“That was like the smiliest day of my life” – Joe
If you’ve had a look at the pictures, you will have seen some of the views we took in on the motorbike ride, through the mountains, from Hue to Hoi An. Unfortunately it was impossible to get some of the things we saw on film as, quite frankly, none of us could get ourselves together enough to pick up our cameras at some of the most breathtaking moments. We each rode on the back of a motorbike from our hotel in Hue to our next hotel in Hoi An, stopping off at some incredible places; the Elephant Springs, Marble Mountain, and China Beach. The ride took 8 hours, and I think we can all say they were some of the best hours of our lives. The riders spoke English, were so friendly, eager to engage in our antics, and made us feel safe enough to engage in said antics! Joe literally smiled for 8 hours straight; by the end we all had face ache from grinning and laughing. At the moment we’re sitting here trying to come up with a coherent account of the experience, but we can’t really get any further then ‘ace…wow…incredible’
Check out the photos, they don’t do the day justice in any way but, we hope, you might be able to get a little of the buzz we felt after those 8 hours!
Hoi An was our favourite place that we’ve visited so far – it seems that the further down south you go, the friendlier the people are (beer is 16p a can, which might explain it..) As well as being yet another Unesco World Heritage Site, Hoi An is also the tailor capital of Vietnam, and Sophia got a beautiful silk dress tailor made, while Brad and Joe got formal and smart-casual shirts. They look fantastic and will hopefully last a lifetime! The French colonial atmosphere of the town meant that there were some amazing cafes and eateries. We did cave on the final afternoon and visited The Cargo Club for cheesecake,(AMAZING), but we also visited The Reaching Out Tea Room, which gives employment to the deaf, blind and those with physical difficulties. We ate and drank in silence, using cards and pen and paper to converse with both the staff and each other. It was a really cool experience, and the mochas and snacks were unbelievable. We had to leave early unfortunately, as our hotel bodged (think that’s the technical term) up our bus booking, but we had an awesome two days!
Just chilling in our hostel in Nha Trang after a 12 hour sleeper bus ride (yeah we did it again) and a gorgeous morning and afternoon at the beach. Contrastingly, we’re now waiting for the storm to be over so that we can head out onto the front for a drink. Hope you all have a great evening!
E, S, B, & J