At last a beach....and sunburn!!

We arrived from Hue on 3rd March, and checked into a really nice hotel (Hoa My) for $3.5 each.  as is the way in Hoi An, we got hassled constantly to buy suits - this is one of the cheapest places to get a tailor-made suit, but i didn't want to spend my money now.  After wandering around for a bit we watched Liverpool vs Manchester United in Treats Bar, then found a 3000vtd beer place, where we had a few cheap drinks.  We ended that night in a bar that was recommended to us, however it turned out to be not so great.  We didn't stay out too long as we had a sight-seeing day planned the next day, and a lot of alcohol the night before has a habit of ruining the next day!

1st beach in a while!

So we got up early as planned, grabbed a quick breakfast, the hired some more motorbikes.  We set off for My Son, a Unesco Heritage site tht contains ruins from the old Cham empire.  The drive there was really good, although we did need to stop and ask for directions a few times. I reckon motorbikes are defiitely the best way to see things as they are cheaper than tours, you can stop when you like, and you can really take the scenery in, such as the buffalos to be found in every field.  The ruins themself were ok, but we got there at midday so we were hot and sticky, so we didn't spend too long there.  Again, they are ancient ruins, which to be honest I have seem plenty of.  You have to go to these things anyway though.

A great management team at Da Nang Stadium

After My Son we headed down to Cua Dai Beach, a nice beach but you get hassled to buy anything and everything.  The sellers are so well trained they repeat sayings they have learnt, such as "luvly jubly", "buy something or  I put a cap in your ass" and "open your heart, open your wallet".  I'm obviously heartless as my wallet stayed firmly shut!  The whole day was pretty cool, and I managed to get a little bit burnt as it had been a while since we had had suc nice weather.  Also, being on the bikes meant we had a breeze so it was easy to burn without knowing.  Ah well, it all turns brown in the end!

The next day we decided to move on again, as is the routine we now live out... next stop Nha Trang.  Because we wanted to get an overnight train, we had to get a minibus to Danang.  We decided to go there at lunch time so we could spend the afternoon wandering around Vietnam's 4th biggest city.  To be honest there wasn't much to see so we just went to the stadium and managed to have a kickaround there.  After that we visited the locals market, where we bot a few looks of surprise.  Not many tourists go there!  We then went back to the stadium to find that a V-league game was on.  We decided to watch it - Da Nand vs Saigon.  Saigon ran out comfortable 5-2 winners, but I've got to say I was surprised at how good some of the players were. 

Beautiful scenery from the train

After an expensive dinner at the Faifo Hotel next to the station, we got on our train at 7.30pm.  We had hard-sleepers which turned out to be pretty comfy, although a little tight.  The 12-hour journey passed easily, with the help of a couple of cans of sleeping juice, and before I knew it we were nearly in Nha Trang!

Go Buffalo

Got any ID mate?

I hope there isn't a post coming!

Night train to Nha Trang - cosy!