beaches, bicycles and broken arms

Wednesday 12^th August 2015

I had a bus to catch at 8am this morning so was up and stuffing my face full of eggs and pancakes far earlier than I wanted to be. I checked out and then headed down the road to the bus which bizarrely was a sleeper bus but this time I was on a bottom bunk.

The drive to Da Nang only took about 45 minutes so I was there before I had a chance to think about it. I got off the bus and walked for about 15minutes to the hostel which was tiny with just two rooms but the rooms are huge. I chucked my things in a locker and then set about trying to find a bike to rent.

There was only one at the hostel and as there were two of us we needed another we ended up going on this wild goose chase to find bicycles only to end up back at the hostel after giving up so that we could hire a scooter instead. We walked into the hostel and there were two bikes there but no staff.

We waited an age and eventually the girl appeared it seemed she had been asleep somewhere. We hired the bikes and headed to the Lady Buddha statue which is huge she stands at 75m tall and is 17 stories high apparently each level is dedicated to a different Buddha but unfortunately they wouldn’t let us inside other than on the ground floor.

The cycle there took about 40minutes thankfully only the last part was uphill as I had a flat tyre and it was proving difficult to get moving upwards. At the same place there is also a beautiful pagoda with many statues and bonsai trees as well as a fantastic view.

We stayed there for about 90minutes and then free wheeled down the hill and stopped at the beach for the remainder of the afternoon. It was still really hot but the sun was behind the clouds which made laying out a bit more pleasant. We stayed there until about 6pm laughing at the hilarious music booming out of the loud speakers and watching the scores of people out for an early evening swim.

Back at the hostel we showered and then walked a few blocks over to a vegan place I found on line the food was pretty fantastic and we had the whole place to ourselves so service was quick.

Back at the hostel I spent time uploading ever more pictures and reading before heading to bed.

Thursday 13th August 2015

This morning we set out on another adventure on the bikes first of all we stopped off to sort out bus tickets and then cycled about 12km to the marble mountains which aren’t really mountains but rocky outcrops. We paid to get in which for once was cheap as chips and then walked up the 100 or so steps to the top.

At the top there are four caves and a bunch of pagodas which I spent about four hours exploring it was super beautiful and I took a ton of photos. I climbed back down and got back on the bike and cycled back into town and out the other side to the other beach where we sat in chairs reading for several hours

On the cycle back disaster struck when I got knocked off my bike and wrecked my arm, knee ankle and shredded my foot. The arm was the worst. I walked back to the hostel where the girl got me ice and her dad who is a Dr before he even looked at it he said I needed an x-ray which was right around the corner it showed it was broken so he arranged a splint for me.

Once that was down I got some food and headed to bed in agony

Back to the land of sand and sea - Nha Trang

Friday 7^th August 2015

I woke up before my alarm went off this morning, although my eyes felt like they were glued shut. I got up and finished packing and then went downstairs we had been told we would be picked up at 7am by the bus so I was keen to eat before then but the dude was taking his sweet time and assured me it would be fine which it was.

We got picked up by a coach which took us to the actual bus which was waiting to go when I got there, the driver was angry and was rushing me but after I got on we still sat about for a while. The drive to Nha Trang was pretty stunning (at least the bits I saw were I did sleep a lot of the journey)

We stopped for 30mins which was far too long and everyone was anxious to get moving again but all the bus drivers were having a merry old time all drinking together. We finally got moving again and only had another hour or so before we reached Nha Trang.

As soon as we arrived I booked my next bus to Hoi An as I’ve heard it books out quite a few days in advance it will be my first sleeper bus in Vietnam which should be interesting. I then walked to the hostel which was just around the corner, they were full there but arranged for me and another couple of guys to go to their new hostel by taxi it was actually just around the corner which was sweet.

I checked in and had to wait about ten minutes or so while the room was cleaned then went up and got changed and headed to the beach getting some food along the way. At the beach I found a nice sunny spot and fell asleep I stayed there most of the afternoon until it looked like it might rain so I walked back to the hostel and had a look at things to do in Nha Trang.

