We set off back to Ha Noi to catch our train that night to Hue. Another 12hour+ train. The train journey was relatively painless- I think once you have done an Indian sleeper train, any other seems like a luxury. I must stress though, if you insist on doing the trains I wouldn't get anything less than a soft sleeper- only 4 people in a cabin which equals more chance of sleep, less chance of getting ill, more chance of meeting fellow travellers etc etc. We arrived in Hue and it is true what they say, it is a bit dullsville, there isn't too much to do there but it is a good stop off point before moving on. We stayed 2 nights just for a rest However, Hue does have a market that is a local market. A lot of the time you will read about markets in the 'Lonely Planet' guide and you get there and each row is the same old same old knock off tat; the market in Hue was authentic and a real cultural experience (even if it was a massive attack on the senses in some parts). We arrived and it was massive and so cramped. I found that people don't know the more they leave you alone the more likely you are to buy something....it is hell on earth being so pestered by so many people yelling at you to look at their stuff and 'reassuring' you that they have 'your size'. When you are literally dripping with sweat and feeling claustrophobic, the last thing you need is people screaching at you, tugging at your sleeve, in some cases just laghing at you etc. Anyway- we plodded on and had a look around, haing a nose around some of the stalls with bits of pig head out on a table in the sun with no hygeine control, waiting to be picked up for a delicious treat; finding all sorts of weird and wonderful animal bits that smelt like they'd bring you back from the dead. It really was a great experience although at the time I was prepared to kill as it is frustrating. Mike decided to treat himself to a new crappy watch----a Spongebob watch. It broke about 5 minutes later. Suprise Suprise.
The next day we headed to Hoi An. I couldn't bring myself to do it by bike as it is coming up to the anniversary of my crash so not great timing when everything gets brought back to me. Also I couldn't hlp but thinking it would b selfish of me because it is quite well known for being risky and if anything happened to me then my family and friends would suffer more. However, it is a once in a lifetime experience and Mike really wants to do it so I am going to consider it. For that leg of the journey however, we got a sleeper bus. It took about 5/6 hours and it was the strangest bus I had ever been on, it was just beds on two levels, very narrow and a bit dingy. It didn't help things when a load of locals got on and made a racket, I could hear one sloshing food around and chewing with his mouth open from the otherside of the bus. Then they decided to blast out music on their phone that sounded like a bunch of ghouls playing violin and a girl being disembowled at the same time as her cat. Pure awful. We arrived in Hoi An and went to our hotel which was a massive treat. The next day we chilled by the pool, I am still sickly white, and then went out for dinner and drinks. We ended up meeting the same guys from the Halong Bay trip and went to Why Not bar with them. I was already suitably drunk by this point and got even more so. I bet I chatted a load of s**t- it is always the worry the day after; what did I actually talk about? Probably something about hailing the almighty Boris or something! The next day we headed off to the beach and had a great time before heading back for a siesta, waking up and going for dinner. We went to a restaurant in Old Town called 'Streets' (it could be a 'Z' I can't remember and if it is my head has decided to correct it and rightly so! It is a Vietnamese restaurant set up by an American lady and it helps street children of Vietnam learn a language, trade and gets them set up in life, such an amazing cause. The food was delicious and the staff were just lovely, definately worth a visit if you find yourself in Hoi An. We then had another walk around the shops, picked up a couple more DVD's, I picked up a couple for my niece and nephew. We then bought silk dressing gowns (matching due to Mike's request!) as apparently Hoi An is famous for silk.
From Hoi An we moved onto Nha Trang for 3 nights. Nha Trang is great for party party but Mike and I only managed one night out and it wasn't wild. On our first day we went to a place famous for their mud baths. It was AMAZING. We arrived and decided to for the couple treatment. We had a joing mud bath which mades us both look like creatures from the black lagoon, after 20 minutes we were made to sun bath for 5 mins- minus the sun but it was still very warm, before showering off and heading to the next bit. It was another bath but this time it was mineral. We got it with these two massive teabag type things that were heated and sented. This was lovely but dragged on a little too long, 45 minutes, but it was fun freaking Mike out saying that is how our skin will look when we are old. He thought I was even more odd for letting old skin freak me out. After this we got a 45 minute massage each followed by this heated jacuzzi and heated mineral pool. The experience in England would have cost a small fortune....it Vietnam it was under £30 for us both. My skin is super silky soft!!! The next day we went to a fun island called 'Vinpearl Island'. You have to get the 'world's longest cable car across the sea' to get there (oooooohh) and it is basically a small island with a bech, theme park and water park. It sounds a lot more exciting than what it was, it was very dated, small and over-rated but it was really good fun. I was far more daring than what I'd usually be- I hate scary slides. I went on the black hole one which is similar to one of those machines you put 2p into and watch it swirl for ages before it drops through the hole. It was fun apart from once I was out of the tunnel my body splayed open like a spider on it's back with a few legs plucked out trying to fight the water to get back on it's feet again, once I droped through the hole I wondered why the Vietnamese man was smiling at me so much, then I realised....my bikini top had been knocked completely out of place, exposing my assets, much to the guys delight and my horror. Tonight we leave to get on a 8 hour train to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) for 3 nights. The weather has taken a sudden turn and is now chucking it down! Still too warm though!
