Vietnam: Up the Coast

16th - 26th April

Big Buddha

The first day in Nha Trang I walked a lot. It’s quite a large city and the touristy spots are quite spread out. Not that there’s really all that much to see. It’s more of a beach resort kind of place for Russians. So many Russians here. Apparently they have just started cheap flights here from Moscow. The first place I visited was Long Son Pagod.

Nha Trang

Lazy Buddha

Entrance

It was a nice little place to walk around but nothing special. I went to a big shopping centre after this and I found a Primark/K Mart type shop so I bought a few things.

St Mary's Cathedral

Inside

Vinpearl park

The Roman Catholic Church was quite impressive in the middle of the city. The highlight of Nha Trang is the Van Pearl Amusement park which has lots of rides and a waterpark. The waterpark was closed whilst I was there so I didn’t get to go. It saved me some money I suppose

The beach

No idea what this is for

The beach here is very nice but I didn’t go in the sea. I don’t really know why. Just wasn’t really feeling Nha Trang. Plus I’d seen such epic beaches already so a beach that’s merely ‘very good’ is a come down.

The hostel I was staying at had a free beer happy hour. That’s as much beer as you can drink in an hour absolutely free which is a great idea. I suppose it’s like giving out free tea and coffee as it costs about the same. I got chatting to an Aussie guy and a girl who was asking him questions and tips for when she visited Australia. I found it rather amusing that I could give better advice than he could.

I didn’t do too much the next day. As I said, I wasn’t really feeling Nha Trang and I was due a chilled day out of the heat. It wasn’t completely chilled. I went for a run as the sun was setting. It was a bit difficult to navigate the many people walking up and down the path next to the beach. This was the last run I’ve been on as it’s either too hot or too busy or there just isn’t anywhere to go. Its been a little frustrating.

Outdoor Opera

Something I did notice though was an outside opera show. I reckon this was some sort of preview for show inside the building behind them. It wasn’t very good but it was sort of hard to hear them. They did the typical Asian thing and turn the volume up as high as it will go so that the sound is distorted and it sounds awful.

As I was enjoying my free beer I saw a few familiar faces. Half of the group I had met in Dalat had checked in. I ended up following them to a bar in town that was super expensive and not at all fun. I don’t know why they keep going to these shit places.

Child seat

On my way to the train station the following day for the overnight train to Danang I noticed this child seat on a scooter. I’d seen this a couple of times on the road and I think it’s hilarious. I suppose it’s somewhat safer than without it but still, health and safety nightmare right there.

Waiting for the train

Having had experience of the overnight buses in Vietnam I was hopeful that the overnight trains would be better. The bus from Dalat to Nha Trang was only a day bus but it was so frustrating that a vowed never to get a bus again! I now absolutely hate bus journeys and never want to step foot on a bus again!

Three story bunks

At least on the train you can lie flat. I bought a hard sleeper (soft sleepers were sold out). It was in a cabin with 6 beds which I thought would be fine until I realised there were 10 people in there! There was a Vietnamese family of 6 in there. A woman, an old lady and four children. As soon as I saw this my heart sank. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad and I was able to get a little bit of sleep before I arrived early in Danang.

The hostel I stayed at was the smelliest place I have ever come across. It would be a nice hostel if it wasn’t for the overwhelming stench of wet dog. I can put up with a lot (most of Asia smells anyway) but this was extreme. It made me feel sick after a while. The staff didn’t seem to notice it when I mentioned it. They must be used to it.

Dragon Bridge

The head

After I checked in I had a little wander around the city to get my bearings. I went over to the Dragon Bridge that spits fire at the weekend. I would see that later on. I didn’t do too much as I was quite tired and I was waiting until the next day when I hired a scooter to drive the Hai Van Pass.

Epic!

Old bunker

I had been in a bit of a slump after Nha Trang and being boring but this was definitely the cure! I had an incredible day driving over this mountain passage. The road winds up the side of the mountain right next to the sea and peaks at an old war bunker.

At the top of the pass

I saw another bunker a bit higher up the hill so I set off on foot. I regretted this after a while as the road kept going. It was a super steep road and I didn’t want to go back to the highway to get my bike so I just carried on walking.

Incredible view

More fun to be had

The view from up here was simply stunning. I could see all the way back to Danang and the road winding its way back down the other side towards Hue. I stayed up here a little while having some fun playing with my camera. I wanted to make an awesome video.

Action shot

Goat

I continued along the road and got this amazingly timed photo as I was driving by. Ok I might have been stationary. I had stopped to take pictures of the goats all over the road that were dodging bikes and big fuel tankers (fuel tankers aren’t allowed in the tunnel).

The Top Gear View

I think I found the exact spot the Clarkson, Hammond and May stopped for a bit of filming. The pass featured on the Top Gear Vietnam special so you know it’s a good road. I ate my lunch on the wall here taking in the view which is one of the best I’ve seen in Vietnam. The good news was I had to drive all the way back so I got to do it again. I did it a bit faster this time to really get a thrill.

Climbing Marble Mountain

Back in town I visited the Marble Mountain which is a set of huge rocks sticking out of the town. There’s a lot of marble in them, hence the name. I parked up outside this woman’s shop. I managed to leave the keys in and a small woman came running up behind me waving them at me.

A bell

More temples

At the top of the stair was a small temple overlooking the town. I had a little look around before heading to the caves I had heard so much about.

Heading in to the main cave

Argh scary

More templey stuff

I was quite surprised at the size of the biggest cave given that the whole mountain didn’t look all that big. It wouldn't even really call it a mountain, more of a very large rock. There was a small temple in there with a few statues.

