part 3

Vietnam trip at a Glance (part 3)

So here's a quick recap. 1st day touchdown in Vietnam and a quick trip to Mui Ne. Spent Day2 in Mui Ne and left for Dalat on Day3. On Day4, we left for Nha Trang, spent the rest of Day4 and the whole of Day5 along the lovely beaches of Nha Trang. *holding up fingers*.. gosh..tt leaves us only 4 more days to complete our mission!!! hmph..seems a tad impossible given the incredible distance left to cover, from Nha Trang to Hue and back to HCM. BUT NO WORRIES.. with little to do btw each destination, our open bus tours took us on a strategic overnight bus ride from Nha Trang to Hoi An.. approximately 12 hrs.. unfortunately, we had to meet with a misfortunate happening along the way (tyre's went flat on one side), other than tt, it was rather smooth ride which provided us with ample rest time from the day's activities underneath the unforgiving sun.

proposed journey( drawn up by me! haha.) still a lot more mileage to cover...

after an long journey (which wasn't too bad afterall since we spent more than half of it dead asleep in the coach), we took to booking a hotel, internal flight tickets from Hue to HCM as well as the tour to My Son for the day. All done in perfect systematic order thanks to the guidance of our leader Jon who took to allocating tasks the night before, lest we shld miss out anything. haha. typical.. bah. After everything was settled, I and Jiemin wandered along the streets in a mission to search for Hanh Cafe so tt we cld book seats on the coach to Hue the next day. We ended up on a narrow alley eating Pho Bo (beef with rice noodles) and I drinking my lovely cafe sua! hehe.

Pho Bo along the streets. Beef tender and slightly raw ard the edges but the soup base was shiok i tell u..

next up was our day tour to My Son, a UNESCO world heritage site. Personally i didn't hold too much expectations for the place as i have came to realise earlier from my previous trip to Vietnam tt in this country, travelling and not reaching the destination itself was the highlight of the trip. Hence, i didn't dare to set my expecatations too high in case of major disappointments. Well, My Son was a beautiful place, tranquil and magnificiant, it stood as a true testimonial of the civilisations dating from way way back. However, it beauty was destroyed when Americans took to bombing the area as the thick forestation ard the region allowed the Vietcong to hide away and launch surprise attacks on thier enemies. However, images of the place in its full glory came to my mind as i glanced and took in the sights of the fallen ruins now standing before me. Enchanting i must admit but nothing out of this world...

outside my son

unravelling the mysterious of the ruins

i must say the pple here have a fetish of be-heading their own statues. it seemed as though most of the figurines ard have been decapitated. *weird*

after the half day tour, we were left the rest of the day to roam the streets of Hoi An which was presumably small. Majority of the place was filled with embroidary shops and Tailor shops which were well known in Vietnam. Supposedly u cld bring a photo/picture of a dress design u reallie like and they would be able to reproduce it a fraction of the cost in a short period of time and not compromising the quality of their work as well. impressive huh? The heat in Hoi An however was terrible as the sun ruthlessly cast its rays upon us, we took the shelters as much as we could to little avail. But nonetheless managed to grab some nice cool shakes and ice-cream along the way. Woots. hehe *ahhhh*

nice cool shakes to battle the sunny weather

watch as Jon's eyes bulges out of his head when Jiemin reaches out to snatch away his ice-cream! haha.. hilarious...

sweaty stinky sticky fellas trying to rub their sweat off me. EWWW!!! (sheesh, i look the least bit disgusted though..strange)

a fisherman casts his net out in the water.

Taking a stroll down the river right where old town Hoi An was situated was certainly a laid-back affair. the streets and cafes lining the riverside were quaint and nicely decorated. Reminded me of the old clarke quay or boat quay in a way. Enthralled and spell-bound by the cobbled pavements and the chilled atmosphere that the place enveloped. Wish i cld go back to tt moment in time.