When we awaken at 6 a.m., the huge park across the street is alive with activity. Men in black marshal-arts outfits are going through their paces, a group of women are exercising in unison, two young girls in shorts and t-shirts are playing badminton with no net, and tens of people are walking, jogging, or running on the various paths. The Vietnamese appear to have a heritage of physical fitness.
After breakfast, we drag our bags around the corner, past the motorcycles that use the sidewalk as a parking lot. Our bus fills-up and we are on our way to Nga Trang. For the first 1 ½ hours, we go through a cities, but this one must have a Catholic past as there are at least 10 Catholic churches. Some are being newly constructed. Must be overseas parishes helping, as this town is far from prosperous. Once we leave here, the bus finally is able to travel faster than 60 k/hr. We no sooner get going than we make our first pit stop at a clean and prosperous looking gas station, general store, and restaurant combination.
As we travel, we notice the rest stops for local travelers. They consist of hammocks tied between two trees (usually by rubber tree plantations) with blue tarpaulins over head, a low plastic table between two and a canteen and WC near by. The really fancy ones even have a low plastic lawn chair as well.
An example of beauty in mid-city.
A transport motorcyle at first pit stop.
The Vietnamese rest stop.
We stop at Mui Ne, a very touristy town where some people get off our bus and more get on. This is our lunch break. The South China sea is to our right and huge sand dunes to our left. As we head north, more mountains rise to our left and we drive past many miles of graves (cemeteries) at the base of the mountains. I wonder if this is sacred ground or just not good for farming. We pass five wind-generators like they have in southern Alberta. Finally, the area flattens-out and there are many rice fields We also see our first sheep. They have a shepherd watching the flock.
Animal power is still the norm.
Fields of graves.
I think this guy is lost.
Animal power is still the norm.Fields of graves.
I think this guy is lost.
Soon, we make our final pit stop. The men’s and ladies’ washrooms are not really separated - just designated four private stalls for the women, two at the end for the men and the urinals across from the men’s toilets. This is a better arrangement than what we saw earlier where a local bus was stopped at the side of the road and the men were lined-up by the fence in that back-to-the-road stance.
North of here the housing appears very poor with mostly unpainted-clap-board construction. Must be too far from an administrative centre. The mountains keep looming bigger. We reach a beautiful bay, sand dunes, then what appears to be an airport building. We are on a four-lane divided highway! This is the newly developing area just south of Nga Trang. We time the bus and it is fully thirty-five minutes until we reach the town. It is now quite dark and the city is lit-up. The main street by the water is again a four-lane divided boulevard. Our hotel is only three or four minutes away from our drop-off point.
The Nga Trang Lodge is only a few years old, but shows signs of wear. The carpet in our room has a severe cigarette burn right in the middle. But, our room is large with an ocean view and a balcony from which we can watch the action on the beach, in the park, and on the boulevard. There is a round-about at the corner by the hotel and the traffic flow could entertain all day!
As it has been a long day, we simply go to the hotel dining room. The prices are very reasonable, but we are the only patrons during our meal. One lone gentleman arrives just before we leave. We discover during our time here, there are hundreds of places to choose from to eat in this active little town.
Note: An efficient way to cut the really good, crispy buns (like the torpedo shaped ones in Mexico) is to cut them with a long-pointy pair of scissors. Learned by watching the street vendors!
Sand dunes that go on for miles.
Homes outside the city.
The view from our balcony at night.
North of here the housing appears very poor with mostly unpainted-clap-board construction. Must be too far from an administrative centre. The mountains keep looming bigger. We reach a beautiful bay, sand dunes, then what appears to be an airport building. We are on a four-lane divided highway! This is the newly developing area just south of Nga Trang. We time the bus and it is fully thirty-five minutes until we reach the town. It is now quite dark and the city is lit-up. The main street by the water is again a four-lane divided boulevard. Our hotel is only three or four minutes away from our drop-off point.
The Nga Trang Lodge is only a few years old, but shows signs of wear. The carpet in our room has a severe cigarette burn right in the middle. But, our room is large with an ocean view and a balcony from which we can watch the action on the beach, in the park, and on the boulevard. There is a round-about at the corner by the hotel and the traffic flow could entertain all day!
As it has been a long day, we simply go to the hotel dining room. The prices are very reasonable, but we are the only patrons during our meal. One lone gentleman arrives just before we leave. We discover during our time here, there are hundreds of places to choose from to eat in this active little town.
Note: An efficient way to cut the really good, crispy buns (like the torpedo shaped ones in Mexico) is to cut them with a long-pointy pair of scissors. Learned by watching the street vendors!
Sand dunes that go on for miles.
Homes outside the city.The view from our balcony at night.
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