Just Easy Riding!!

So our plan, that wasn't actually a plan, changed yet again and from nha trang we decided we would go further south and into the highlands to Dalat. So off we went on the 5 hour bus ride to the French style city of dalat.
We got there and had the job of finding a hotel...the part we all hate I know. Luckily there was a guest house right across the road. I did the usual, running over to ask prices while Sar stayed with our heap of bags. 5 minutes later I returned with great news, we had found somewhere so easily!! $8 for the night, 3 huge double beds (they apparently didn't have any smaller rooms) but we didn't mind and a balcony where you could watch the sunset...a good find.
We made ourselves at home and went to see what was around,on our way to the Market we bumped into 2 Easy riders, Thau and Phuc who offered to take us into the highlands to visit various villages,waterfalls and factories where the local Vietnamese made their dongs!

We weren't keen on their premade trips so we reeled off all the places we wanted to go and they agreed to do it for the same price....that confirmed it, we booked for the next day...8am!

Off we trotted with a skip in our step,both of us now couldn't wait for the trip...we got to the central Market and it was mayhem!! You could buy literally anything you desired. Chickens alive, chickens dead, whole fish, half fish, fish heads and fruit...so much fruit! It was so fun to see all the locals buying their food for the day. We headed back for some pho and ended the evening with sarie's new all time favourite, orangina! Mmm mmm.



So the next day up we got ready for our easy rider trip, we grabbed another Vietnamese favourite, baguette with cheese and fried egg. It was so tasty. We had literally lived off these crispy, warm baguettes since hoi an. They were delicious and for 20p we managed to eat our fair share.
We met Thau and Phuc, donned our helmets, jumped on and flew off around Dalat. I remember cruising round the mountains, Vietnam countryside to our left and a huge forested area with private French style mansions to our right and thinking what a place. We couldn't quite believe what we were doing, it was definately up there in our top 10 things we have done to date.

We spent the whole day rolling around for miles on our bikes, we visited so many different pagoda's, a silk factory, farmers fields, 2 waterfalls,which were so impressive and got to go under 1. We got soaked!! Also we visited the crazy house...it was a bit crazy! And a rice wine factory...I obviously loved that, Phuc pours me a shot of the 65% poison in a glass from a huge container, I think its fair to say its what we use back home for petrol!! Best of all was the minority village. We pulled up to be greeted by 6 young children shouting in their language and waving us in as if we were famous (back to how it was in India!). They were so cute and so happy. I stood there snapping away and after a while they posed for us, I think they loved it. It was so good to see, Sarah wanted to take them all home, haha.
When we said to Thau we wanted to go to a minority village but not one full of tourists, he definately nailed it taking us to a village with the K'ho minority people....it was strange,they didn't speak English or even Vietnamese, just their own language....apparently a few lucky ones got to go to kindergarten but they don't learn how to write,just how to speak their own language...so they can't read either!!...bless them...by the time we left they were just repeating what we said....'hello' and 'goodbye'!!




Around 2 o clock we stopped off at a local restaurant recommended by Thau and Phuc so we agreed,pulled up on the bikes (yep now officially in the Honda cllub :-)!!) and grabbed a table...we were sat floating on the river and it was so calm and chilled out!

They ordered for us and the dishes came in their masses!!every type of meat and seafood you could imagine!
Sarie had her own vegetarian dishes...about 7 seperate dishes!!
Thau and Phuc found it funny that Tom in Vietnamese meant shrimp (they thought that was my name,everyone we meet who asks my name doesn't get Dom, just Tom, so it's easier to just agree now!!) Sarie didn't get the joke so I had to explain that a shrimp in Vietnamese is called Tom and Tom is my name right!... wink wink nudge nudge!!



Around 5.30pm our trip came to an end and we were back at our hotel in Dalat...we chilled out with our OWN tv....I know what ur thinking....yep we have moved up in the world....what's more, we even had mickey mouse and tom & jerry sheets!! So cool!

When we headed out for tea we saw our first major moped crash and it was a bad one...a moped had caught another and the guy went down sliding along the floor...just the noise made us cringe! The worst thing was the guy rolled and then never got up,he just lay there....a load of people ran over to pick his floppy body up and put it in the sitting position (not sure that's he right thing to do when someone is either unconscious or dead) and still he just flopped forward.... A taxi stopped and a few guys picked up the body and lay him across the back seat....hopfully he is ok...
That shook us up big time and we lost our appetite... Also we had planned to get a moped out the next day but after seeing that we weren't so sure, well sarie was a definate no no....



