drag convention, but all in all the clothes turned out pretty well.
Joe and Nick turned up the day before the Irish lads left and we got some bikes out and headed to Mae Son, which sounded really impressive the 'Lonely Planet'. The only thing impressive was the drive there and back! Supposedly the best remaining building of the ancient Cham empire, the place is pretty much piles of old bricks because the silly buggers didn't use anything to cement the bricks in place. The 'Lonely Planet' calls this a 'controversial building method'. In reality its just silly isn't it really, I mean no wonder the buggers aren't around today.
On the way back we stopped on a bridge to get a photo of the three of us on our bikes with the river behind. Normally this would be fine because there are no rules to driving in Vietnam, people drive on whatever side of the road the choose as long as they can fit in a gap. However, a bus, overtaking a lorry sped toward us on the two lane bridge we absolutely shat it, there was barely enough room for them let alone us. So we had to drag our scooters on to the cement under the railings before they became spare parts. We managed it just in time, with the lorry missing my handle bar by about two inches. That was without a doubt the closest we came to an accident driving in Vietnam!
We dropped the bikes off and got the night bus to Nha Trang, arriving at about 6 the next day and got a lush little room with cable for 4 dollars each a night - happy days! Nha Trang is the 'party spot' of Vietnam but its barely as lively as any normal Thai town. There are booze cruises but apparently they were dire according to a few people we met there so we didn't bother (I say didn't bother... we just didn't get around to booking it).
The first day we met few Irish lads the other two know from Laos and chilled out at the beach. A hawker was cooking fresh crab on the beach which was really good! Then we had our first of many carbon-copy night out in Nha Trang consisting of Why Not? bar- Sailing Club till closing- back to Why Not? bar... but were not talking about drinking in this blog anymore!
Vinpearl land is, according to the Lonely Planet 'Vietnam's answer to Disneyland'. What? Vinpearl is a glorified fun-fair without the waltzers. The theme park itself is shocking, with most of the already tame rides closed. However, the attached water park was good fun and a solid cure for a hangover, albeit slightly painful on the back, and an obvious adherent to the Vietnamese school of safety-standards.
By the next day the rain had come and we stayed indoors. The rain continued and got worse, keeping us in the hotel room for about four days which was bit frustrating, but that cable TV really saved the day, as did the miraculous delivery of two random pizzas we didn't order, which we promptly ate and then reordered for the next three days.
The rain hit the town pretty hard though, with one road under three foot of water and all the shops on it flooded. It also prevented us leaving the town for two days and stopped us going to Dalat because of road damage.
It wasn't all miserable though. Halloween was good fun, especially with a load of people from the Halong Bay trip and Simon and Kirsty all being there we had a pretty good crew. The outfits were quality too; Joe got a tailored orange waist coat with a pumpkin's face on it and matching shorts and bought me and Nick girl's one-peices and matching skirts which barely covered our groins so we were a pretty ridiculous sight, especially to the locals who had a limited concept of Halloween anyway!
We were supposed to leave for Mui Ne the day after but Joe was too hungover so stayed in bed and I forgot my suit, only realizing on the bus so had to get a cab back and head down with him the next day.
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