Alright lovelies!
Seems like ages since i pulled my sorry behind off the beach and bothered to do this... but seeing as it's not as blue in the sky as usual, i dont begrudge it (i can see one little cloud atm, and even that looks so small, like someone's cigarette smoke), much.
We're backtracking, so forgive me the minor details in some parts, and the exaggeration in others. What we did was so awesome that there are bound to be a few embellishments along the way.
Hue
We arrives in Hue after a pretty effortless journey, we got on a bus, watched Planet Earth in Dutch, ate a sleeping pill and crashed the whole way. We got into Hue at around 7AM, just in time for the free breakfast (MORE ROLLS! FREE!) If i'm honest, towards the end, i dont think Kelsey appreciated the rolls for breakfast, rolls for lunch thing quite as much as i did. But i've discovered that a full belly tastes better than not. She can have her omelettes, im happy just being stuffed.
After putting our bags down in another shared dorm, we went out to see Hue.
There's not too much to do in Hue. We wandered over the imitation San Fran bridge, into the old town. Not all people know, but we - the world learned experienced travllers - know is the first place to look for old things. And for some reason, travellers in general love looking at old things.
So as was the story of most towns on our travels, we headed for the standard combination of 'how big is it' combined with 'how old is it'. Turns out Hue Citadel was massive, i mean hooge, and very old. Score.
We wandered around there, marvelling at the little ponds and old vases. And chatted until we thought we'd seen the majority of it.
After wandering back to Hue Backpackers Hostel, we went for a spot to eat and a game of pool, with our new pal Sam. Who'd gotten on the previous night bus with us from Hanoi.
We walked up and down the street working out which happy hours coincided with which, and after a certain amount of beers, we went back to the hostel, who's very own happy hour was just beginning.
This still didnt prepare me to meet the cracking geordie lads we did that night, who would later become our mates for a good couple of weeks.
I might point out that after about 2 hours of talking to them, kels and I were both a bit gutted as we thought we were meeting Ant and Dec.
We all went together to the bar with the pool table, and in the space of about 30 mins, Michael and John had persuaded us to ride a motorbike from Hue to Hoi An the following day, as they were doing it and it looked fun.
This for me was the perfect moment of a plan coming together.
Kels and i had wanted to ride a bike down Vietnam, but didnt like the look of it from Hanoi, so this would give us a chance to scratch that particular itch, whilst keeping the worried parents at bay. As we had a guide.
Later that night we went back to hostel, (another happy hour - spirits and shots this time)
And made friends with a whole bunch of Irish girls, and played drinking games until the sun came up. Brilliant.
Ohh, actually, wait. I've gotta drive a bike for the first real time tomorrow. Let's see how that goes. At least Kelsey wasnt as battered as me... Oops, yeah she was. This is gonna be fun.
The Most Epic Journey Of Journeys, Journied.
We awoke from our 3 hours hibernation, as bears with very sore heads.
We went down stairs and someone shouted 20 mins until bikers leave! We were ''like ahhhhhhhhhhh man' grabbed a roll and a coffee, packed our bags, and smoked 12 cigarettes in a row.
Now to those of you that have ridden bikes before you'll know what i mean when i say, there is no room for a hangover on a motorbike. We started a bit shakey (that dehydrated who could blame us) but after a while really settled in to the whole driving malarky. It was class. Pure brilliance.
In our group, there was John and Michael, who you will absolutely hear more about later in the blog, Hanoi Sam, a big bunch of irish girls, who the only reason im not writing their names down is that i dont want to offend them by spelling names like Groinaie, Groanyer.
But all in all there was 14 who started. After an hour, there was 11. After an hour and a half, there was 8, and by the time we reached Da Nang, there was 6. But im jumping.
-PARENTS LOOK AWAY-
Although this sounds like a pikey budget horror film, it was actually because we split from the guide, he stopped when the first bike broke down, we'd heard it was one road to Hoi An, and decided - maybe not too wisely mind you - to go it alone! And we had so much fun
The hightlight for me was without a doubt, a stretch of road called the High Mountain Pass. And dear lord, was it spectacular. It started as a gentle incline up a mountain road, and after an hour of the deserted winding road, it started to get chilly. We stopped and took a few photos, and looked up and saw the road leading on further, into a whole cloud of mist.
The next hour, up to the summit and down the other side at 30 mph, was one of the coolest things i've ever done. We were puttering along and out of the mist would come a little truck, bursting with pigs, or a bunch of teenager Vietnamese kids on their bikes, whooping as the overtook you. It was incredible. We stopped at the top as we were changing drivers, and peered over the top of the world, to see a gorgeous coastline, stretching as far as you can see.
When we got to the top, the remainder of the group all stopped to take some group photos, and it was obvious that a couple of girls were seriously struggling, so being the gentleman i am (and the fact that it was now Kelsey's turn to drive and i wasnt done enjoying it!) i offered to drive one of them on the back of their bike, and kels took the other on ours.
But i didnt think the next 3 hours would be so crazy.
We arrived at Da Nang (a big industrial sort of town) at rush hour. And i still stand by the comment that weaving through the traffic then, is the coolest videogame i've ever played. It felt surreal, and after 3 hours of driving well in our comfortzones, and got to point of exhillerating. We were in Da Nang for about 2 hours, being lost a little and also trying not to get hit by the 1000 bike hoard, that we found ourself a part of.
The next 2 hours were plain sailing and revelling in the survival of Da Nang, we hammered it down the road towards Hoi An.
Now the arrival in Hoi An was very odd. The whole group got massively seperated but somehow, all turned up within 30 mins of each other! We'd checked out a place called Sunflower hotel, and once we arrived, we chucked our bags down and went for a beer. Much needed, much deserved.
That night i fell in love with Michael and John, but also met a complete class act, the Welsh demon that is Jon Forbes. The guy is a pure legend, and getting to know him that night was one of the highlights of my holiday. The big group together rampaged through this little town from bar to bar, and all the while everyone was having a great time dancing, drinking, and in mine and Jon's case, playing a little pool. Well a lot of pool. We took on everyone we could meet and have to say did very well. But more inportantly we got battered. So drunk that we ended up all back in mine and Kelsey's room, with a couple of cheap bottles of Vodka, prowling round the pitchblack hotel looking for the hotel's free Oreos in other unlcoked rooms. All in all it was a brilliant way to end a superb day.
The rest of Hoi An passed in a blur. We stayed for 2 nights at the sunflower, and during this time, was the rugby world cup semis, so our own Welshman was very excited about that (who knows why, they got beaten by the French), we played pool, talked sports, drunk too much. And by the end of Hoi An, what started as a group of 14 or so decent individuals, became the group that would stick together for next week and a half, and have the best time.
Roll on Nha Trang!
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