Our last day in dalat was a pretty chilled out day. We didn't mind not getting a moped as dalat was a pretty cool place, and as we had made our own easy rider trip we had seen everthing we wanted the day before....so instead of riding around the little city we walked!!! The temperature was soo cool so it wasn't a problem! I was in my jeans and sarie in her ankle swinger hareems!!
We found such a cheap place for brunch it was crazy,5 dishes for less than 2 pound and headed to the summer palace....which we never actually found, we got the Vietnamese village idiot telling us completely the wrong way! Cheers pal!!
We ended up walking round the lake and goin to some markets down some backstreets which we got a funny look but it was fun, chillin' with the locals away from the dirty british!!haha

We loved our time in dalat and the following morning we were heading back to Nha Trang to then get another bus that evening to Hoi An to spend a bit more time there before getting bus through to Laos xx

Nha Trang - "I'm not drunk, my drink's been drugged" - Elyse

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Hoi An - Beach parties, 1 too many buckets and 3000 dong beer

Although the plan was to head on the bus to Hue, we had heard that there wasn't much there, and got told 1 day there would be enough we thought it wasn't really worth a visit and decided to head straight to Hoi An.
Lee and Vicky arrived back in Hanoi and we decided we would go together. 2 Australian guys, Grayem and Andrew who were on Lee and Vicky's Ha Long trip also had planned to get the bus, so we set off to Hoi An. We had the back row which seemed awesome, until we got going and it turned out the Air Conditioning didn't go back that far, so we a got window which was a poor replacement!...Sarie, once again slept for most of it like a baby,,,and I got maybe 2hours sleep, on the plus though, I made a sweeeeeettt playlist, mainly consisting of the decline on repeat with a bit of a ricky gervais podcast thrown into the works here and there!
Grayem and Andrew were laughing as they got the top back row, so the air con was reaching them!
Also after speaking to the aussies it turns out that there are others who find the asian squat and drop toilet as difficult as I do. Firstly none of us can squat with flat feet, it is an art..and secondly I find to be able to go to the toilet I have to get completely naked and then attempt a squat whilst holding onto whatever handle I can find for dear life to stop me falling backwards into the bowl. At first I thought I must be doing something wrong but to put my mind at rest, Lee and both the Aussies have the same problem...It is quite an experience, not to mention the time I got caught short with no paper, but we won't go into that!!...a story for another time!



Anyways leading the blog swiftly away from toilets and back to the beautiful Hoi An. We arrived and had agreed with the others that we would try the hostel where we said we would meet the 3 Aussie girls and 2 other English girls who we met on our Ha Long trip...We got to the hostel each on the back of a motorbike with all our bags....6 motorbikes driving in convoy filled to the brim with all our bags, Sarie still managed to get the camera out and take some pics!
Turns out the hostel is full, so we met the girls to explain that we would come back and catch up with them later but were going to find a new hostel...So back on the motorbikes, however 2 had disappeared!! so 6 of us jumped on the back of 4 motorbikes again with all our bags!....very cosy! but definately safe!...haha
The only rooms available were their best rooms, which were a bit above the budget but definately worth it!!! it was luxury in every possible meaning of the word!!...this is the life!



Once we got sorted we had a swim, and some lunch trying the local food, whiterose and cau bau....sooooo good! We decided we would have a wonder and then meet the others back at the hostel before going for tea...Having made a pact not to buy any tailoring Sarie's arm was twisted after Grayem and Andrew had ordered there 4 suits, and the next place we ended up was a tailor shop...and before we knew it Sarah had agreed on 2 dresses and a boyfriend blazer. We then let the girls at the other hostel know our plans for tea and they decided to have a quiet night.
As we got back to our hostel, we noticed a restaurant across the road selling beer for 3000!! that's got to be a definate...also 2 for 1 on G&T's...We grabbed Lee Vicky Grayem and Andrew and that ended up being our local for our stay...9 beers for less than £1!ridiculous, and as you can imagine we took full advantage of that

The next day we had our free buffet breakfast....sure!!heh....and took our free bicycles provided by the hotel...again...sure!! and headed to the beach....PARADISE!! covered with palm trees, white sands and blueeee sea, we were in heaven. We got our sunbeds and that was our plan for the next 3 days...We met the girls there too which was fun and had a few beers in the sun, and not to mention bat and ball!...Andrew and Lee set the record with 30...we tried to top it for hours but had to settle with 29 :( ...failed
That evening the girls had to catch their bus to Nha Trang so we arranged to meet them there a couple of days later.



