HoiAn
A first chance to catch up with the world in a few days. Now in a very hot, sunny HoiAn. Is a world heritage site so plenty of visitors and is a nice little town on the river with lots of quaint old buildings – actually on my previous visit thought the place vastly over rated but with more money going into the place has become an easy place to hang aroung for a few days and see the local sites and in a minute take a boat cruise along the river. Last night was full moon and they use the occassion to make a party atmosphere so that was nice – I would use the word photographic but the new spare replacement battery for my camera has turned out to be dud, cheers Amazon (not their fault I add).
After leaving NhaTrang took the bus to Buon Ma Thuot, an easy 4 hour trip into the central highlands. On arrival got the usual Vietnamese hassle from the motorbike taxi drivers. Luckily a Vietnamese girl came with me from MuiNe so I could safely leave it to her to sort out transport to the Yok Dom National Park. It turned out no buses ran there so we had to take what I thought a very expensive taxi for 350000 dong. (The surprising thing was loads of buses ran next day back from the park to the bus station !.) Anyway arrived at the national park by which time the taxi price had become 420000 dong. I felt like having a discussion on how Vietnamese inflation is getting like Zimbabwe but it was just too hot. At the park only offered simple native style accommodation so a chance to sleep in a wooded hut on stilts for $12 but they did give us a matress and in central London probably costs more to sleep in a shed.
Not really a great deal to see, has plenty of endangered species but there is a good reason why animals are endangered !. Also did elephant rides but after a very bad previous experience in Cambodia kept well away from them. But it was enjoyable by the river and nice in the evening. Evening meal was a bit dodgy but we probably deserved it by getting the cook out of bed. The girl I was with didn’t know the name of the meat but insisted it wasn’t monkey, dog or human. A fair guess would probably be a rat they had caught in the kitchen, smashed with a blunt stone and then put in a frying pan with a chilli sauce. It actually tasted ok but I just literally couldn’t face it so stuck to rice with soya sauce.
Next day returned to Buon Ma Thot and then took a minivan to Kom Tum. Scenery nothing special, fairly well populated and farming on the hills. Kom Tum a nice little town however, very friendly and easy going with some scenic old christian churches. Around the edge of town various ethnic people in friendly little outlying areas, photographic buildings and a chance to relax by the river and drink excellent ice coffee. The only downside was that evening I found my Northface hiking shoes were gone, not easily replaceable. Not having much luck, a dog at my hotel in Cambodia chewed my sandals to pieces.
Next day took a minivan to DaNang. A scenic ride thru forested hills and hill tribe areas and a chance to play that old travel game, sardines. But the views were good and enjoyed the ride.
DaNang a big city and not a great place to arrive in heavy rain in rush hour. Finding a hotel at the beach even harder. But a nice meal that evening and next day hot and sunny. Swimming in the sea good with clear calm water, a long sandy beach and quite a nice beach front gradually being developed. Then off to here, HoiAn for a few days.
Tags: 1
petefurlepa