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Good morning Vietnam,
We are now in Nha Trang, the beach capital of Vietnam having spent the last 2 days riding our bikes down from Dalat through the highlands and countryside. It has been amazing couple of days and well worth it.
On the first day we met back up with the easy riders over breakfast at our hotel and were introduced to Rich's rider and Gemma's new one because the one from the previous day had just had a baby overnight. So I was now riding with Trung, Katie with Thâm, Gemma with Hông and Rich with the boss Sôn, otherwise known as Rene (no idea why). After breakfast we all loaded up with bags; putting them in industrial sized plastic bags then strapping them to the back of the bike with large lengths of rubber. The riders insisted this was perfectly safe, so we took their word for it…By this point we were starting to look like true Vietnamese people with our overly laden bikes.
The first stop of the morning was at a Buddhist Meditation Centre just outside Dalat, where at one point my rider Trung had spent a few years studying. The site that the centre was on was huge and apparently 500 monks live there at any one time. Trung took us around and explained more about meditation and the Buddhist religion before we sat down to a serving of ginger tea. The centre was packed with Chinese and Vietnamese tour groups; the riders explained that it was currently holiday season here, hence why Dalat was so busy this weekend. Katie and Gemma must have seemed like celebrities to many of the tourists as they turned a lot of heads and kept getting asked for their photo.
After we had explored the monastery for a bit, we clambered back on the bikes and shot off before the crowds decided to do the same. We rode around the Dalat countryside for a short spell before heading back into town to be shown some of the old colonial buildings. We first stopped off at some old French mansions which had a lovely English pub feel about them complete with beer garden! They had apparently been left derelict for years but with the new free market a Saigon company bought and restored them to be used as hotels. From here it was just a short ride to the French influenced Dalat railway station. Apparently the station now serves no functional purpose apart from as a tourist attraction because all the rail lines were cut off during the war. A train does run on a small section of the line for tourists as a return journey travelling 12km through the countryside. It was quite interesting to have a wander around and see the types of trains that were used, many of which were old Russian locomotives and did not look they would have made for a comfortable journey.
We then set off out of Dalat and on to the country roads through the highlands on the way to the national park. On the way we stopped off at a place known as 'love lake' as apparently those who swim in it fall in love, before cruising along past all the flower farms and vegetable patches that surround Dalat. After about 45min of riding we all pulled up for lunch before we entered the National Park because the riders told us there would be no where to eat for about 50km. With high expectations based on the meal we had the following day we were a little disappointed as the spread was good but all relatively bland and contained a lot of sticky rice. After lunch we were all introduced to Vietnamese coffee which is served black and made from Moca beans. We had all had Moca coffee at home before, but we had thought that the chocolate flavour was added when in fact it is the coffee itself that taste like chocolate and it is drunk as a sort of sweet dessert here after dinner.
Almost as soon as we had had lunch the rain started! We had a small burst of rain the day before but were only a short way from the hotel and with no bags so it didn't matter. This time we were looking at a couple of hours riding through the National Park. So the riders sat in the restaurant for 20 minutes or so to see if it eased and with no real sign of stopping decided we should carry on. Therefore we all put on our cagoules and helmets and apprehensively got back on the bikes. We knew we were visiting the country in the wet season but hadn't really factored the sheer amount of rain that would mean. The rain was intense tropical rain and we remained pretty hot even though we were drenched in seconds just standing there. Riding in the rain was surprisingly nice because the rain cooled us down as we rode though it!
Luckily for us this was quite a short burst of rain and after another 20 mins we had passed through the clouds. Once we were clear of the rain the riders stopped at a salmon farm which Hông showed us round, before another short ride to a war memorial when Rene, one of two war veterans riding with us, showed us round and told us how difficult it was to fight in this highlands landscape. It really didn't need too much explaining as all around were vast areas of jungle or steep hills with large waterfalls cascading down them due to the heavy rain. He also explained why the memorial was only listed the dead communist soldiers even though many American and allied soldiers had also fought and died in the area. He also explained how even these days having your family associated in any way with the USA forces still affects your social stature in the country.
We still had half the National Park to ride through at this point and the riders said the next part was probably the most pretty. They weren't wrong; most of the rest of the journey took us down a tremendous snaking road that cut though the mountains. On all sides we had huge waterfalls caused by the heavy rain just before hand, many of which finished just feet away from the road side. The riders explained that quite often the road becomes un-passable because the heavy rain causes large landslides form the steep hills above. I think all four of us rode down the road with smiles on our faces from just looking at the landscape around us, it was very impressive!
