The Ancient City of Hoi An

April 13, 2010

The night bus to Hoi An was nice and uneventful. The "beds" were a bit cozy to say the least, but I still got my sleep in.

We arrived in Hoi An at a bout 5 AM and made way to central market area. As per usual there was an onslaught of people trying to get us in their guest house. I couldn't handle this without some coffee, so I sat down for a while to recuperate. While eating a group of people suggested that we check out a guest house down the street, and we did. It was a nice place with decently priced rooms and a very good location.

After a shower and some tv time, I made way to explore the city.

Hoi An was the ancient trading capital of South East Asia at the time of the Champa Empire. Many of the buildings built by Chinese and Japanese merchants back as far as the 12th century are still around, as well as a beautiful array of French colonial structures in the old town, which is in fact a UNESCO Heritage Site.

I walked along the river for a bit and found a cool little cafe with real Italian coffee! I enjoyed an espresso while reading my book, and made way to the old town.

The old town is a really beautiful place with architecture that reminds me a lot of New Orleans (not hard to imagine as they were both French colonies). The weird thing however is that the whole central area is technically old town and you technically need a ticket to visit old town, or at least the buildings inside of it. One of the more popular sights is the Japanes Bridge (which you supposedly), and when I bought my ticket and asked where the bridge was they pointed to the tiny bridge I had just walked over. Oh well.

I wandered around the area checking out some pretty cool art galleries, some craft shops, an "old house," an assembly hall, and a traditional music performance. The old house was very cool. It's a very old Chinese merchants home that is in very nice condition and is still lived in to this day. They served some tea and gave us a tour which included showing us the lines from flood years which get up close to the sealing. The assembly hall was used as a hang out spot for Chinese Merchants back in the day. It has a big meeting room, some prayer areas, and a big decorated courtyard.

I was tired at this point, and got exceedingly frustrated as I continued to get grabbed by merchants, my toes ran over by a motorbike, and pushed around in the busy market. All signs pointed to a nap, and that's where I went.

I met Gaelle for some dinner in the evening where I came very close to falling asleep on the table. I did have the traditional White Rose noodle dumpling native to Hoi An. They were alright, and did the trick.

I was in bed by about nine. I guess that sleep on the night bus wasn't as good as I thought it was.

Hoi An is nice, a little overwhelmingly oriented tourists, reminding me a bit of Disneyland. It is beautiful none the less, and there is tons of history and culture around. That being said, I'll get a motorbike and get out of the city tomorrow.

Nha Trang in its Entirety

April 7-12, 2010

Yes I spent nearly a week in Nha Trang. This happened mostly because I decided to get my diving certification and be a bum the rest of the time (hence the lack of blogging).

Day 1

Today our big group went to the Water Park at Vinpearl island. This place was a trip. First of all we took the longest cable car (gondola) over the ocean in the world, it was pretty cool. The island itself is a huge theme park type resort aimed at Vietnamese and Russian tourists, meaning everything was extremely cheasy and over the top.

The water park itself was ok, but the fact that there were only about 30 other people in the whole park made it a lot of fun, even if there were a disproportionate amount of speedos.

Everyone else in the group was going scuba diving the next day and kept on encouraging me to come along, and I just so happened to cave under the peer pressure.

We got back together for some dinner after the park, but called it an early night in preparation for the next days activities.

Day 2:

The day started at 8 AM, when we were picked up at the dive shop and taken to the docks, where we boarded our dive boat.

The boat was pretty cool, and we enjoyed some coffee and tea as we made way for our first dive spot. During the ride my Dive Master, Indo, gave me a tutorial of all the equipment and procedures, and got me dressed up in the wetsuit and gear.

This was a "Discover Scuba" dive so Indo would basically control all my stuff while my only responsibility was to make sure I kept breathing.

The dive was amazing! At first I just kinda went limp and Indo did all the swimming as my body was trying to figure out this whole breathing under water thing, but after a minute or two I started carrying my weight and we explored the reefs and fish around the area.

I was warned that this whole diving thing tends to be a little addictive, and I naively disregarded the warnings, only signing up for one of the two dives. Luckily Indo was free for the next one, and for a few extra bucks I was able to go on dive number two after lunch at a new location.

The second time around I was a lot more comfortable in the water and felt like I was in a bit more control. The highlight was seeing a black and white sea snake that we followed around for a bit. Really cool.

