Mui Ne

Mui Ne was a nice town but with shitty rainy weather there was not too much to do. It is a great spot for water activities' mainly different type of surfing. Besides the beach they have sand dune though was very surprising for me. It was a fun time going to the dunes for sunrise (though there were too many clouds and we did not get a sunrise). We rented four wheeler and drove all over the dunes. it was such a great time. I did flip mine over though at one point from trying too hard to get up a steep hill. Luckily the machine and myself were alright. They were't the best of 4 wheelers so we had to push them to their limits. The next set of dunes we went to had sand sledding and we gave that a try but failed pretty epically. The locals had it down though. Guess it takes a lot of practice.  Also included in the sand dune tour was a walk down a nice calm river which had some very interesting rock formations with contrasting red and white color. After that we ended with a visit to a fishing village. IT was crazy to see how many fish, crabs, shrimp, and clams were caught and this is repeated every day! there were so many fishing boats, so many people, and so many smells!

Besides this there was not much else we did in Mui Ne except for hang out with new friends, play some cards, watch the European Championship ("football") and swim at the pool. I did get to eat the best burger I've had in Asia though. It was a giant burger named the All American. Some of the people I was with couldn't believe that I finished it and still wanted more! Unfortunately the Hungarian girl (Dora)  that took care of me when I got sick in Cat Ba Island got food poisoning from her burger so we did not go back for another meal. It did though give me the chance to repay her kindness and take care of her the way she did for me.

                                        

Dalat

Dalat was a very different place unlike no other in Vietnam. The city was located higher up in the mountains and the weather actually felt like home. It was a little colder and a jacket was needed at night. It was not too humid, yet unfortunately it did rain quite a bit. Damn rainy season. While in Dalat, Matthias and I drove around and explored the area and took in some sights. We visited waterfalls, went down this interesting roller coaster type of ride/slide down the mountain, and took a gondola ride up the mountain to a temple with some beautiful flower gardens. The gondola ride offered some amazing views of the city and the surrounding area/forests. It was a beautiful sight to take in and unfortunately my phone died! That night we were introduced to this crazy bar that is unlike any other I have set eyes on or been inside. There is no way to truly describe it and unfortunately they do not have any videos going through it online. It was a maze with so many different staircases, hidden passages, holes, secret rooms, created by a "tree" carved within a giant cave. That's the best I can give you. The rest is up to your imagination. Its called the 100 Rooftops bar in Dalat.

We met some very nice people at the hostel we were staying at and went on a canyoning trip with them the second day in the city. This included belaying down a cliff, down a waterfall, cliff jumping, zip lining and getting my first leech! It was a very fun day and I would love to go down more waterfalls once again. That night we went to a karaoke bar and got a private room with a lot of people form the hostel as well as one of our hosts. This was my first time going to one ever and everyone has heard about Asians and their karaoke. It was a really fun time actually and I was not expecting to have as much fun as I did.

That night we went back to the bar mentioned above (we went there every night, it was just so amazing). Day 3 a few more friends were made and a few older friends came to meet up with me. I showed them around the city, relaxed, and spent the night at the karaoke bar and the rooftop bar once again. It was a nice city and the people there were very memorable. Every hostel does a family dinner every night to bring everyone together and it was such a great environment. I would love to visit again.

I was a little sad to go but knew I had to continue on my journey. The ride back down the mountains was fun and beautiful eve though I had to stop for the rain three times. My next stop was a beach town called Mui Ne. 

The Road to Da Lat

The ride to Da Lat after leaving Hoi An was an interesting one. I was finally with Matthias and was able to ride with a partner once again. It's a lot better way to travel as you can rely on each other if something unpredictable happens. The trip was broken up into two days of travel. Day one everything went smoothly, there were no stops except for gas, food and water. We stopped in a city called Qui Nhon that night and stayed at a hostel right off of the beach. It was a nice place to stop for the night and we enjoyed swimming in the ocean and walking only a few feet to our dorm. Unfortunately we could not stay long in this beach side hostel as we had to continue our way into Dalat. Day two was not so easy as day one. Guess we couldn't be lucky two days in a row.