After a while I took a shower and then walked to the beach and along the beach front as well as checking out a night market. About 7pm I was feeling hungry so had a huge dinner and then a huge ice-cream and walked back to the hostel and crashed! So much sleeping all day made me sleepy!

Saturday 8^th August 2015

Since there are no windows in my room it was hard to tell what time it was when I woke up when finally I managed to pull myself awake it was around 8.30am which I thought was a good time to be up and about. I got dressed and then headed up to the roof for breakfast.

After eating I sat about for a bit and then headed to the beach via the Nha Trang market which was a heap of crap. All I wanted was a cheap book I could read on the beach but all the market sold was tacky tourist tat, pretty much every stall sold stuffed alligators who buys those? 

I got to the beach and sat for a bit in the shade then moved into the sun. I did this a few times as it was really scorching in the sun and even just putting my feet on my sarong I could feel the heat coming up from the sand.

After a few hours of being a beached whale I went for a walk along the length of the beach which was absolutely filthy. Among the garbage strewn all along the break line was a dead rat, a dead bird loads of dead fish and crabs, a used needle, several bloody tampons, several condoms (I’m assuming used), plastic bottles Styrofoam cups and food containers, millions of banana peels, pineapple cores, mango stones, and a whole bunch of other disgusting waste which was a real shame.

 

I walked back to where I had been sitting all morning and no sooner had I laid down my sarong then the rain started it seemed light but the guys renting out the sunbeds were rushing everyone off the beach so I thought it was going to get heavier so I went back to the hostel for a bit.

It was good because I could use the bathroom and refill my water bottle. The rain didn’t last long so I headed back via the supermarket to get a few snacks. On the beach I promptly fell asleep and woke up only when the sun was going down and it was cold.

Back at the hostel I showered and then found a hostel for Hoi An once that was done I went to dinner and then walked back to the hostel the long way along the beach. By the time I got back it was about 9.30pm and I chilled in bed reading for a while.

Sunday 9^th August 2015

Today was my last day in Nha Trang. I got up and got ready for the day then checked out and left my bag in the luggage area and headed out to explore I started out at about 9.30am first heading Nha Tho Nui which is a church. As far as churches go it wasn’t anything special the most amusing part was the bride taking photos out front.

Next stop was the Long Son Pagoda which took about 15minutes to walk to from the church from the front it’s pretty plain but inside is pretty beautiful and around the back there are two Buddha’s. One is a reclining Buddha the other is seated which you can go inside. While I was on my way up the 150 steps to the seated Buddha a man stopped me for a blessing in which I sat inside a huge bell and he banged on it. He spoke no English but I understood enough to know that he wanted extortionate amount for me to sit in a bell.

I think this is some sort of Vietnamese Wheel of life - if you can read Vietnamese please tell me!!

inside the Pagoda

Feet of the reclining Buddha

The seated Buddha and I

inside the seated Buddha where i met two amazingly cute old dudes who loved my Ganesh tattoo

The last place I walked to was the Cham Towers which are ancient temple ruins it took about 45minutes to walk. They were pretty small but the view from the top was pretty nice and you could go inside a few of the temples and there was also a small museum although all of the information was in Vietnamese so I’m not sure what it was about.

I walked back to town along the beach and spent a few hours sunbathing before going to get some dinner before the night bus. I ate a huge pizza and felt pretty full. At the hostel I was able to take a shower and get all my things together before being picked up at 6.30pm.

The mini bus dropped us at the bus stop and we checked in and all piled onto the weirdest night bus with almost fully reclining seats. I was on a top bunk in the middle but it was actually surprisingly comfortable and I slept for most of the journey. 

feeling a bit nervous about bunk beds on a bus...

action, adventure and a lot of pagodas

Wednesday 5th August 2015 

This morning I was up early as I had booked a day trip to go canyoning which is basically just abseiling down waterfalls. I was up and ready for breakfast by 7am and then a van came to pick a group of us up at around 7.30am for a full day out on the river.