Back in the city Eric and Niels convinced me to stay to get my open water certification. Their argument was that it was cheap, I was here, and in 10 years time I won't care about the money, but I would definitely be happy about having the certification which I can use anywhere in the world. I didn't need THAT much convincing, and booked the course with Gaelle.

Eric and Runnard left that night after we ate some tasty Italian food. And it was again an early night for our early morning training.

Day 3-5

I group these together because they are boring. Well I had a lot of fun, but nothing to really describe in detail.

The days consisted of waking up early to dive. First in the pool than in the open water. Going through the thoroughly entertaining training manual (sarcasm alert). Sleeping. And sitting at the beach on occasion. I also frequented what I liked to call baguette street. Basically there are a bunch of street vendors who sell sandwiches in really tasty baguettes called Bahn My. The insides are filled with laughing cow cheese, pate, veggies, egg, assorted sausage type meats, soy sauce, and chili sauce in various combinations. Very tasty.

On the last day I passed my final exam and celebrated at a bia hoi place with a bunch of people who were diving that day, including one of the instructors who just passed his dive master exam.

Now I have a dive log book and will be getting my certificate in the mail, so I can dive anywhere in the world. Fun stuff.

Day 6:

Today I planned on exploring the greater city of Nha Trang which I have barely seen with all the diving, but alas my plans were spoiled when I slept through my arm. I made due, catching up on some beach time and having a needed day of relaxation.

Later in the afternoon, Thau, the woman who works at the guest house, took me to eat shrimp pancakes that she has been telling me about for a couple days. While we talked at lunch I slowly began to realize that Thau may have had a little crush on me and might be looking for rich Western husband. I think she was a little disappointed when she realized that I am a young, broke student, and not in the market for wife by any means. Fortunately we were able to smoothly transition into less suggestive conversation. She is really nice and smiley, and we laughed a lot at our attempts at the others language. The shrimp pancakes were amazing, basically fried rice base with veggies, shrimp, and some squid, which you dip in a sweet chili sauce and mix with fresh greens. Delightful.

On the way home Thau let me drive the motorbike, which is to my surprise was manual. She was terrified, and I must admit that I stalled once or twice. I did get into honking like the Vietnamese do, which is at anything on or near the road. I never understood this before, but found it kind of fun when doing it myself.

Once back at the Guest House it was time to get ready to catch my night bus to Hoi An. As Iwas waiting to get picked up, Thau kept playing this song for her adorable niece , and it quickly got stuck in my head. See if it does the same for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoOu1wra3XE&feature=related

I was a little sad to leave, this is the longest time I have stayed in one place since starting my travels, and although I didn't do much on the cultural front I really enjoyed being here.

Back to the Beaches

April 6, 2010

Unfortunately the village gets going early, and at about five thirty they started fixing the tractor right outside the house.

We got going early after some breakfast at the same restaurant, I chatted with Eric, Runnard, and Gaelle and we decided to meet up in Nha Trang that night. Today our main objective was to get to Bon Me Thout so I can catch the bus to Nha Trang at 3:30, so we mainly took to the pavement so we would get there on time.

Our one stop was at a waterfall on a beautiful river. I got very lost on the hike down (Tom had to stay with the bike) and ended up shimmying down a fallen tree to get to the water. I took a dip, read my book, and relaxed. The water was beautiful, and the waterfall up river was pretty big and was a bit too treacherous to get very close.

It took us a bit longer than expected to get to Bon Me Thout, because of traffic so we were a little rushed. I had to go to a bank to get exchange some money to pay Tom, but the first couple wouldn't take my money because my hundred dollar bill was too old. I got a bit frustrated since me debit card was packed away and time was running short, but the third try was the charm at a very unfavorable exchange rate.

We made it to the station on time and I bid a teary farewell to Tom. The bus, excuse me minivan, was a little cramped. I had the pleasure of sitting in the very back corner with my knees at my chest, and the driving made thing interesting to say the least.

I met a Dutch guy named Niels on the bus and we made way to find a hotel. We underestimated the walk a little, but eventually found a strip of hotels near the beach. After some looking around we found a very nice guest house near the beach for a reasonable price and settled in. When I went down to go out for dinner, I saw Niels sitting on the floor eating dinner with the guest house staff, and I was quickly pulled into the circle.