We got off to an early morning start hoping to reach our destination with plenty of light to spare and enjoy a first night out in the new city. That was not the case. The drive was nicer and easy all morning and after our breakfast break we ran into four Brits that were heading in the same direction as us. We joined with them for some time and drove in a pack of 6. It was quite fun riding in a big group having different people take the lead from time to time and pass each other by. They drove like mad men though and we ended up losing them because they would not slow down while driving through cities. We would speed but they put it to a whole other level.  It's no wonder they had as many bike issues as they told us about.

Picture taken when we noticed the broken brake

We made it close to our final destination and stopped for a coke and gas to get a little break and a little bit of caffeine. After our rest we were on our way again. Da Lat is a mountain town and we began our climb up the mountain. The roads were fun and the sights were great. We stopped multiple times for pictures. One time that we stopped is when the troubles began. It is very lucky that I stopped where I did because it was then that we discovered Matthias' rear brake was no longer working. We did not know what to do and were just sitting on the side of the road trying to figure things out. Fortunately after only a few minutes of waiting a couple passed by on their motorbike and saw we were stuck. They did a U-turn and pulled over to see i they could help. Luckily they had a tool kit and were able to put a new nut on the end of the brake which fixed the problem. They were even so kind as to take an unneeded nut off of their own bike to give to him. It was such a great thing and goes back to things happen for a reason and I stopped there for a picture when I did. If not then we would've figured out this issue later when it could've been costly going down a steep mountain hill.

After this we were so happy and ready to get driving again. There was only a mere 100 km to go to the city and it was all on fun roads to drive on. This quickly changed. About 76 km from the city a downpour began. We became drenched very quickly despite our rain jackets. There were few places to stop and even when we passed them we knew we couldn't stop as it was getting darker every moment. Those 76 km took three hours of freezing cold and wet driving. The roads were so slick and wet that we had to drive at such a slow pace for our safety. Visibility was low because of the rain and at times we even were driving through clouds and could not see a thing! It was the scariest driving I've ever done in my life.

Eventually we finally made it to our destination. It took quite some time after getting into the city and google maps can sometimes be horrible at direction. I've never done so many left turns in my life! Once we arrived we were able to hang up our clothes, shower and just enjoy being out of the rain. Unfortunately since we were hindered by the rain we did not make it in time to get the free family dinner so we did have to go back out in the rain for a little bit of time. After we ate though we did not budge out of the hostel until morning. I'll never forget that drive for as long as I live.

The Vietnamese U-Turn: Danang and Hoi An

DANANG
I really have been learning on this journey that there is no such thing as coincidence and all things really do happen for a reason. Danang had been cut off of my list of places to go yet because of my scooter issues I skipped Hue for Danang. I really did enjoy the city and all it had to offer even though I was only there for a short amount of time. As I stated in the last post the drive into the city was absolutely stunning. The city was a lot bigger than expected but it was nothing like Bangkok or Hanoi. It was surrounded by ocean and mountains. Perfect for someone like me! I met up with my friends at perhaps the nicest hostel I stayed at in Vietnam.

While in Danang I was able to find some good food, even a delicious quesadilla with Tabasco sauce! I spent my time driving around the mountain roads, exploring multiple temples on the hill and mountains, relaxing by the river, swimming at the beach  and spending time with friends. As always the beaches were nice white sandy beaches and surprisingly there weren't too many people around. Besides the ocean there was a large river running through town and at night we would sit along there watching their two main bridges (The Dragon Bridge and I don't remember the name of the other) all lit up while enjoying some beers and just each others company.

Marble Mountain View

I'll include pictures of the two bridges. At night we also walked away from the city at one point and I was able to see quite a few stars which surprisingly hasn't happened too much out here. I miss that about home in the mountains. One of the must do activities I was told to do is go to the Marble Mountains. As their name suggests they get marble from here and there are tons of places that try to sell you marble statues or figurines. The sight has 4 mountains with 4 temples. Honestly I wasn't too impressed and wasn't sure why everyone said to visit. The view of the city from another direction was also good though.

