After a grueling 15 or so hours on a bus where this asshole next to me actually took off his shoes and fell asleep with his bare feet on MY lunch tray, we arrived in the town of Hue. Upon arrival it was decided that 24 hours would be sufficient to explore the "cultural capital of Vietnam."
The three of us walked over to the Citadel which is an impressive structure that was used as a shelter by both sides during the Veitnam war.
Caley and Jenna showed their respect by reinacting scenes from "The Little Mermaid."
It was only a matter of time before the Vietnamese realized that I was in fact their true spiritual leader and divine interventionalist. I call this picture "Will and his Harem."
For those in doubt of my universal godlike powers, remember the famous saying that "cleanliness is next to godliness." And as it so happens, I haven't used shampoo in almost half a year which means according to urban folklore my hair has been self-cleaning for months!
Awwwwww!
Aaaaaaah! China Beach! Now this is what backpacking is all about!! Located between Danang and Hoi An, this little gem of a beach is a stone's throw away from Marble Mountain. (This mountain did not get its name from its rich copper deposits.) We stayed at "Hoa's Place" which is a family run backpacker resort right on the beach. Mr. "H" as I called him was incredibly friendly and insisted that we have a beer with him every second night or so! The only thing we did each day was mission it in to Hoi An to have out suits tailored. (Hoi An is notorious for being the best place to pick up a cheap, custom made suit.)
Other than that there's not really much to write about. We woke up each morning, ate a $2 breakfast, sat on the beach, ate a $2 lunch, sat on the beach, and then finished off with a $3 dinner. VERY exciting! I did to learn how to drive a motor scooter and one night we sampled "Wall Street" which is the Canadian Club of Vietnam, it's about 475ml's of whiskey for a little over $2......classy!
My stock was very low the next morning....
One interesting story that did happen to me....I decided that I needed to stop getting suburned so I walked into China Beach the town to get some sunblock. I'd walked for about 4km before this guy pulled up on a motor scooter and asked if I needed a lift. I said no, thinking that he was a motor scooter driver and just wanted a fare but he insisted that he'd give me a lift for free. Okay I thought, here we go! He took me all the way into Danang, about 20km away and we finally found a place that would sell me sunblock. I got the stuff and then realized I had no way to get back. "No problem," said the guy, "I'll give you a lift if we go for beers!" Sounded good to me! So after three hours since I had departed, this really nice dude who just wanted to speak English with someone gave me a lift to a beachside resaraunt near my hostel, and we spent the afternoon eating grilled clams, drinking beers and shooting the breeze! How about that?
My stock was very low the next morning....
One interesting story that did happen to me....I decided that I needed to stop getting suburned so I walked into China Beach the town to get some sunblock. I'd walked for about 4km before this guy pulled up on a motor scooter and asked if I needed a lift. I said no, thinking that he was a motor scooter driver and just wanted a fare but he insisted that he'd give me a lift for free. Okay I thought, here we go! He took me all the way into Danang, about 20km away and we finally found a place that would sell me sunblock. I got the stuff and then realized I had no way to get back. "No problem," said the guy, "I'll give you a lift if we go for beers!" Sounded good to me! So after three hours since I had departed, this really nice dude who just wanted to speak English with someone gave me a lift to a beachside resaraunt near my hostel, and we spent the afternoon eating grilled clams, drinking beers and shooting the breeze! How about that?
And then wouldn't you know it? We taught a bunch of British guys how to play flip cup that night!........With obvious results! (Caley didn't enjoy the snake whiskey as much as some of the other players.)
The day we left, Katherine Ast joined our crew and after beaching it all morning we decided we'd better get some sightseeing in as we were leaving in a few hours!
The town of China Beach makes for a good walk as every second shop usually belongs to a marble carver.
I have no idea who'd make the trek to buy all this stuff because shipping it home would cost a fortune!! It does however seem to be a fairly lucritive business as so many people have taken up the trade.
The mountain is located right in the middle of the town. On one side is a really old staircase that leads up to a temple and a few pretty cool Budahs that have been carved into the caves.
Looking at all this stuff made me realize that from now on it might actualy be worth buying the 50 cent guide book so that way I have a clue as to what I'm looking at.
Off center of one of the statues I found this tiny little cave that led up a set of stairs to an opening. It was really dark and as soon as I walked in, I couldn't hear a thing except my own breathing. For some reason I got this really creepy feeling like someone else was in there with me. I took this pic and then got out of there ASAP.
This is the temple that is located half way up the mountain. I have no idea what it comemorates but it must have been pretty important for all those people to lug those stones half way up the mountain.
And that my friends is China Beach! It was very relaxing, had a great time, got a tan......and we left! Later Mr. H!!!
