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This challenge was organised by the hostel and I basically signed myself up to drive a moped (scooter with gears) from Hue to Hoi An for 6 hours. This sounded like a great idea at the time but as I stood by my bike in the morning, in pouring rain with a lack of sleep, I did question my intentions. When I booked my trip the previous night there was a couple who had also signed up for it, but I did not know who they were. It was the only thing at that time in the morning that gave me confidence, knowing that these two from England had never ridden a scooter before and were attempting the same challenge as me. How hard could it be!?
After an epic journey that took us through the thickest rain I have ever seen, along a deserted coastal road made famous by the top gear boys, I couldn't help but feel that it was the most exciting and fun thing I have done on the entire trip. The scenery was beautiful, made even more impressive by the weather (as you can see in the pics) and it was a pleasure getting to see a part of Vietnam you wouldn't otherwise see if you took the normal tourist route. I high fived the local children at nearly 30kph, which hurt! And rode alongside a lot of locals as they made their way through their normal lives. It wasn't without incident however! One of our riders managed to knock down an old man, wheel spin into a fuel pump at a petrol station and generally cause me a lot of entertainment as we made our way through the busy streets of Danang. But believe it or not, we made it to Hoi An alive and well, and I can't wait to get a scooter on my return to the UK!
I was pleasantly surprised with Hoi An on our arrival. I used the remaining 30 minutes of our scooter hire to check out the town and loved diving in and out of the traffic. Their traffic system here seems to make much more sense to me than our own and I love the ability to use initiative and anticipation in order to navigate your way through merging traffic in comparison to our "follow the slowest leader" like roads.
Hoi An is a cosy little town and I felt quite at home until I was met by the same attitude from the locals as I had experienced further north. And there I was thinking I was far enough south! It was seemingly impossible to find a tailors I could trust to trade with and I decided to save myself the money in case of further scams along my journey. I made some friends in my hotel and we hired some scooters and drove to some local ruins called "My Son". Rather unimpressive we thought but the fun journey there had made it worthwhile anyways. As we jumped on our bikes to make our way home we were pleasantly surprised not to have been caught up in the local scam where the locals sabotage our bikes and charge us outrageous money to fix it. One minute later however, and I noticed one of the girls rear tyre was deflated. Sure enough the locals played the game perfectly and she ended up paying 200,000 VND ($5) for a new inner tube that would normally cost 15,000 VND (75 cents), further adding to my cynical attitude towards the locals.
The problem with this situation I figure is that if we fight back, we would only further enrage their seeming hatred for us westerners already, and I can't help but feel this has something to do with the war against communism and the US still! I am not the only person who is travelling and feels like this, but people who I meet travelling from the south seem to have had a different experience. This only goes to prove in my eyes, that the north south divide that even the Lonely planet guide describes, is ever more present and the effect is profound. Since I have been south of Hoi An in Nha Trang and now in Da Lat the locals smile at me, welcome me, laugh and joke with me. I feel as though I am welcome and although I am yet to see whether this continues the further south, it does make sense. The US helped the southerners fight the northerners and all Vietnamese people associate westerners with the US. The south like us and are happy for our support, be it in tourism or during the war (with the US) and the northerners fought the westerners in war and now in tourism, or that is how it feels to me. After this trip I doubt I will ever feel the need to come back to Vietnam unless my experience in the south improves.
And that takes me too tell you about Nha Trang. After leaving Hoi An on a bad note and catching a sleeper bus, possibly the most uncomfortable thing you can do in your life, I arrived into 30 degrees at 6:30 in the morning and a 30 minute hike to the backpackers.
I am very pleased I made the effort as the hostel was a nice place to stay. Good people, clean rooms and a good vibe about the place. I bumped into other travels I had met in previous places and we exchanged stories of our experiences since we last met.
I spent the day on the beach under a sun shade out of the heat making sure I wouldn't burn, but guess what, I burnt! I couldn't believe it! I was being so careful and yet somehow the sun reflected off the sea and I burnt like an English man and it was properly pink, I was so disappointed! That night I was convinced to join a pub crawl and I enjoyed a good night out. The following day I joined the same people to a rather alternative theme park on an island just off the coast. It was the best day out (only just better than the top gear challenge) with some fun people as we played like children in the water park and on the rides afterwards. The water helped with the hangover however the rides after lunch did not and I was pleased to get an early night after a long day.
As one of the guys that day commented, it is funny how that day was the best experience of Vietnam we had had (and agreed on) and it was in the most western place in this country! What does that tell you and me!?
The following day we were booked onto a, not so boozy, booze cruise and enjoyed swimming, snorkelling around a very dirty and unimpressive reef, diving from the top of the boat, karaoke, beach volleyball and drinking around a floating bar. I was happy to help out the boats band and sing "hey Jude" and found myself taking the mic and organising another pub crawl. The next day I had my first chill out day and we simply sat in the common room and watched two movies whilst watching the rain from the comfort of our sofa.
The following day I caught my bus to Da Lat and joined Emmet, someone I met on the bus, in searching for a hotel. This proved more challenging than we previously thought and we rewarded ourselves with lunch, however I ended up ordering myself ice cream for starters and bolognaise for main by mistake.
That night we played some pool, met up with a friend from Nah Trang and booked ourselves onto a canyoning tour for the following day. We joined three guys from Israel and we had a laugh abseiling down dry cliffs and down a 25 metre waterfall (of which you can see in my pictures). We also enjoyed some cliff jumps into the river and I was the first to make the largest of all. At 11 metres (2-3 story building) with a run up required, I missed the out cropping rocks and trees and made a sweet landing. The only other person to try, managed to land almost on his belly and took a smash to his face (in the pictures). He was fine and it was very funny, but I was surprised that none of the men from Israel who have just finished four years patrolling the Gaza strip in the army, didn't! Forth time lucky and I proved to them it wasn't so scary after all!
I enjoyed an evening writing postcards and having dinner with my friends before getting an early night.
And for today... well, I have dedicated it to you. I have spent 8 hours today uploading pictures and updating my blog. I hope you have enjoyed it and weren't too disappointed by the watered down description. The Korean GP has just finished and I can't help but say I am disappointed with the result! Come on Hamilton... you can do it!!! :-)
Love to all, and here's to the next couple of weeks of the unknown!
- comments
Taff Gilly & Marielle You posted this new blog while I was commenting on the last one! Coincidence! Thanks again for sharing, Phil. We're enjoying it all so much, and it sounds like it's getting better and better for you. "Onwards & Upwards"!!
cousin So great to follow your trip, was waiting for your new post! Thank you! Hope you'll be able to get in touch with Hui in Saigon! Looking forward to your next adventures!
Dominic mc grellis Well man glad to hear your starting to enjoy your trip,not that far behind you,hitting the big city next hope to see you there,
Dad & Mum The 'Challenge' sounded pretty exciting, but reading on, you're jumping off cliffs into a river!!! By the way! everyone is supporting Webber for CH. (nice guy - he deserves it). Where are you off to next? where-ever it is take care, have fun. Much love.
sarah Tarrylea hey bro...sounds as if you are having a blast...its great to be able to get a glimpse of what you are up to...thank you for the effort you are putting in. You are making me hungry for a visit to SEA... take care and continue having funxxx