 The driving around was awesome with so many great views and sights to take in. The wind against your face to help block out the heat form the blaring sun is always a great feeling and when your hitting mountain curves enjoying the rides there's nothing better. On the hill of a peninsula outside of the city was a giant statue and a pagoda. While here we looked back at the city and saw a giant plume of smoke which you can see in the picture at the top. There was a large fire in the city and from the distance we could see the firefighters doing their work. We stopped by the statue on our way back towards town and went and saw some great craftsmanship, views of the city, and some very nice flowers as well. On the return I had one final meal before heading down south another hour to Hoi An and finally catch up with Matthias after a week of being behind.

HOI AN
Hoi An was also one of my favorite places in Vietnam. It is a very small town but with lots going on. Great nightlife with so many bars trying to compete and have great drink specials! It was real nice to meet up with Matthias once again and be back with my traveling companion. Our reunion was a fun but very long night. We stayed at a small guest house with out a lot of people but still were able to meet many so it was really nice. I also ran into a friend I had met over a month before back in Thailand and that was a really nice and random coincidence.

In Hoi An I did some shopping, went swimming in the ocean, had a Laos travel group reunion and enjoyed time with my friends and the local nightlife.  I got some new pants since I lost mine in the laundry, a nice little backpack to carry around daily, and two amazing tailor made suits and shirt. Now whenever I finally go home I can have some sexy suits to wear.  Surprisingly the beaches here were even more populated than the beaches in the large city of Danang. Even though it was still fun since we went with our Laos travel group. It was a fun reunion to get all of us together again. Four countries (Germany, Sweden, Hungary and the USA). It was a little hard to leave Hoi An and our friends but it came time to continue on our journey south in order to keep to schedule.

Vietnam Week 2- Ninh Binh, Vinh, and a hell hole

After recovering and leaving Cat Ba I began to try to play catch up with Matthias (my German friend). It took quite a bit of time to catch up. I headed first to Ninh Binh. It's an alright city but most of my time was spent in the small area outside of it called Tam Coc.  Here I met up with a few other travelers and did some exploring of the country side on my scooter. It was a beautiful area and after hiking up the Bich Dong mountain I was able to see one best views Vietnam has to offer, the sprawling mountaintops reminded me so much of home. I only spent 2 days here then continued on my way down south.

The desert like area

Riding the scooter down makes it so you can only cover so much distance in a day unlike in a bus where it can all be done in one day. I stopped in a city called Vinh and got my first taste of Bun Cha (a traditional Vietnamese soup with pork) which was amazing. After the one night there I continued onto my travels and had the hardest day of my travels on June 14th. I was making good time on my way to a city called Hue until I hit this crazy desert wasteland that I did not know could exist in Vietnam.  I was running out of gas with nothing around for miles. I luckily made it out and got a few bottles of gas from some locals.

The mechanic that made things worse!

When I tried to drive away the tire would not turn. I could not drive. Luckily for me the guy I got the gas from was a mechanic and he replaced the timing belt for me which was the issue. Earlier that day I was stopped by shady police and I had to bribe them (that's how it is here sometimes) so I did not have any money to pay for the repair.
I had to go to an atm yet the closest one was back across desert area about 45 mins backtracking.  On my way through the desert for the second time the belt broke again! I was hot and in the middle of nowhere. Luckily some guys stopped and loaded my scooter into their truck and took me to a mechanic. I then went to get money and had the belt replaced again. I tried to explain that I just had it repaired yet the language barrier made this difficult so it was just a simple replacement. I eventually made it back to the original mechanic and shortly after getting my back and continuing on my way the belt broke a 3rd time! I walked the bike back to the mechanic and had to stay the night at a hotel in the middle of nowhere. In the morning I was able to get the scooter to a bigger mechanic shop and with the help of the local guy I communicated there was a bigger issue and was able to get the complete repair I needed. This was a very stressful and expensive couple of days.

Once I finally was able to travel again I decided to skip Hue and meet up with some friends in Danang as I wanted a familiar face. This ride from the area around Hue to Danang was the most beautiful and my favorite drive of the entire country. There was fun curvy mountain roads with green forests covering the hills on your right and then suddenly the ocean appeared on my left. I was able to just forget about all my troubles and enjoy the beauty of Vietnam. It was here that I began to enjoy the country once again.