On our last night we decided we would all hit the beach party, obviously starting off early at the local and filling up on the cheap beer and g&ts....15 beers to be precise, but who's counting, I think Lee hit 17 and Grayem and Andrew must have reached the 20 mark!! Sarie and Vicky guzzled 8 STRONG G&Ts!...yepp....we were about ready to hit the party...then we moved onto buckets of god knows what, nevertheless it was good!...we sat on the beach, whilst the others had a skinny dip in the pool, and got our shapes out on the dancefloor...before losing the camera twice in 1 night!...asking the staff if they had seen it, they answered no, before 1 went behind a tree to look for it and somehow the camera was in his pocket both times! 'is this your camera?'...genius!! He was definately not giving it back until he saw Sarie, distraught and breaking down in tears....that did the trick!!!



We got back at 5.30am on the back of a random motorbike and for once I remember the whole night...the only 1 out of the 6 of us!
I think it's fair to say we hit it pretty hard in Hoi An, but we made the most of the beach which was the main plan, and were ready to get our bus to Nha Trang (who we had booked via Mr.T!! he took us straight to the bus's starting point so we were first on to get first pickings of the beds..this bus ride must be better than the last!!) to meet the others. We parted ways again with Lee and Vicky who were heading north, and Grayem and Andrew were heading to Laos but we'll probably meet somewhere in the future!...
Anyways....Nha Trang here we come....the beach capital of Vietnam :-)

First things first, Vietnam...WOW!!

So 5 weeks, a pretty itense language barrier, dog markets, a lot of pot noodles, even more beerpong, 18pence beer and so many sights we left China absolutley loving it! Vietnam was next on our list...sightseeing was out of the question, we just wanted a few weeks to relax.
Hanoi was our first stop and after a 9 hour bus ride we set foot in this crazy city. It was so overwhelming but so amazing but not as cheap as we remembered. We only planned one day in the city before heading off out to the Bay. So our first day in Vietnam we found our beloved Pho 24 (a cheap noodle bar) which we lived on on our last trip and Fanny's ice cream...an amazing ice cream cafe selling fancy ice cream in the shape on pretty much anything you wanted. We went for the Pinnochio and the bumble bee. Yummmmy!!



We set off early for our trip to Ha Long Bay. The boat that we would be living on was pretty cool, there was a top deck for sunbathing and jumping off...which is were we would spend most of our time, a middle deck which was the bar and the lower deck was the living quarters. Our day was pretty busy, we trekked through caves and went kayaking. It all ended with the best part once we got back on the boat. We swam for a few hours around the boat in the bay with the sun setting behind us, Dom and the Aussie girls where jumping off the top, bombing and diving in. It was so much fun. Beer in hand, Ha Long Bay behind us, the sun was setting and we were in Vietnam...what more could you want!
Karaoke was next on the list...The girls belted out the classics including Rasputin, and even the crew joined in with a few vietnamese tunes...We ended the night on Eiffel 65 sung beautifully by Julia.
We were up the next day at 5:30am...(well Dom was) for the sunrise...and from the pictures it looks amazing. The best sunrise we have ever seen. When we did finally get up at a more reasonable time of 7:30am!! We opened our window took one look outside, climbed out and jumped straight in...an amazing cure after a late night!! So we said our goodbyes to the Aussies and Jess and Kate and set off to Cat Ba Island. We knew what was in store for us and it wasnt a beach :( ...yet!! We pulled up at this National Park, where we were told we would be doing a 2 hour hike...in flipflops!!!...up a hill, to the top, it was literally rock climbing! Sure!...flipflops didnt hold us back, they actually did us proud. So the Great Wall, Cat Ba Island Mountain trek and Chinese Caves had all been conquered in our beloved 'thongs'...(the Aussie's are wearing off on us!! haha) The top was pretty awesome, the view was of the National Park. We were warned no more than 5 people where to climb the viewing deck...and there was atleast 12 people in there...It was a rickety piece of scaffolding, which shook (alot) when there was a slight breeze!!...pretty safe though, I'm sure!! haha! So off we set back down the mountain, I was pacing the whole way...ready for a drink at the bottom. Dom had his top off to use as a swear rag and by the time we made our way down even the rag was dripping! The Vietnamese must realise how hard it was for us foreigners to climb such steepness and they greeted us at the bottom with a cold bucket of water which they basically threw all over you...it was heaven!!
Monkey Island was next...but we had heard that nobody see's Monkeys! So Dom's priority was to hunt them down...mine on the other hand was to relax and lay on the beach. Dom did, indeed, hunt down the monkey's down and found 3! It was a great day in the end and I felt quite proud of myself that I had climbed a mountain :)



We headed back to Hanoi on the third day not before having amazing lunch. Back to the hustle and bustle of the city, on the plus side though we stumbled across beer corner...little red stools covered the pavement, a keg in the corner...so many people...and beer for 4000Dong!!!!!! Beer corner was to be our favourite place for the next 2 days, we generally stopped there at every oppourtunity and at 4000Dong we could justify spending that much on a 'drink'!!