The dinner was a hotpot full of broth on the floor surrounded by individual plates of fish and vegetables which were continually thrown into the pot. The soup was served with rice noodles and was spicy and delicious. Unfortunately only one of the women spoke English (to a degree) so the rest of our conversations were the men forcing shots of Hanoi Vodka upon us, and Niels and I playing with the cute little girl with a rice noodle beard.

After dinner we met up with the people I met in the Village for some drinks. We had a pretty good time which culminated with very late night beer on the beach. It was decided at some point that we would meet up the next to visit the water park located on a nearby island. Exciting.

At first I was a little apprehensive about Nha Trang, feeling that it might be Phuket version two. Fortunately it is very laid back here and has a great mixture of beach and city living.

Born to Be Wild

April 5, 2010

Tom came and picked me up at the guest house at 8:30 in the morning, and we "hit the road jack." First stop was some breakfast and coffee and we then made way up into the highlands.

The road was beautiful, winding through the mountains filled with farms and coffee plantations. I definitely felt a little bit like Jack Nicholson with my bag strapped on the back of the bike, and breaking into a "Born to be Wild" sing along with Tom (My obligatory Easy Rider reference)

We stopped at a flower farm that was quite pretty with lots of Gerber daisies, and then at a coffee plantation which was very cool since I have never actually seen one. Tom keeps on proudly telling me that Vietnamese coffee is the best in the world, and I don't have the heart to disagree with him. The coffee here is to sweet and nutty for me, I deal though.

First "tour" stop was the silk factory. Unlike the factory in Chiang Mai, this was all industrialized, with large machines stringing the silk and doing the weaving. It was cool to see I guess, but not too interesting.

Next up was the Elephant Waterfall, which was pretty awesome. The hike to the bottom was a bit tricky and slippery, but I managed, and the views were quite amazing.

The lunch stop was now in order, and we ate at a restaurant on the top of a hill. It was the usual array of stuff, fish, rice, a little pork, and some veggie soup, and was quite tasty. The pork was three quarters fat and Tom insisted that he eat it, leaving me the meat, which I didn't mind. I have realized that Tom can eat about four bowls of rice in the time that it takes me to eat one. And being that I only eat one or two bowls, he is still literally half my size. I guess that's genetics for you.

Throughout the day we made numerous stops to enjoy the views and avoid "Monkey Bum." My favorite was this old rickety bamboo bridge, which I was terrified to walk across, even though Tom made way casually and told me that people ride across on their motorbikes. As we were heading off someone did in fact ride across, which made my stomach sink. Next on the list was a part of Lac Lake (I think), which was picturesque against the green hills and blue sky. Under the bridge was a little fishing village with homes on the water. Tom kept on telling me that these people are extremely poor. Although I don't completely disagree, it seems to me though that their lifestyle is not poverty stricken, but rather more traditional, probably living like their ancestors have for hundreds of year.

We made it to our little village at Lac Lake (yet this was a different lake) right in time to enjoy the sunset. The lake is amazing, with rice patties and livestock thriving around it's edges. The little village is comprised of bamboo longhouses, which is were we stayed. It was very basic, just a mattress and a mosquito net. The shower was across the road, surrounded by the pig pen and chicken coop.

I spent the rest of the daylight playing Dacou with the boy living in the long house, and I met a couple people taking the same trip as me; a French/English girl Gaelle, and two Norwegian guys, Eric and Runnar.

We ate dinner at the local restaurant, and drank some traditional rice wine. The rice wine is made from fermented rice that is then dried and put into a clay pot. Then when it's time to drink, water is poured into the rice jug, a lid with straws is placed on the top (similar to a hookah), and the pot is continually refilled as it dries up. It tasted ok, a bit like a desert wine, but the experience itself made it worth it.

I slept like a baby, sitting on the back of a bike takes it out of you.

Sorry for the Delay

I know I've fallen behind a bit. Ok a lot. I'm going to try to catch up in the next couple days. I'm still alive though, so all is good.

The Mountains of Dalat

April 4, 2010

Tom met me at the quest house early in the morning and we quickly took off for some breakfast. After some tasty Pho, and some chatting, we rode of to see the sights surrounding Dalat.

