Monday, January 13, 2014

700 kilometers and no broken bones




This trip was SOOO much fun.  The cute guy in the middle is the guide, Chien.  Huy is on the left, and my protector, Tom, is on the right.  Notice he is carrying my computer backpack.  He took care of everything for me besides running interference in his truck.  After a few days I got comfortable riding, but I never got complacent.  I was always on full alert.  Since they do not necessarily drive on the right here, you can not just stay in the right lane and go slow.  People are always driving at you from every direction.  Circles and intersections were particularly challenging.  Nonetheless, this was really the way to see things up close and personal.  Chien was great about taking me to out of the way places and restaurants that I could never have found on my own.

Here is one of the views on the road from Dalat.



Yesterday we made an excursion to see Cam Ranh Bay.  This morning we did a quick tour of Nha Trang including a ninth century Cham temple.  And then my crew said goodbye and went back to Saigon.

Nha Trang is not quite my idea of a resort.  Although the beach is beautiful, it has been overcast, windy, and a little chilly here.  There have even been a few drops of rain.  When I got to the beach, I was greeted with this sign:


Besides the weather, Nha Trang is a little off the standard tour route, but there is a direct flight from Moscow.  It turns out that Russians come here for their winter breaks.  The second language on the signs everywhere is Russian and people keep talking to me in Russian.  I signed up to take an excursion tomorrow to four of the islands near here for snorkeling and sightseeing (although if it stays cold, I may not get in the water).  But ... it is pretty here.  This is the view from my hotel window when I woke up this morning.




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