Beachlife!!!

Sunday 2^nd August 2015 

I woke up this morning at 5.57am just three minutes before my alarm was about to go off! I had to be up early to get the bus to Mui Ne the first stop on my journey north through Vietnam. I checked out and headed across the road to where the bus was leaving from. I had to be there at 6.45am for a 7.15am start but the bus was late and we didn’t leave until about 7.45am which was a pain as I would have enjoyed the extra sleep but it didn’t matter too much as I slept on the bus.

There was just one stop along the way during the five hour journey which was good as I just wanted to get there. The bus was supposed to drop me off outside my hotel but missed it. I was glad I looked at the map on my phone when I did otherwise I might have ended up in the next town over! As it was I just had to walk 3km back to the hotel and I tried to think about it as good exercise.

Once I got there and checked in I went through my bag quickly to sort out my laundry which I took to the wash shop and then hit the beach. I spent the next three hours enjoying the sunshine moving every time the shade of the coconut trees caught up with me until the sun went behind some clouds.

I sat a while longer before walking the length of the beach and back taking in all the huge resorts with their deck chairs on the sand. By the time I got back to the hostel it was pushing on for 6pm and I was feeling pretty hungry but I needed to sort out my bus ticket for my onward journey in a few days. I was lucky to get a cheap motorbike taxi there and back as I couldn’t be bothered walking.

Once that was sorted I could relax so went for some dinner and then a walk along the shops to see what is about before returning to the hostel to wash the sand off and head to bed.

Monday 3^rd August 2015

Last night was a butt ache of a sleep it seems everyone in the dorm forgot to behave like decent people first off there were three girls talking loudly until late, next two guys arrived back at 3am talking and switching on the light and finally the same three girls got up at 4am to watch the sunrise and were talking and put the light on and then a guy who wasn’t even in our room came and yelled at a girl to get up as their bus was leaving. The sunrise girls came back at 7am to pack for their bus and were making so much noise that it was game over.

I got up and went for a run along the beach. I only got a short distance before I had to stop obviously I need to get back into running! I stopped and did some yoga for about an hour before walking back along the beach. I had a shower as I was covered in sand and then picked up my laundry and then got some breakfast by the pool.

I was going to have a swim and lounge there for a while but it was super busy so I just headed to the beach. I forgot my book so read the news and slept all day. Around 3.30pm when it had clouded over I headed back to the pool to get some guacamole and have a swim but it seemed the universe didn’t want me in the pool as it started to rain pretty heavily. I took shelter and when it eased off went and had a shower and got rid of all the sand in my ears.

the view from my prime sun worshiping position

I chilled out for a bit putting my laundry away and sorting out my bag before going to dinner at an Indian restaurant. The food wasn’t terrible but it also wasn’t great. I left feeling pretty heavy so took a long walk along the shop fronts and found an organic soap shop where the sales assistant followed me around I never intended to buy anything and her sticking to me like glue made me even more reluctant to buy. She was clearly disappointed when I left.

Back at the hostel there was no one else in the room which was nice I could relax and upload some pictures and what not before getting an early night

Tuesday 4^th August 2015

This morning was my last little stint on the beach for a while I got up around 8am and went for a run along the beach I ran the same distance as yesterday but where yesterday was a struggle today was a dream. Muscle memory is an amazing thing! After running I did a bit of yoga and then walked back along the beach where I sat and enjoyed the sunshine for a good wee while.

Around 10.30am I headed back to the hostel to shower and pack up annoyingly there was no power and no generator so I had to shower in the dark and then try and find all my stuff mostly using the light coming from the door which was a pain.

I checked out and then went to eat by the pool annoyingly most of the options were unavailable due to the power outage (although the pool bit had a generator so what’s that about???) I ate and then headed to the end of the little lane to wait for the bus to Da Lat.

breakfast views

It was a bit of a wait and when the bus came the guy only had room numbers rather than names but was only picking up four people but we all came out of the dorm room which was a hassle. I knew I was meant to be on that bus as I knew what company was travelling with but others weren’t so sure and it took a few minutes to work out.

Once we got on the road I tuned out to the world and watched the countryside flash past the windows there were quite a few awesome photo ops but I missed them all or power lines got in the way. The road was pretty decent with construction going on here and there but for the most part although it was winding up the mountains it was pretty chilled out and our driver was good and drove sensibly not like some of the other idiots who flew past us.

We pulled into Da Lat and it was about a ten minute walk to the hostel where I was staying. The place is really quiet and chilled out and at the moment pretty empty which made a nice change from the packed dorm rooms at the last few places. The hostel staff put on a “family dinner” for all the guests which was really tasty and it was eat as much as you want which we all did.

After eating we sat about talking and organised a day trip for tomorrow before heading to bed.

HCMC an introduction to Vietnam

Friday 31^st July 2015

I woke up early this morning as there were a bunch of people up and about to catch a bus somewhere. It worked out well for me as it gave me time to pack and have breakfast before the tuk tuk came to pick us up to take us to the bus stop.

We arrived at the bus with a bit of time to kill. We had been sold a VIP bus and actually it was pretty swish with comfy chairs and a free bottle of water as well as a juice (which had chunks in it and was weird)

We set off and I mostly tuned out the world by listening to music but I kept being drawn into the film that was playing (not in English) in which a small fat girl had magic powers I didn’t get the storyline at all.

We arrived at the border and it was a all a bit of a hassle at the beginning they had collected our passports (I think to check everyone had a visa) but then they had to hand them out so everyone could get stamped out and it took far longer than if we just had our own and walked up to the counter. Even more long because then they took them again we drove 50m into Vietnam and the process was repeated.