Altogether there were 15 people on the trip which was an ok size defiantly wouldn’t have wanted it to be any bigger. It took about an hour to drive to the start point where we enjoyed 3km of rafting. We split into two boats and off we went. Although it was a laugh the river really was too low for this to be taken seriously. The rapids are only grade 1-2 which is extremely easy but more than that the river was so low our boat was consistently stranded on rocks.

We had a few close calls where we almost tipped but this wouldn’t have been an issue at all as the river was only waist deep in its deepest points and a few times when the raft was really stuck on a rock and the guide got out to push the water was only ankle deep. But like I say it was a bit of a laugh (even if we did all almost suffer black eyes from low hanging electrical wires, bridges and trees)

Once the rafting was completed we had to wait for the other group who spent even more time stuck on rocks then we did. Once everyone had arrived we gave back our paddles and were given harnesses and carabineers as well as belay devices (to add to the life jackets, helmets and gloves that we already wore) we then piled into two jeeps and set off down a horrible bumpy dirt track where the driver alternated between driving like the next rally car champion and a grandma.

We got to the spot where we spend most of the day and walked a few hundred metres to a tree where we were to learn the basics of abseiling. The practice run was no higher than 1.5m which made it a bit of a lousy place as it wasn’t high enough to really allow you to get the feeling of the positons but as I have abseiled many times before I felt pretty comfortable after my first go and didn’t bother with another attempt.

After only about 10 minutes everyone was happy to get stuck in to the real thing. It seemed we had all be told different things to expect and most of us were a bit shocked to find that the first abseil would be 30m high. It was a ‘dry abseil’ meaning that there was no waterfall but we still ended up in the river.

Getting to the start point of the abseil was probably the worst part about it as it was steep and slippery and narrow with barely enough space for the five people who came down first. I happened to be second which was good as I didn’t want to hang about waiting. As soon as I was clipped in I dropped myself over the edge and started down.

The first section we had to walk ourselves backwards which was pretty easy and once I got the hang of really leaning back I felt pretty confident. About half way there was an overhang which is where we had to start jumping which is pretty fun. Before I knew it I was waist deep in the river at the bottom scrambling over to the side to wait for the rest of the group.

Once everyone was down we spent some time sliding down a natural waterslide in which my foot got caught and I was chucked upside down under the water the shock of that as well as the cold knocked the wind out of me but as soon as I had paddled back over to the rocks I was fine.

We all hauled ourselves out of the water and took turns jumping from a rock into the river it was only about 4m high so wasn’t really scary at all. By this stage we were all pretty cold but we jumped back into the river for a group photo and then swam over to the bank got out and walked to the waterfall.

We sat and had lunch looking at this huge thundering 30m waterfall and wondering how the heck we were meant to come down it. We watched as the guide set up the ropes and then came down himself. He is a strong guy and even he was struggling against the current.

Lunch was actually a little feast and by the time it was over we all felt ready for a nap but that also might have been because we were so cold!

Eventually it was time to head up the waterfall we had to wade across the river which meant getting back in the freezing cold water and then climbing up the very slippery rocks alongside of the falls. On this side the water looked even more powerful and we were all quite nervous.

Unfortunately I ended up right near then end which wasn’t ideal as I saw so many people slip and fall and wipe out in the waterfall but all made it down (except for one girl who came back up after a few steps and did a much less powerful abseil as she wasn’t strong enough to move her feet against the current) by the time it was my turn I was a nervous wreck but I sucked it up and waded into the waterfall.

I had a few hairy moments when I lost my footing and fell once but thankfully it was out of the most powerful stream and I landed on my butt with my head above the water. After taking a few breaths to compose myself I went further. A few steps later my foot was trapped in between two rocks and after managing to pry it loose I then lost my footing and slammed it into another rock causing me great pain. Thankfully I was through the worst and made my way gingerly to the bottom where I joined the others.

We waded back across the river and watched the last few people before heading back up to the jeep. My foot was in agony and I had to limp up but got to the top feeling pleased I had done it. We had to ride in the jeeps a fair distance back to the van where we got changed into dry clothes and continued back to town.

