Charlie Don't Surf

Our plans to head elsewhere were thwarted by the monsoon that blew in and stayed South of Hanoi. So rolling with it we booked ourselves on the bus to China Beach. $20 gets you an open bus ticket going from Hanoi to Saigon (or visa versa) with 6 stops, but with our brilliant haggling we got 7. Our bus driver was crazy as they always are. The night dragged on while the bus swerved violently and the driver honked the air horn all night. The aircon comes on sporadically and then gets turned off 5 minutes later. My bag was wet again because the roads were so flooded that the water got into the baggage compartment. This was the 3rd, but not the last time I had to empty my bag out and hang/lay out everything to dry.

Bun Lady

As you all know China Beach is famous as being the place American soldiers chilled out (remember the "Charlie don't surf" scene from Apocalypse Now) during the Vietnam War. Not much had changed (ok ok it probably has). It was a quiet area and our guesthouse was just back from the clean beach. Of course we took a longboard out to surf the tiny unsurfable waves. One morning Ben and I tried to lay out for 15 mins, but the sun heated up the sand unbearably and we ran into the water watching the steam come off us (kidding). A quick walk later (all before 10.30am) and we were sunburnt! Each night the guesthouse owner would cook a 'family meal' and all the guests would sit at a long table and eat a feast. It was a great way to meet people. After some beers we would take our place around the bonfire at the beach.

China beach fishing boats

After a couple of tries I finally was able to get up to take some sunrise photos on the beach at 5am. As I walked down to the sand I saw hundreds of Vietnames people swimming, stretching, running and playing volleyball. The beach had been deserted the day before and I realised as soon as the sun got too high they would make a mass exodus to the shade and leave China Beach empty for us to enjoy. It was a perfect balance.

The area is famous for marble statues and as we made our way to Marble Mountain we passed many stalls selling figurines and massive statues carved from the marble. We ventured inside the mountain into caverns dotted with statues only visible with a torch. The smell of bat guano was really strong. We ventured up the mountains just after sunset for beautiful views. Aparently a monk had been killed inside just days before from marble falling on his head.

Fisher people

Marble mountian

Marble moutain caves

Marble Moutian