Hot And Cold

The bus ride from Hoi An to Nha Trang turned out - surprise! surprise! - to be another awful trip. Not quite as legendary as the last one, but still completely uncomfortable. It was jam-packed with tourists. Like seriously, every inch of that bus was crammed with people and luggage and it was so hot and stuffy and the aircon wasn't really working...ugh... It was an over-night ride from 6pm to 6am and I got very little sleep during that time. The highways are too bumpy and the driver too crazy so every time you start to doze off you either hit a bump and then suddenly you're airborne, or the bus driver swerves around a truck or tractor or cow on the highway while rocketing at 120 km/hr and now you've got whiplash. And I'm just too damn tall for these busses anyways - there's never anywhere to put my legs or rest my head!

Well, enough complaining! I arrived in Nha Trang and was SO HAPPY to be greeted with bright sunshine, a long, wide beach, and a glistening bay. After a nap I headed down to the beach, found myself a nice, comfy deck chair at one of the resorts, and parked my ass down to sit in the sun and read my book. And that's basically what I did for the next three days! Every day consisted of waking up, breakfast, and then beach ALL DAY LONG. It was so awesome and exactly that I had been hoping for. It was hot and beautiful most days and while the waters weren't the calmest they were warm and full of salty goodness. I got seriously sun-burned on my first full day on the beach (note to self: sunscreen *IS* important!) and enjoyed the peace and quiet...and all the gorgeous eye-candy to be found wandering the sands!

I certainly enjoyed my time in Nha Trang, as the 'down-time' was much-needed as was the sunshine. However, by the end of the third day I must admit I was getting kinda bored. I had been on my own all that time after splitting up with the German girls (they didn't have time to stop in Nha Trang and had to keep going south) and was missing the company. Nha Trang is supposedly Vietnam's biggest and busiest beach resort, but it was really, really quiet when I was there. I know that it's the off-season right now, but where is everybody?

And plus, as nice as the beach and sea was, it was certainly no Boracay! I went to Boracay - an island in the Philippines - for Christmas last year and it was like the most perfect tropical island you could ever imagine. It had the best beach I've ever seen, clear turquoise waters, and one long strip of fantastic restaurants and bars. I think Boracay may have spoiled me rotten, and sorta 'set the bar' for how one measures Beach Quality. I'll probably forever be comparing other beaches and islands to Boracay, and who knows if I'll ever find a place that can measure up! Still, Nha Trang was pretty damn nice, and I am definitely looking forward to further Beach Contests in the future. Spending the next few months as an "Official Tropical Island and Beach Judge" works for me, baby! ;-)

On my last day I did in fact make some new friends. I met an Aussie brother/sister duo and spent the day hanging out with them. On my last night we went out for supper, and then for too many drinks at the Sailing Club. You gotta watch out for those sneaky Happy Hours! (they're never just 'one hour!'), as well as those free vodka-redbull shots they were giving out all night long! T-R-O-U-B-L-E I tell ya! hehe!

The next morning I dragged my hung-over ass onto the bus and rode to my next destination - Dalat. Dalat is an old French hill station up in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and to get there you have to climb up up up into the hills. The change in elevation and climate was quite shocking, and when I got off the bus, I let out a gasp as there was seriously like a 20 degree drop in temperature! It was actually COLD in Dalat! Like cold enough that I had to run into my hotel room, put on long pants, a t-shirt, and over top of that a (brace yourself) LONG-SLEEVED SHIRT cause I was so cold! And this is basically what I wore for the next three days, and even at night when I slept in my bed. It was *that* cold! I don't know what the exact temperature was, but it was definitely below 20 C which is a crime in itself and I struggled to adjust to the coolness (I've been used to 30-40 C for the last few months!)

The weather in Dalat was pure shite, alternating between cold and cloudy at its best, to cold and torrential downpours at its worst, but I tried not to let that slow me down. I spent the first day just walking around town, and then had quite the adventure on the second day. I was approached by an Easy Rider on my first day and after being propogated by him I decided to take up his offer for a ride (on his motorcycle!) the next day.

Now, who are the Easy Riders, you may ask? The Easy Riders are a motorcylce gang in Dalat who cruise around the city looking to meet tourists. Picture the Hells Angels, but only if the Hells Angels helped grannies across the road, baked cookies for the school fair, and rescued kitties trapped in trees. They're quite famous in Vietnam, and even though I'm scared of motorcycles I decided to be brave and go for it.

It ended up being one of the best days of my trip! Joseph was my guide, and he was exceptionally friendly and knowledgeable. He took me all around the city and even out into the countryside a bit to see various sights, and the whole time I felt completely safe on the back of his bike. He even drove me out to a local mountain just outside the city so that I could hike up it and get a view of the whole city and valley below. It was an all-day tour, and besides the hike and some historical attractions, we spent some time in the afternoon hanging out with a local rural family who live on a fruit farm. I got to sit in their house with them and sample some of their home-grown pineapple and persimmons, watching them de-stem the fruit and chatting with them a bit (they didn't speak English, but Joseph could translate.) It was a unique and humbling experience to see how simple these farmers lived, yet how happy them seemed with how little they have.

On my third day I went for a day-hike with a local outdoor adventure company. Myself and a guide climbed up Langbian Mountain, which turns out to be the second-highest mountain in Vietnam! (Go Scotty!) And even though it poured down rain pretty much the whole day, and our view from the top was completely shrouded by thick cloud, it was still beautiful and refreshing and I enjoyed the quiet solitude of the mountain forests.

Dalat was a cool and refreshing retreat from the stiffling heat that I've travelled through across Vietnam, but to be perfectly honest I've come to enjoy that heat quite a bit actually, and after three days of cold and rain I was itching more than ever to get back to the beach. (Cause I mean come on, if I wanted to hang out all day in the rain I coulda just stayed home in Vancouver, right!) Mui Ne was my next destination - another beachy area of Vietnam - and the whole way there I had my fingers crossed for some good weather.

Bring back the sun! Bring on the heat!