We arrived back at the hostel around 5pm feeling pretty knackered I had a hot shower and then walked to the bus ticket place to sort out my next bus then it was back to the hostel to chill out for a while until dinner which was another family style dinner but this time with rather a lot more guests. We had Vietnamese rice paper rolls which were delicious.

After dinner we all sat about chatting and what not until late when it was decided to be bedtime

Thursday 6^th August 2015

This morning I didn’t want to wake up I had a bad sleep and was feeling tired and grumpy but I hauled myself out of bed and had a fun day. I started off with breakfast in the hostel and saying goodbye to new friends before renting a scooter for the day to buzz about on.

I started out stopping for some petrol and then it was about a 20minute ride to Linh Phuoc Pagoda. The entire thing is tiled in a mosaic of broken earthenware and it looks stunning its huge with one section going up seven floors which you can climb up to and look at the different Buddha seated on each level as well as take in stunning views of the countryside.

 

There is also a huge standing Buddha as well as two prayer halls full of beautiful ornamentation and then two big exhibition halls with beautiful carved wood and huge carved rock pieces. There is also the weirdest little ‘fun house’ attraction which I think is meant to be the levels of hell but it’s all in Vietnamese so I wasn’t sure it’s pretty dark down there and full of paper mache creatures and scenes of torture it was weird and a little bit disturbing but also very funny

                 

After taking a quick bathroom break in which I afterwards realised was the men’s I was back on the road heading about 25minutes to Datanla Falls. This place although beautiful is a bit of a money making scam, first you pay an entrance fee which at 10.000VND wasn’t much (less than USD $1) but then inside there was a roller coaster to get down to the falls which of course I went on because why would you not???

But little did I know that once down there was another waterfall you could go to but it could only be accessed by lift. Had I known that I would have spent my VND going to see the thing that I came to see instead of playing on the roller coaster but no matter I saw the main fall and walked as far as I could to see the big one and then headed back to my scooter to carry on my merry journey

Next I was heading to Truc Lam Pagoda but on the way stopped off at Ho Tuyen Lam Lake to take a picture since it looked pretty stunning there wasn’t much lakeside except for some touristy shops and a few stalls selling boat rides but I passed on them and kept going up the hill.

Truc Lam Pagoda is also a working monastery and is very peaceful and beautiful the grounds are amazing full of Bonsai trees and flowers everywhere as well as immaculate lawns and beautiful views. I spent quite some time walking around the grounds as well as visiting the many prayer halls.

                    

                 

Back at my scooter I headed back towards town driving into dark stormy clouds. Firstly I popped into the post office and got a bunch of stamps and to post my last batch of postcards. It was a bit of a mission to find and the stamps were more expensive than in HCMC so who knows if the other ones will arrive!

I went from there around the Dalat Lake to the flower park admission was a bit more than it should be but the place was pretty nice with vibrant colours everywhere, bushes cut into bizarre shapes and a ton of bonsai trees! As well as a garden centre a rose nursery and if you walked all the way to the back a lake full of rubbish and a sinking rusty barge. The water features in the park really let it down as they were so polluted. The other lake was full of slime and smelt pretty bad.

                                                                               

                                                

                      

                                

At the end of my visit the clouds really rolled in and I turned to see a wall of rain moving towards me so walked briskly for cover in a shop that sold tea. None of the staff seemed to mind me sitting in the corner at one of their tasting tables until the rain passed.

When it eased off I made my way towards the golden Buddha statue but I couldn’t find it and the rain was getting on again so I abandoned further sightseeing and went back to the hostel it was 5pm and id been out since about 9.30am so I felt like I’d made a decent go of it.

Back at the hostel I had a shower to dry off and then went and got some food at a nearby vegetarian restaurant then went back to the hostel where I uploaded some photos before our “family dinner” the food was incredible as was the company and after eating (and checking out in advance for the early morning) I was social for a while before heading up to pack up my stuff and get some sleep.