We took our (thankfully) first and last night bus from Hanoi to Hue which arrived around 9am the next day. We spent just the one day/night there and spent our time walking around a lot, visiting the main attraction which was the large citadel (with a citadel-within-a-citadel, and a citadel-within-a-citadel-within-a-citadel inside the main one) also with some historic buildings enclosed. Evening time it started to rain heavily, and we left the next day before it started to flood.
We did the couple of hours bus journey to Hoi An in the morning and arrived to some sunshine. Hoi An is a quaint little harbour town famous for producing tailor made clothing (I kept well away from any of this as I would have been shopping for hours with a lot less money at the end!). We spent the rest of the day exploring the area and looking for somewhere to watch the rugby the next day. On the Saturday, we got up early and hired some bicycles to head to the beach which was a few kilometres from the town. It was a pleasant journey to a quiet beach area, the start of our coastal strip so we were pleased to hit the sand! Afternoon time was dedicated to Wales v France rugby, which was an interesting bit of rivalry. Sunday poured with rain all morning so we just waited for it to clear and headed back to the pub for more rugby!
The next day we left again before it started to flood. We took a 'locals' bus for a 10 hour journey to Nha Trang, which was certainly a lively experience. Ten weary hours later, we were dropped off somewhere random in Nha Trang, so we eventually took a taxi to where we needed to be. We obviously stayed in a hotel opposite an amazing ice cream parlour which we visited several times during our stay! The next day was lush with sunny weather and the only thing to do was hit the beach! As we'd had such a strenuous day, Bastien decided we deserved a foot massage and I didn't take too much persuading. On our final day in Nha Trang we'd booked a snorkelling trip, taking a boat out to some islands just off the coast. There was a group of about 20 of us in total which was cool. All was going swimmingly with the snorkelling until half the people came back to the boat with severe itching and rashes - the water was full of broken bits of jellyfish, which the guide had neglected to mention was common in some areas of water in Vietnam!... so we swiftly moved on to another snorkelling area which was thankfully jellyfish free and a lot nicer. A few hours lounging on top of the boat was lovely too. Evening time we went for dinner (and coffee and cake) with a nice couple we met on the boat trip.
We were up early the next day to head inland to mountainous Da Lat (thankfully, as the heavens opened on Nha Trang as we were waving goodbye). Da Lat is a complete contrast with the coast - mountains, cooler temperatures, flowers and strawberries instead of sand and mangoes). We spent the afternoon wandering round again and also visited the 'crazy house' which is aptly named. The hotel we were staying in had a rooftop jacuzzi so early evening was obviously spent utilising this luxury! We also drank some local wine for the first time since being in Asia, and it was surprisingly good. The next day we headed up Lang Biang mountain, a few kms from Da Lat town. When we saw the tarmac road with jeeps driving up we thought it'd be a breeze, but nearer the top the pedestrian route turned into a jungle hike! We were unexpectedly climbing up rocks and ducking under tree trunks and bushes. Nice bit of adventure where we ended up in the clouds at the top of the mountain - worth the effort. After such activity, the jacuzzi in the evening was again very welcome!
Next day we headed onto Mui Ne which is basically a stretch of beach with hotels/resorts along the route. The weather was amazingly hot and sunny with zero rain so the next day was spent on the beach. The day after was much the same until afternoon when we took the 'sunset' trip in a jeep to visit the beautiful white and red sand dunes. They were rather impressive and we enjoyed a short quad biking session and seeing the sun set over the sand. Day 3 was very much a beachy day again and we will head on to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) tomorrow.
Nicola
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