Danang,
Vietnam
Friday, December 19, 2008
We took the bus to Danang in the morning which took 4 hours despite it being only 150km from Hue. We were dropped off at a random address so we had to walk in the heat with our backpacks to find a hotel. After checking in, we went in search of a travel agency, but before we found one we were approached by two guys on motorbikes offering to take us to the marble mountains in the afternoon. We were very suspicious and distrustful but decided it was the only way we could see the mountains in the afternoon, and therefore save ourselves a day in Danang the next day. We had some lunch and then met the two men who took us on their motorbikes to a village where people make carvings out of marble (found in the Marble Mountains). I was quite scared due to not having been on a motorbike on roads with lots of people going very fast, but they were safe drivers. The people in the village tried to persuade us that we wanted to buy a 2 metre high statue of Buddha made of marble. How did they think we would get it home? Anyway we then reached the mountains and started to climb. At the first peak we had a good view over Danang's outskirts and the rice fields. We saw a beautiful pagoda which was painted blue and white and was sitting on the top of the rocks. There was a landscaped garden and a temple up there too. We went inside a large cave which was very dark but full of Buddhist statues and water dripping through a hole in the ceiling. We saw 2 more caves, one of which we had to climb through a tunnel to get out of, which was fun. When we emerged we had a nice view over the sea and the beach. There were a couple more pagodas and then we met up with the motorbikes. They took us to the very windy beach to take photos. We headed back to the city in rush hour traffic with bikes all around us and I was so scared because none of them look where they are going. I closed my eyes as we drove.
The next morning we met the motorbike guys again and they took us to a beach, a temple and a fishing village. It was just to fill in a couple of hours before our bus to Hoi An, but we did go on some very bendy mountain roads which caused the bikes to tilt, which was quite fun. We took the bus to Hoi An at lunchtime.