Once we reached the other side of the national park we stopped off for a drink and a short rest for the drivers, which in our case became an excuse to sit in some hammocks and have a beer. Then as it was starting to get dark we headed to a small town just off the main road where we would stay for the night. The hotel was very basic but was included in our trip cost so we weren't complaining (very much a hostel than a hotel). We all sat around for an hour or so and cracked out Yahtzee again, then went out with the riders for dinner. The town seemed completely dead but it was a Sunday and definitely not a tourist town so we went to the first place that looked half-open and settled for a standard-noodle soup and a couple of beers for dinner. We went back to the hotel at about 9 and had an early night as we had to get up early to head out the following day.
The following morning we set off at half 8 and then had a quick stop in town for breakfast before riding to our first stop of the day. The riders had said that on the second day of riding they would show us the 'real' Vietnam so our first stop of the day was at a minority village to see their traditional way of life. The 'minority tribes' as they are known are the hill tribes that live in the highlands of Vietnam and most keep to themselves because many don't even speak Vietnamese. They hold on very tight to their own traditions although there have apparently been quite a few attempts to bring some modernisation into their lives by the Hanoi government recently. It was clear very quickly that most tourists don't come here often as although the family we saw were quite welcoming the people over the road hid behind bushes to get a good look at us. They try to keep to their traditions and the way of life, and it was eye-opening to see how simple their houses were. The cooker was built inside the house in the corner on a raised platform because of the risk of flooding and they only had very limited luxuries such as fans. Apparently only 10 years ago many of the tribes wore hardly any clothing because they didn't feel it was necessary.
After our visit to the village we rode on stopping briefly at a river were we got quite a lot of attention from the children who were playing there. Then we carried on riding past all the rice paddies until we reached the next village where we stopped for a break. Whilst we had stopped Rene took us over to a stall which sold rice cakes to show us how they were made. Rice cakes are very similar to pillow cake that we had in Indonesia, with sticky rice made into a cake mix on the outside and cooked banana placed in the middle. After our brief snack stop we then headed on to a long house about 15km along the road. Once we arrived Trung showed us around and introduced us to the lady of the house who was so friendly. She didn't even speak Vietnamese, let-alone English; so our rider had to translate everything for us, yet he didn't really speak the tribal language, so communicating was a struggle, again highlighting the diversity of culture in this fascinating country! Neither the less she made us feel very welcome and even invited us into her house where we all sat down and took a photo with her. Once she realised what we were asking for, she immediately shot off to get changed and put on what appeared to be her best clothes as well as doing her hair, she almost took as long as Gemma to get ready but it made for a really lovely photo.
Once we said out goodbyes to the host we all got back on the bikes and then had a very long ride to our lunch spot only stopping briefly to be shown rice being dried and filtered. It took a good hour and a half so we had very sore bums by the time we reached the lunch spot. Our riders had decided to take us to one of their normal hangouts that does seafood. As usual we let the riders order and we ended up with a lovely platter of squid, tuna, prawns and loads of veg. Lunch was followed by green tea as once again we watched as the rain started to fall around us. Que donning our lovely cagoules again and off in to the rain we rode.
This time the rain was much heavier than the day before and we were on a much bigger road with trucks passing quite often, it made for quite an experience. At this point we were only 20km from Nha Trang which was a small saving grace as everywhere we looked there were grey skies and the rain was constant and heavy. Eventually we started to see a clear patch of blue in the distance with the sun shining through. All the riders point towards it saying 'Nha Trang' and that's exactly where we headed. As we got closer sure enough the sky cleared to amazing sunshine and we rode towards the coast past loads of rice paddies with the hills of the highlands in the distance.
As we got closer to Nha Trang itself the road changed form a large highway to a coastal road that snaked along the coastline through a few fishing towns were we stopped for photos and to take in the views. Then eventually we rounded the final bend and could see Nha Trang stretching along the coast in front of us.
When we arrived in Nha Trang we got taken directly to our hotel that had been booked in advance by the riders and we were realised to find it was right in the centre of the backpacker part of town an minutes from the beach. The hotel itself was quite nice and we decide we would all splash on an AC room. After a few hours of sorting our stuff having proper showers and a bit of an explore around the nearby streets and beach front we have all just met up on the hotels roof terrace for a couple of beers and are off out for dinner as its Katie's birthday tomorrow.
We have decided to go out to a place called the 'Sailing Club' for dinner as a special treat. We are unfortunately due to be getting on night bus tomorrow night to head up to Hoi An so will be making the most of being in a nice resort town while we are here.
Will let you know about the rest of our adventures soon.
Lots of love
Martin, Katie, Gemma and Rich
- comments
dad s Martin. I've just been looking at Nha Trang on the satellite and noticed a large airport to the south of the town. If you look very closely, there is half a massive bomber parked off the runway half way down and what looks like fighters parked up towards the top. Is the airport working or just a museum from the war ????????
Mum Hi Martin, Katie, Gemma & Rich, Sounds like a great experience but not sure I would like the bike riding much especially in the rain. Hope Katie enjoyed her birthday. Can't believe how quickly the time is going. XXXX