The next day we headed to Hoi An. I couldn't bring myself to do it by bike as it is coming up to the anniversary of my crash so not great timing when everything gets brought back to me. Also I couldn't hlp but thinking it would b selfish of me because it is quite well known for being risky and if anything happened to me then my family and friends would suffer more. However, it is a once in a lifetime experience and Mike really wants to do it so I am going to consider it. For that leg of the journey however, we got a sleeper bus. It took about 5/6 hours and it was the strangest bus I had ever been on, it was just beds on two levels, very narrow and a bit dingy. It didn't help things when a load of locals got on and made a racket, I could hear one sloshing food around and chewing with his mouth open from the otherside of the bus. Then they decided to blast out music on their phone that sounded like a bunch of ghouls playing violin and a girl being disembowled at the same time as her cat. Pure awful. We arrived in Hoi An and went to our hotel which was a massive treat. The next day we chilled by the pool, I am still sickly white, and then went out for dinner and drinks. We ended up meeting the same guys from the Halong Bay trip and went to Why Not bar with them. I was already suitably drunk by this point and got even more so. I bet I chatted a load of s**t- it is always the worry the day after; what did I actually talk about? Probably something about hailing the almighty Boris or something! The next day we headed off to the beach and had a great time before heading back for a siesta, waking up and going for dinner. We went to a restaurant in Old Town called 'Streets' (it could be a 'Z' I can't remember and if it is my head has decided to correct it and rightly so! It is a Vietnamese restaurant set up by an American lady and it helps street children of Vietnam learn a language, trade and gets them set up in life, such an amazing cause. The food was delicious and the staff were just lovely, definately worth a visit if you find yourself in Hoi An. We then had another walk around the shops, picked up a couple more DVD's, I picked up a couple for my niece and nephew. We then bought silk dressing gowns (matching due to Mike's request!) as apparently Hoi An is famous for silk.
From Hoi An we moved onto Nha Trang for 3 nights. Nha Trang is great for party party but Mike and I only managed one night out and it wasn't wild. On our first day we went to a place famous for their mud baths. It was AMAZING. We arrived and decided to for the couple treatment. We had a joing mud bath which mades us both look like creatures from the black lagoon, after 20 minutes we were made to sun bath for 5 mins- minus the sun but it was still very warm, before showering off and heading to the next bit. It was another bath but this time it was mineral. We got it with these two massive teabag type things that were heated and sented. This was lovely but dragged on a little too long, 45 minutes, but it was fun freaking Mike out saying that is how our skin will look when we are old. He thought I was even more odd for letting old skin freak me out. After this we got a 45 minute massage each followed by this heated jacuzzi and heated mineral pool. The experience in England would have cost a small fortune....it Vietnam it was under £30 for us both. My skin is super silky soft!!! The next day we went to a fun island called 'Vinpearl Island'. You have to get the 'world's longest cable car across the sea' to get there (oooooohh) and it is basically a small island with a bech, theme park and water park. It sounds a lot more exciting than what it was, it was very dated, small and over-rated but it was really good fun. I was far more daring than what I'd usually be- I hate scary slides. I went on the black hole one which is similar to one of those machines you put 2p into and watch it swirl for ages before it drops through the hole. It was fun apart from once I was out of the tunnel my body splayed open like a spider on it's back with a few legs plucked out trying to fight the water to get back on it's feet again, once I droped through the hole I wondered why the Vietnamese man was smiling at me so much, then I realised....my bikini top had been knocked completely out of place, exposing my assets, much to the guys delight and my horror. Tonight we leave to get on a 8 hour train to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) for 3 nights. The weather has taken a sudden turn and is now chucking it down! Still too warm though!
No comments:
Post a Comment