We saw quite a few places, but the best part of the day was definitely riding around on the motorcycle. The motorcycle (not the usual vespa type scooters) is big and comphy and has a bit more umph than the smaller bikes. It's a Taiwanese made, 4 stroke, 125 cc bike. Definitely not what Dennis Hopper drove, but still fun. All the rodes wind through the green hills, and you always get a nice breeze and some great views.

Our first stop was the Valley of Love, a usual honeymoon getaway for the Vietnamese (hence its name). The place is extremely cheesy, but the Vietnamese people LOVE it. There were very cartoonish statues of hearts and the like all over the place, some small fair type rides, and pedal swan boats in the lake. The place is actually quite beautiful though. The valley is very small and steep with a small man-made lake in the center, and there are some great views of the surrounding farmlands.

Next up was the old French railway station, which had some cool old trains still there. The point of this stop was to meet with Tom's "cousin," Dennis, who helped Tom sell me on an extended tour through the central highlands. Although I've heard great things about these tours, I hadn't planned on this addition to my budget. They did spur my interest, and after playing a bit coy we got down to a reasonable price since Tom was going to Nha Tran for a wedding, and the trip was on the way. I told them I'd give them a call later.

After a lot of talking we finally got on the road again and headed to Datana Waterfall. Similar to the Valley of Love the waterfall had a Disneylandesque feel to it. There was a roller coaster that went down to the bottom, and I couldn't resist. It was fun, the waterfall was pretty neat, and the hike up was nice, but there was no reason to spend too much time here.

We went up the road a little bit to Tuyen Lam lake, which is another man-made lake, yet still extremely beautiful. After hanging out a bit, we walked up to the Truc Lam/Sangha Pagoda (I was told both names). The Pagoda was very nice, but nothing too special. As I explored the grounds I ran into a Monk, Trung Hoa, who spotted my Western face and was eager to speak English with me. We sat down for a while and went through some of the stories in his textbook. We mainly went over pronunciation (the r and p sounds), and had a lot of fun laughing with/at each other. I left when it was time for Trung Hoa to go to lunch, and made way to the Summer Palace #3.

The Summer Palace was built by the old Vietnames king (I have forgotten his name) as a vacation home in the 50's. The place was extremely beautiful and definitely had a royal feel to it. The best part was there was a lot of information about the house and the royal family.

We made way back into town for some lunch and some coffee. Tom has showed me some cool places to eat around town and we always have a good time chatting over meals.

Tom dropped me off back at the guest house and I researched the usual easy rider tour prices and his suggested itinerary. I couldn't resist, and gave him a call to pick me up in the morning.

I made way out in the evening and found this really fancy tasty looking restaurant. I was curious and looked at the menu. I took a couple double takes at the food prices and the looks of the interior, and decided to give it a try. I had a tasty caramel shrimp clay pot and some Dalat wine. It was delicious, and cost around 80,000 dong ($4).

I then walked around into the night market and joined in a game of dacou (seems to be becoming a regular occurence). It got me pretty tired out and I had to get some sleep for my easy riding in the morning.

Dalat has been fun, a bit cheesy, but beautiful., I can definitely see why the locals come up here to escape the city and the heat.

Off To The Mountains

April 3, 2010

The bus ride to Dalat was long, bumpy, and windy. I slept most of the way, but the highlight was eating a fresh avocado at one of the stops. It was delicious.

Dalat is a famous vacation spot for the Vietnamese. It was first developed by the French, as a cool mountain getaway from the summer heat. The surroundings are beautiful, and the town itself is very quaint, while still being quite large.

We got to Dalat at about 4, and I made way to a pretty nice guest house. The owner was a bit aggressive in trying to sell me a tour, but I got some free rides on his scooter.

I was still very tired and napped a bit before I took off to see the town. I made way to the night market and some tasty food, and after a bit of perusing through the stalls decide to walk back to the guest house.

Unfortunately I had no idea where the guest house was after walking in some circles, and I got picked up by a motorbike. The bike was a bit bigger than the usual scooters, and Tom the driver told me he was an "Easy Rider."

Back at the guest house Tom gave me his sales pitch for day rides around Dalat. Since his prices were cheaper, and his bike was more comfortable, I decided to have him take me around the next day. We would have an early start, and I quickly fell.

I enjoy Dalat so far. The town itself is nothing special, but it is much cooler here (I wore my jeans for the first time since getting to Asia) and the surrounding mountains are beautiful.