We arrived into Ho Chi Minh City around 4pm and headed off to find our hostel as it was the weekend we booked ahead as every time I looked there was less and less choice. We arrived and checked in and dumped our bags then I went to get a sim card it was a long process as first I didn’t have money then I needed my passport and then it just didn’t work for a while but finally it was done and we were on our way.

At the hostel a girl had mentioned a vegan place so we hit that up for dinner which was pretty delicious then took a look at the market before coming back to the hostel to relax.

Saturday 1^st August 2015

Five weeks till I touch down in the UK eeekkkk there’s still so much to see!

I woke up kind of early this morning as I had a lot that I wanted to see and only one day to see it all I started off with my free breakfast at the hostel fresh bread and eggs was a bit of a treat.

First stop was the War Remnants museum on the way there I popped into the market we went to last night as there was a huge section that was closed last night. I took a wander around but nothing caught my eye and I continued on to the museum.

I paid the entrance fee and checked out all the tanks, helicopters, planes and guns that are parked out the front before heading into the museum. It’s all really well laid out with different rooms holding different exhibits all with different aspects to the war as well as the history and what not. I spent about two hours walking about looking at the pictures and reading stories about this dark chapter in the Vietnam story.

Aircraft outside the museum

 

Torture devices

tanks

interesting bomb statistics and some artwork made of shrapnel

Coming out of the museum I headed for the independence palace, conveniently all of HCMC major attractions lie within walking distance of each other and the walk between is rather pleasant with large tree lined streets and plenty of pavement to walk on. I arrived at the palace only to be told it was closed for lunch and didn’t reopen until 2pm (what is up with these super extended lunch periods it wasn’t even 11.30am when I got there???)

I took some snaps of the outside and continued on my merry way to the cathedral which was also closed for lunch but I did get a good laugh out of all the countless people doing photoshoots outside in the most ridiculous poses! The post office was right across the street so I went in and got some stamps. The HCMC central post office is an attraction in itself. For one it’s beautiful and for two it’s heaving with people working at the counters or the small market stand in the centre etc. in no time I had bought my stamps and was on my way.

The Independence Palace and Cathedral

 

HCMC Central Post Office

Since I was close by I decided to take a look at the Saigon Opera House, again it was closed so I couldn’t go inside but I peered through the doors and took some photos as well as considering buying a ticket to the acrobatic performance but at almost USD$25 for the crappiest seats in the house I decided not to.

Ho Chi Minh Square

It was now about 12pm and I had to be at the travel agent at 1pm to get my bus to the Cu Chi tunnels so I started walking back towards the hostel taking in the fancy district and Ho Chi Minh Square along the way

I stopped off in the market to get a quick bite to eat but needn’t have rushed myself as in the end I got to the travel agent and sat and waited there for 20mins before someone came and took me to another shop down the road where I waited another 20mins. Just when I was getting a bit annoyed at the 40minute delay the driver came over and we all got on the bus.

The bus then drove around the corner and stopped for a further 30minutes this wasn’t a great start. 

By the time we got moving we were already over an hour late the guide then told us he was a newbie and didn’t really speak very good English but when we got to the tunnels we would have another guide. Despite being so far behind schedule we stopped off at a handicrafts store where no one bought anything but we still had to wait for 20minutes.

When we finally arrived (it took two hours to drive 75km) we were told to wait while he went and got the entrance tickets and found our guide. Next thing you know he hands us our tickets and says to follow him we walk through the gate (a process that takes an age as they scan each person and then give them a sticker) and then we were inside waiting once more.

At this point another guide starts kicking off at one of the girls in our group as she accidentally took two tickets at first we thought he was joking but nope he was fully laying into the poor girl and it took several big guys plus our guide to get him to back off.  Thankfully he wasn’t our guide.

We then followed our dude who then told us to join another (already rather large group) meaning that there was about 50 people all cramming about to hear one guy talk and all trying to see what he’s talking about which was somewhat impossible. Also he had already started when we joined him so we missed the introduction and a bunch of stuff at the start

As it was such a large group taking pictures was also almost impossible as to get close  enough I had to wait for people to move but then I missed the next thing as he didn’t wait for the group to arrive just started his spiel once he arrived which for the amount paid was a bit of a joke really.

We walked through and saw the fox holes (I really wanted to get in one but there was no time) the dog traps and jungle traps which were my favourite part. We saw an original tank that has been left to rust in the jungle and then the shooting range which we were forced to wait at while whoever wanted to shoot did.

Finally it was time for the tunnels which is what we had come to see, unfortunately though we only got to see a small section of tunnel and there were so many people that it was a horrible experience

Not helped by the two girls in front of me who were documenting the entire journey with obnoxious pictures (seriously girls a few photos is enough you don’t need 20 plus pictures EACH in a frigging tunnel!) and the girl behind me who was freaking out and pushing me the entire time

Dog traps

Me in a teeny tiny tunnel

Finally there was a film that was probably interesting but I couldn’t hear it over the two English guys behind me talking about how Walt Disney had himself cryogenically frozen and that America is due to start micro chipping babies from next year…

When the film ended we got back on the bus and drove two hours back to the city. We should have arrived at 6.30pm at the latest but actually arrived just before 8pm so it was lucky I hadn’t bought a ticket to see the acrobats at the opera house.

I went straight for food and met an interesting English expat who was telling me about vegan restaurants in Vietnam and how to tell people I’m vegetarian in Vietnamese which was pretty awesome! Once I was feeling satisfied I went and bought a bus ticket to Mui Ne tomorrow morning roll on the beach! Once that was done it was bedtime