Our next few days in the city while we waited for Lee and Vicky to get back from Ha Long Bay consisted of a lot of chilling. We found a pool and headed there with the Aussies and our new found 'friend' Will.I.Am!! He was a strange guy..his general tactic, which we later found out, consisted of him buying us all drinks and food for the day to be our friend...I thought this was a bit weird, but Dom completely lapped it up!! haha...So a few too many Larue beers later we got on our bikes and cycled through the craziness of Hanoi back to the hostel with slight headaches and Will.I.Am in tow!!!

"Monkey Jane Loves you Long time!!"

After a 23 hour train ride, 11 hours of sleep, 5 pot noodles, vegetarian biscuits, a Chinese lesson from Andy, 1 film, 300 refills of tea, 2 burns and a big KFC we arrived in Guilin. It seemed very quiet to what Lonely Planet had described it as; "Once you get past the hords of tourists you will see how pretty Guilin is". There were no tourists in sight and no floods. We didn't plan to stay in Guilin for too long as we wanted to get to Yangshuo to meet the others at Monkey Janes.
The one full day we had we rented bikes out and biked along the Li river to see Elephant trunk hill. Sarah's bike was named the 'pigeon' which kept us entertained!! and also were recommended a peak to trek up which had great views . After bullying Sarah to come with us to the top of the mountain, she finally gave in and we dragged her up, to which a chair was waiting for her as well as the amazing view over all the karst peaks, the Li River as well as the whole of Guilin.
After visiting a night market and the day of biking we felt we had done all that we wanted, deciding to getaway from the city quickly so we could spend longer around Yangshuo.
We went to a supernarket and bought a few beers and also possibly the GREATEST buy so far....a flask! We now have endless supplies of tea with us all the time :) We watched the England Slovenia game the night before we left, which was probably our best performance, playing really well, which made us a bit happier than watching the previous 2...plus this game was on at 10pm instead of having to wait until 2.30am. We got up early, had our standard breakfast and then caught the bus to Yongshuo...15RMD, bargains!
An hour and a half later and after a flask full of tea we were met at the bus stop and taken to Monkey Janes....Greeted by the monkey herself! Straight away she was telling Sarah she had a sexy body!! bit strange but she was the cheif so we just laughed! We later met up with Lee and Vicky again, and the 3 of us became 5...getting quite a gang now!
That night we went to a restaurant recommended by everyone: 'Lucy's Place'....The crispy duck was AMAZING! the happy hour lasted longer than Janes which was a bonus and for a measly 15RMB Lucy made the BEST eggplant and pork dish....The beloved dish we had been introduced to in Hangzhou...yummy!
To finish the night, we thought it was only right if we go to the Rooftop, have a few beers and play a bit of beerpong!...starting off I would say, I sucked! Andy was a bit better....Lee's extra night there when we were in Guilin showed a little bit of practice but Sarah was the better player that night!! Netball days had paid off!!
That night was strange, We met a couple of Cockney guys, Joe and James who we doing almost the same trip so may meet up somewhere a long the way.
Monkey Jane invited Sarah and James to go with her to film an advert for tourism in Yangshuo, and in return we would get free beer, free food, a free double room (instead of a dorm) and free t-shirts!! :) A definate yes!!

