Week 21 (Lao & Vietnam)

11/9

Woke up at 6.15, breakfasted and visited the Kong Lo caves together with Dennis. (Jean chickened out (which was actually a sensible thing to do, since it was a hard walk every now and then (and she's still recovering from a broken shoulder, so...))). The Kong Lo caves make you feel like being on another planet.

It was a combined boat trip and short parts to walk. Dennis and I shared a beer at 9 in the morning (record) (thinking that the trip had ended, but it turned out we were only half way...). Anyway, back at 10.30 or so and then a long truck drive ahead of us.
The ride to Savanakhet was a long one, but we arrived sound and safe. At the edge of town however, which is a bit of a let down, since i would have loved to have diner again at the floating restaurant on the Mekong river, just like i had 5 years ago. In stead, bought a few snacks, found a place where they showed premier league football, and had a cold beer Lao. Still a fine evening. Slept good (as always actually).


11/10

Woke up at 7.15. Packed in 10 minutes (i travel light, especially since we will be using public transport for the next 2 weeks (truck is not allowed to enter Vietnam and Cambodia)). Bought myself 4 great sandwiches and at 8.00 the truck brought us to the bus station (100 meters down the road, so walking would have been faster, but... some decisions, well ... have discussed that before).

The bus to Hue (on the Vietnamese coast) left at 9.00. I was sitting next to a very nice Vietnamese lady (with her little son), that spoiled me with fruits and sweets. Border crossing only took an hour (despite the chaos (partly caused by ourselves (some of us panic easily))), so we arrived in Hue at 6.45 or so. A taxi to the hostel (great hostel, clean and very cosy, but... lots of (young) tourists, so it's noisy. Never mind.
I thought i had never been in Hue, but.... one big trip down memory lane. I was here in 2010... nice to see it again though. Sipped a beer and slept at 11.00.



11/11

Woke up (in my 6 persons dorm room) at 7.30. Did a bit of laundry (i carey only my small day pack with me, so... have to do laundry every 2 or 3 days), breakfasted and did a long blog update. Need to publish week 20 too. Do that this afternoon.
Now for a stroll. Laterz...

The stroll was one big trip through memory lane... ;-) . Loved it though.

Updated my blog. Another long stroll to the citadel. Met Marianne there. Had a noodle soup, and stroleed back. Did a nap. Showered, 3rd stroll. Came back in the hostel and joined  the "Hanging Monkeys" for the pub quiz, that was won by us. Obviously. We celebrtaed. Heavily. As if we did not have to go to Hoi An the next day.. Hihi.

We ended up in a "night club" (ordinary disco). I was even biked to there by Melissa.

Came home around ... 2 (-ish ... I think ...). Slept well, although ... "comatized" is a better way to express that kind of sleep.


11/12

Got up at 7.15, Breakfasted, packed (not hungover (is that a good or a bad sign?)), and went to the sleeperbus (you get a kind of bed in stead of a normal chair) that took us to Hoi An.
Arrived here round 12.30. Checked the media and went for a long stroll to the beach. 100 meters before i got there it started to poor. Like really heavily. (We have had a  lot of rain over the past 2 weeks, while the mousson season stops normally end of August... climate change? Lots of locals think so.)
Found shelter in a nice little restaurant. Chatted with two very nice australian (Perth) tourists, had a fish soup (fresh!), and continued after the rain. Back at the hotel (very nice one; share with Carlos) at 6.30. Facebooked, ate, beered and updated blog. Laterz.


11/13

Woke up at 8.00, Spend way too much time on the internet (good wifi connection). Breakfasted terrificly near the old part of town. Did a good stroll...

Slept again (despite a 9 hour sleep last night), another stroll (coffees at restaurants near the river, waiting for the pooring rain, that didn't come, despite the pitch dark clouds), showered, ate, played pool with Carlos who won with luck: 2-1.
Downloaded some Alexei Sayle. Going to watch that now. Good night.

Watched till 2 AM ....


11/14

Woke up at 8.00, still a bit sleepy, but unable to sleep.
Going to get some breakfast i think. Laterz...

Same breakfast as yesterday, Strolled, coffeed, rented a bicycle, long stroll along the beach,another coffee at the market in the ancient part of town, picked up laundry, early diner, shopping, coz... we went on the nightbus to Nha Trang.
The nightbus was quit an experience. Busdrivers shouting at us to change places, even hitting people. Well, you can guess that it did not feel good. And then.. far too many people on one bus, so people slept in the aisles, to go short: big annoyment. Had a small meal at midnight and when we came back our blankets had been stolen. More annoyment and angry reactions to the three busdrivers.
Arrived here at last at 7 in the morning.


11/15

At the Blue Star Hotel. Nice place. Share room with Carlos again. He had a tough time with the driver, since he refused to change places. He stayed calm, which earned my respect. And so...
Carlos and I did a stroll along the beach and had one of these delicious vietnamese coffees. back in the hotel now, where the wifi refuses to come on. Laterz... beach time now!!! Coz, the rain has stopped and the sun has come through (dutchism?).

Took us more than 4 months to get to a beach, but ... man .. was that good. Huge waves, nice beach beds, sun, sudoku book... a lazy tourist was born. But ... rain came at 16.00 (or it looked like it), so... did a 5KM run (yes that's warm i can tell you). Showered, did the media, long strolls for food. Tired to the bone now. Start trek, but first see what my FB friends have done today. Laterz.