After another wonderful breakfast we checked out and met our biker guides for the day. All of our bags were strapped onto the bikes, helmets on and off we went. The route was so much better than what we would have taken on the bus as well as the feeling of being a lot closer to what's happening around you. Some times we were alone other oafs, other times surrounded by other bikes because its the most popular mode of transport here.
The views were wonderful, drove past vast fields, massive lakes with fishing villages, farmland, big towns full of people and bustling with activity. We drove down some lanes and walked a short way to a sort of water fall where I took my shoes and socks off and climbed down to dip my feet in the water and relax in the sun on the smooth warm rocks. Liam didn't take his off but I think he still enjoyed it. There were a couple of other people there in their swimming stuff which looked really good, I wish we had thought to get ours into our day bags! There was also a big elephant carved from one of the rocks which was pretty cool. After about half a hour or so we moved on and started going uphill.
We went higher and higher up big winding roads, it started to get a bit cold and we were closer to the clouds. We could see for miles, and could see the sea as well. We had to stop for a while to let a big slow cargo train pass so we had chance to stand and admire the views off the bikes. At the top was an old I guess watch tower/fortress originally built by the French and then used later by the Americans in the war. It's a really high spot with good vantage of both the north and the south, but apparently there is another road through over the pass that the Americans didn't know about so their position, unknown to them, was pointless. We walked up and looked at the buildings for a while, you could see bullet holes in a lot of the walls. After Liam being persuaded to buy an item from a very persistent lady, we set off again.
We started going back down from there and everything began to look more touristy. It was great though, it was kind of like a downgraded California or a very glorified Blackpool...I'm not sure which! The long stretch of road just kept on going, right along the beach front for miles. There were hundreds of perfectly cut hedges in all symmetrical shapes and lots of villas and beach resorts. We stopped off at the beach for about half an hour. Liam an I took a small walk down the sand and watched some of the fishermen with their fishing rods and nets standing in the sea. There was also a very big white statue of the 'lady Buddha' against the skyline of tall buildings, sea and palms so the view was lovely.
After that we went to a place called marble mountain, where guess what...all the people there are sculptors and make stuff out of marble! They used to use the marble from the mountain until recently it was made illegal and they had to start importing it from elsewhere.
We were a bit disappointed that we were left to our own devices as we thought with the money we paid for the day we were getting a guide in these places! So although the place was wonderful and very beautiful we didn't really know anything about the history of it. All the signs were in Vietnamese so we didn't know what anything was. We saw some wonderful stone work and marble work, there were a lot of caves up in the mountain with such high ceilings and big religious statues dominating the area. We were accosted by a few people trying to either sneakily take a photo with us in the background or outright coming over to ask for a photo with it. We get it at least once every 3 or 4 days since being here so it's normal for us now really. But Liam really revels in it, I think he thinks he's a celebrity!
After a hour or so we returned to the bikes and set off the the remaining 40 minutes of travel to our hotel. The hotel is lovely, the staff are so friendly and they all remembered our names in the first 10 seconds. There's even a lady on one of the stalls outside that knows our names and says hello whenever she sees us, granted its to try and make us buy something but it's still a nice touch!
The hotel is really quite big, with a big foyer with tv with a nice fish tank, an outside pool,it's own restaurant and bar. Our room is on the 3rd floor, it has a fridge which is always something we like now because we can store cheap food from outside in therefore snacks, it has an en suite bathroom, with a bath!! It also has a. Computer which is pretty odd but Liam was on it straight away bloody updating it and god knows what. I asked why he was bothering as it wasnt his computer, but i was met with more of a grunt than an answer so left him to it! We had lovely swan towels and rose petals on the bed and a plate of fruit which was a lovely touch too! Mind you for £17 a night I guess we should be getting that, but it was one of the only ones available that didn't have absolutely terrible reviews.
Anyway we booked onto a couple of tours and got given a map and directions to stuff, then headed out at about 7 for food.We found a wonderful little restaurant called miss lye, the food was amazing. We had a selection of dishes including wontons, dumplings, spring roles, rice, noodles and all of it was so delicious. Liam says it was the best food he's ever tasted and I have to admit its probably among the best. We also had 2 shandies with the local beer Saigon, and all together it came to under £10 for easily some of the best food we've had so we left happy.
We walked back to the hotel along the river, it was very quiet and a lovely vibe to the place. It was also the full moon so everybody had hanging lanterns and lights outside all the shops, it looked lovely. I also saw a building that said 'centre for the homeless and disabled' which got me really interested. As soon as we got back to the hotel I was on the Internet tying to find it, after bout 10 minutes I finally found it and the organisation looks brilliant. It was set up my a British woman, the charity has done amazing things. But it's really official and although they've stated they're after volunteers, specifically occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists, it's a minimum volunteer placement of 6 months. Which I can see the logic behind and think its a good thing, however I was gutted because we really would have stayed an extra week or 2 if we were able to get in and help.
We eventually settled down for the evening ready for our morning tour to my son holyland in danang, feeling very tired and in need of a full day of nothing in the near future!