So off Sarah went with the Monkey and James....8 o clock sharp, and Monkey Jane's words were "you will be back in time to go to the cave at 1"....that was wrong...more like 3, so we put off the cave for the next day and the 4 of us decided that we would rent out bikes and go to the dragon bridge until Sarie comes back....it wasn't until we got on the road, when we found out that the bridge was 10km away!! So 10km later we got to the bridge and the first thing we did was go to see if we could jump off the bridge into the river....Lee took it like a man, however me Andy and Vicky weren't too sure, so we went back down and had a swim first! then went back to the top and spent around 30mins deciding when to go!! Lee came up and jumped with Vicky, then I decided to go and then Andy, quickly made sure someone had a camera before jumping off!! we all weren't hurt, apart from Andy! who ended up seat-dropping from the bridge into the water....what you do on a trampoline, not on a 20m drop into water!!!he was in pain but nonetheless we had done it!!
We set off back and decided we would go the scenic way along the Yulong River, which in my opinion is much nicer than the Li river; it's smaller, away from the town, but surrounded by small country villages and the scenery is beautiful!!...we biked as far as we could until it got too muddy, by that time Andy had fallen in the river and his basket had fallen off his bike! he wouldn't be getting his deposit back!
I raced home to meet Sarie and turned out that was a waste of time...When I got back to Yangshuo I got lost and couldn't find the bike place!...In this time Lee Vicky and Andy had managed to get a lift back on a tractor. I got back to find Sarie in the lobby with Monkey Jane...sounded like a great day, free bamboo rafting down the river, free beer and food all day! a cheeky beer at 11am!! sure!!...bike riding, moon hill and lunch in Mama Moon's house! Apparently she had the worst false teeth!!

So the next morning we were going to the water caves and it was awesome! the 5 of us pulled up to the cave where there was a water pool at the entrance, and we all got set in our hard hats and flip-flops! perfect footwear for caving! we got on the boat and rowed inside the cave...It was crazy, having to crawl through the cave, hitting our heads soooooo many times and slipping in the ridiculous flip-flops...walking boots may have been a better solution!! We then stopped at a mud bath which was a lot of fun! You could lay down and just float in the mud! So much fun. I then took it a step further by putting my head under! all fun and games!
We had to wash all the mud off from ourselves after that ready for the hot springs....they were HEAVEN!! so so hot...like being in a really hot bath, we could have stayed there all day! eventually it was time to head back out on the rowing boat before we played around in the pool outside the cave and then headed back to MJ's.
The evening we decided to go see the Cormorant fishing, firstly they were in action with the birds catching the fish, however it seemed different to the HSBC advert...1, it was dark (easier to control the birds as theyre attracted by their lamp) and 2, the bird doesn't just drop the fish, they try to swallow it but the fisherman ties their neck with string so they cant swallow it! then he pulls them in when they're choking! squeezes it's neck so the fish falls out and then throws the bird back in!!
We then got a closer look with the birds and then went back along the Li river.

The next day we went to visit the village of Xingping, set further in the countryside and was a version of Yangshuo without all the tourists, the stalls and the annoying touts. We caught the local bus for 7RMD! so cheap, and arrived an hour later. We walked a long the river to the viewpoint taken for the 20RMD note which was pretty impressive!! Getting hassled by some kids, we bought 2 flower head bands for the sake of 20p and carried a long the river. We stopped off at a little restaurant which was more like a ladies home, overlooking the river where Andy used his Chinese to order us some more of our beloved Eggplant dish as well as Sarie's favourite, egg and tomato with free Jasmine tea and as much rice as you can eat!
The views and the scenery at Xingping were pretty impressive, and by that time we had to catch the bus back, ready to prepare for the big game against Germany!
As we had been to Lucy's a few times we managed to get happy hour rate on the drinks alll night!! if it was the right result it would have been an amazing day! We all decided then that we are now all Argentina fans, and thought to take our mind off the game, what better way than for some beerpong!
The next day we got up late and chilled out all day before...and I better add this in, Me and Lee challenged Sarie and vicky to a game of beerpong....got off to a great start, I landed a bounce and before you knew it we had 1 cup left and they had 5.....we had peaked too soon....sure enough the girls picked off all their 5 while we were still trying to get the 1...and we lost...The girls conveniently retired after that game!!
It turned out later on that Lee and Andy teamed up and won 10 games in a row...becoming beerpong champions!! who'd have thought it...although i did help with 1 game :)
The next morning we had breakfast and then for the emotional goodbyes!!goodbye to Lee, Vicky and Monkey Jane...although we are doing the same trip we will probably catch up further down the line....So Me Sarie and Andy set back to Guilin.

Once back in Guilin we or should I say Andy booked our train tickets for the next mornig to Nanning, and we chilled out, had a treat at McDonalds and some original recipe at KFC before going to the food night market again, to get some sushi and a chinese BBQ...yummy!!
We headed back, talked about the crazy Monkey Jane and heard some rumours about Jane and Josie's rivalry!!hilarious!
Another emotional goodbye to Andy in the morning! Now the 2 of us are back globetrotting, heading to Nanning for a quick stopover for the visa to enter Vietnam on the 2nd july!!! Can't wait!!!