Day 50 12/12/2009

Jen and I hired out a motor bike to go see the sights around Dalat. To be honest it wasn’t what I expected, personally I thought Sapa was a much better mountain town. This place seemed tacky as it is also considered the honeymoon destination of Vietnam. There were boats shaped as swans on the lake and flower gardens.

We headed out to see a 7 story Pagoda (Linh Phuoc) a couple of kilometers out of town that was decorated completely with broken porcelain that was very impressive. And the view from the top was cool as you could see all the farm land surrounding it.

We then basically got lost and ending motorbiking around Dalat for a good hour or two before seeing the Hang Nga Crazy House.

The ‘Crazy House’ wasn’t very impressive, odd shaped rooms with weird statues of animals inside; it was over the top and like a lot of the things in Dalat incredibly tacky which is kind of the appeal of this place.

We did more cruising around town and headed back to the hotel so I could fix my bike for my downhill decent into Mui Ne tomorrow.

Pic: Crazy House Dalat, Tiger room

Pic: Part of Crazy House, Dalat

Pic: Linh Phuoc pagoda Bell, ring 3 times for good luck, im going to need it as tomorrow im cycling down to Mui Ne on a very sketchy road.

Pic: Linh Phuoc Pagoda, decorated in broken crockery

Day 49 11/12/2009

Im cheating a tiny little bit on this cycling trip; today I caught a bus to Dalat with Jen, I really didn’t want to cycle the journey as it was all up hill and I don’t have enough time to see what I want to in Vietnam over the next week before hitting up Thailand.

I had to get up early to drop my bicycle off at the bus station so that it could be secured to the bus. Jen and I were doing this trip together so that we could save money on the hotel when we arrived. The journey was great despite being on dirt bumpy roads cause I slept like a baby the entire way something I obviously cant do when im cycling.

It was certainly colder here than in Nha trang.

We checked into a hotel for $6 which seemed to be where most westerners head to. We got chatting to a bunch of English people and went out for dinner, this place seems to be more expensive for street food and we ended back at the hotel to eat there.

Day 48 10/12/2009

I was unbelievably hungover today; again I chilled on the beach for the afternoon bumping into a German couple I had met in Irkutsk in Russia.

Im going to cheat a little bit with the cycling trip, I have booked a bus from here to Dalat then cycling down to Saigon to organize my visa for Thailand before its too late.

I went out for dinner at an outside restaurant that was relatively cheap with the same crew from the hostel (Tom, Stella, Rick, Casey, Kelsy and Jess). I feasted on Ostrich Wing which unsurprisingly tasted a lot like chicken but with more fat. It was only a small portion but I did lick the plates clean on everyone else’s meals on the table.

I said my farewell to them all hoping ill catch up with them on KoPhanYang in Thailand for the New Year’s party and set off to bed early.

Day 47 9/12/2009

I got up early today to meet the others joining me on the boat tour at the hostel. They were just ordering breakfast when the bus arrived to take us to the port. I managed to get the driver to wait for them although he wasn’t happy about it.

We were taken to 4 islands around Nha Trang on this tour and the boat was filled with asian couples and families which was a little disappointing as I hoped there would be more people our age although it still was a good laugh. The tour included snorkeling around a coral reef which was amazing, swimming, a karaoke session (yay!), lunch and fruit and an aquarium. For $5 it was well worth the money especially because I managed to eat well more than my fair share in lunch as everyone wondered where I put it all.

The aquarium was a little disappointing as we had to pay to get in and to see all the animals in tiny tanks not looking healthy at all.

We arrived back at the hotel and went for drinks and food, we went to this place where even before we sat down the food in front of or faces. They were rice paper rolls that we made ourselves that were quite good but none of us understood how it all worked; it was just so weird, the bill being the weirdest part as it turned out to be quite expensive.

We hitted up a few places for cheap drinks and worked the crowd to find free ones. I did pretty good this evening as I was pretty drunk not spending much money.

Pic: Stole a security guys hat only long enough to take a photo :P

Kiss, Kiss

Pic: Using 80's snorkeling gear to see Coral Reef behind me, it was beautiful.

Day 45 7/12/2009

Distance cycled: 90km

Thankfully I didn’t have anyone bothering me whilst sleeping in my tent last night, although I did get extremely early to see the sunrise from the beach. It would have been much better if all the locals didn’t come bother me to see what I was doing with my tripod and camera. I more or less ignored them by putting on my headphones.

Today was hot, I cycled strait from Dai Lanh to Nha Trang with only one stop for food and surprise surprise it was Noodle soup again.

I arrived in Nha Trang at 11.00 and headed for the backpackers hostel, it’s a bit pricey at 126,000 VND for one night with free breakfast and one free beer, certainly not going to beat the hostel in Hue.

I met a bunch of randoms including two English guys (Freddy and Alex) who are going to join me tomorrow for cheaper accommodation and we hit up the beach for the afternoon.

I bought some vodka and coke for the evening and got pretty pissed off it, we were drinking on the floor in the dorm room and it really did feel like I was back in high school.

After the free beer in the bar downstairs a few of us gathered up and we headed off to the sailors club where I got a few drinks for free as I talked to the promotional guy who I met on the beach earlier in the day, yay.

Pic: Sunrise just outside Dai Lanh, HDR

Day 46 8/12/2009

Another hangover day! I got the free breakfast in the morning and set off to the beach where we chilled all day.

Alex, Freddy and I moved into a hotel room for $5 US a night… much much cheaper than the hostel although it dosent have the same backpacking vibe. But never mind.

A bunch that I met in the hostel went out for dinner but I really didn’t want to have western food as it was far too expensive so Jen (an English girl who will be moving to our hotel tomorrow) and I left to have street food and I introduced her to Tim tam slammers for desert.

We organized a few people together and paid the 100,000VND for a boat tour for tomorrow.

Day 44 6/12/2009

Distance cycled: 150km

Times asked to Marry (Total): 11

I didn’t get out of bed as early as I had hoped today, by the time I sorted and packed my things and ate breakfast I was out of the hotel just before 8. I cycled the same route to where the leper colony was and hit up Highway 1D, it was a fantastic cycle as it followed the coast with some uphill stretches that I’m actually beginning to enjoy when it joined back onto Hwy 1A.

With the new sprocket set I realized I could get more speed from my bike, previously I was averaging 22km/h but now I was doing around 27km/h without any more effort, although I had no wind against me today.

I went for lunch at midday asking for rice with veg and meat ‘com dia’ what turned up was some scrambled egg with rice, the lady was asking for 30,000 VND, I was very disappointed and only paid ½ the asking price and continued my cycling.

At around 3 I arrived in Dai Lanh a scruffy looking fishing village 80km from Nha Trang, it read in the guide book there was a camping ground at the south end of the beach, I headed there to check it out but it was closed according to a, I suppose a security person when I asked if I could pitch my tent on the beach. Disappointed I grabbed some squid dinner and found a burnt down hotel with all the foundations still up on the beach where I pitched my tent. Hopefully nobody comes by to kick me out.

Pic: My tent pitched under the foundations of a burnt down hotel right beside the beach

Pic: Me leaving Hostel in Qui Nhon