Big hole in the wall

Smaller hole in the wall to climb out of

Squeeze

Just for the view

My favourite bit was a small cave that had a large crack at the back of it. In this crack there was a small gap you could squeeze yourself throuhh and on to the top of the mountain. I followed a bunch of locals that were doing this and there was a pretty decent view from the top.

Bigger temple. They're all the same

Spooky Buddha

Past another temple I found another cave that didn’t have anybody in. I looked around it and this Buddha statue seemed to come lurking out of the shadows at me. It was quite creepy although the photo doesn’t show it.

Cool dragons

I went back to the smelly hostel for one more night. I checked out the next day and found a different hostel just around the corner that didn’t smell. I wasn’t able to check in so early in the day but I was able to hire a motorbike from them so off I went again to explore some more of the area.

Another temple entrance

Huge Goddess of Mercy statue

This time I went over to Son Tra Mountain otherwise known as Monkey Mountain. Its home to rare species of monkey that can only be found on this peninsular. I didn’t see any but I wasn’t really looking. The main thing to see here is the Goddess of Mercy which is absolutely massive. She’s almost 70 metres high and can be seen for miles.

Even bigger temple

Cool Bonsai Tree

STOP! In the name of lov...Buddha

I sense a disturbance in the force

There is a big temple here which is worth a little look around. There’s lots of bonsai trees which look pretty cool (just realised I've been calling them Bondi trees for ages) and a number of Buddha statues. I don’t think it was the intention of the maker to have them look comical but I thought they looked very funny.

More epic views

Up the mountain

Moving on, this peninsular is similar to the area I explored the day before with a road hugging a steep coastline. A drove to the end before turning onto the mountain road that goes up to the top and along the spine of the mountain. This road was also awesome to drive along if a little scary. It was steep and twisty and there was no way of knowing if there was anything coming the other way but it was quiet so no near misses. 

Danang

Some sort of board game

There’s a lookout point at the very top that had a statue of some sort of traditional game. I had seen this being played a few times. There would be a crowd of about 20 people all trying to watch or play. I don’t know how many players it has but they all seemed to be involved. This statue didn’t tell me anything about what the game actually was though.

The mountain road

I made my way back to the hostel so I could check in properly. I got chatting to a guy who invited himself along to my afternoon excursion to Hoi An. It’s ok that he did this. I’ve done it a few times, just ask to come along knowing it would be rude of them to say no. So off we went.

Hoi An

Old Japanese bridge

Hoi An is known for being quite a traditional town but to me it just seemed very touristy! Every house was a shop of some sort and each shop was selling the same stuff. The most famous thing here is the Japanese Covered Bridge which was rammed with people.

Japanese Covered Bridge

This bridge is almost three hundred years old which is rather impressive. Obviously it’s had renovation work over the years but still, its very old.

The streets of Hoi An

We had food after the bridge. A big thing to see in Hoi An is the lanterns on the river at night. There were still four hours until the sun went down and I wasn’t too bothered so I decided to head back. The guy I was with did too (can’t remember his name).

Chaotic driving

That night I got chatting to some German girls who were playing the game of Kabul which is my new favourite card game and I wanted to join in. I’d never seen it before but this was the second time I’d played it in just a few weeks. They had a different name for it and some different rules but it was essentially the same.

Nice street lights

I still had a couple of days in Danang where I essentially just hung out for a while. There was a power cut the next day and there was an Asian guy who was freaking out because he couldn’t get online. I thought it was a bit extreme but once the power came back on I realised he was trying to locate his IPhone and needed the PC.

Pretty lights

The dragon bridge

Ready to spit fire

Crowded

The final night in Danang I went over to the dragon bridge to see it spit fire. This happens twice on a Friday and twice on a Saturday but there was still an awful lot of people squashed onto the pavement waiting for the show.

Burn!

Freeze

Getting wet

The fireballs coming from the mouth of the dragon were hot and impressive but I wasn’t expecting it to start firing water from its mouth as I went running for cover. There was a man in the middle who was loving life in his raincoat. There were a number of boats in the river watching the show too and it made one of my favourite travel photos.

Sellable

Train over the pass

More mountain scenery

Awesome

Having already done the Hai Van Pass on the way to Hue I knew what I was in for. The scenery when taking the train was just as impressive as the road had been. This time I took my bag with me and went all the way to Hue. The pass marks the old border point from the south to the north so I was now officially in the north.

Hue

Old fortress city

With the moat

I had an early night before I went out exploring Hue. There isn’t a whole lot to see here either, just a central fortress. It was pretty cool to look around but it didn’t take me too long.

The inner moat

Portable kitchen

This was quite a common site in Vietnam. Women carrying a portable kitchen down the street to their favourite selling spot.

The inner fortress gate

Big flag pole

They were setting up for Hue festival which would be on a couple of weeks later. I reckon it would have been good. Everyone was talking about it and there was a lot of setting up going on so it seems a big deal.

Buffalo in the road

My brief stop off in Hue was over. I had a tour booked in Phong Nha that I had to get to so I got in a minivan to take me there. I really didn’t want to be on a bus again but it was considerably cheaper than the train and it would be door to door. The bus ride was actually very enjoyable. There were only six people so we each had plenty of room and we had one big group conversation whilst we dodged buffaloes in the road. Two of the group were doing the same tour as me but starting a day later meaning I would see them on the return journey.

Welcome to Phong Nha

We arrived in Phong Nha just in time for a beautiful sunset. We asked but our driver wouldn’t stop so that we could take photos. I just had to hang out of the window.

Phong Nha

Epic Scenery

In the setting sun

Phong Nha is right up in the mountains and looks beautiful. I wouldn’t be able to explore the local area too much as the bulk of my time will be spent on a rather expensive tour to a cave in the middle of the jungle. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done and it absolutely deserves its own chapter…