In fact, the first night at the sea wasn't all that great! You could hear the waves, but behind our room you could also hear a water pump that started loudly every 20 seconds (I counted it many times). Sleep was impossible without ear plugs.
On January 8th One of the owners of the seaside accommodation offered us a tour in her car. We drove to a temple and then to a piece of land that belongs to her. She would like to reforest the piece of land and possibly set up a campsite. By the way, Vietnamese people love camping!
We were allowed to walk around the piece of land, collect firewood for the evening barbecue, everyone was allowed to plant a tree and I harvested a jackfruit.
Ivar with his little tree Me with my little tree. The owner of the land Jackfruit harvest. The fruit was heavier than expected and fell to the ground... but it stayed intact! In Tuy Hoa we looked at a temple from the 10th century. the Cham.
The Cham have spread across large parts of Vietnam and you can find some of their temples.
In the evening there was octopus and fish from the grill. Plus lots of other delicious things. For example, a leaf salad too! We haven't eaten this in a long time and it was delicious!!!
To top it all off, we were shown where to display the water pump!
There were two German men in the accommodation. On January 9th We took the train from Tuy Hoa to Da Nang.
The train left at 4:43 p.m. Until we left, we wasted our time in the accommodation and in Tuy Hoa (even though there isn't that much to see in Tuy Hoa). We also had to figure out how to get the scooters on the train. We knew that taking it would work. But not if we have to address it. In the end everything was very easy because the Vietnamese willingness to help seems limitless!
It's funny when you think about how much Deutsche Bahn can do when it comes to taking bikes with you. Regional transport is still possible. But you can't get on the IC or ICE without prior notice. The Vietnamese railway takes the scooter from you, pumps the tank empty (they keep the fuel), packs the scooter with cardboard (!!!) and loads it too!
Safely packaged!
Well, sometimes the scooter doesn't travel on the same train and it can happen that you have to pick up the vehicle at the destination station a few days later. But hey!
We had seats in the sleeping car. The beds were hard but okay. We watched a movie on the iPad and then tried to sleep. Ivar slept better than me and I was correspondingly groggy the next day.
We arrived in Da Nang at 6 a.m. We were able to pick up the scooters at 7 a.m. Unfortunately our room wasn't available yet. So I slept on the sofa in the lobby for almost 2 hours. Ivar thought I was snoring softly. I mean, he's crazy, has ear problems, and anyway, I don't snore.
To pass the time we went to the sea and along the promenade. We had lunch and were able to go into the room around 1 p.m. to take a nap.
January 11th was an unpleasant day. Every now and then we get a bit of travel frustration. This was also the case on this day (which was made worse by the fact that the sun wasn't shining). Where this frustration comes from or what we are missing was and is uncertain. A (world) trip is perhaps a dream that many people have. There are many posts from travelers who write about how great a trip this is. Not many write about the negative aspects. Traveling to a foreign country is exciting at first. A lot of things are new, unknown, and want to be tried out. But at some point the 10th temple you visit is just a temple. In every city there is a market that you can visit. You just notice that they are all structured similarly and sell similar things. Conversations with other travelers are often similar: "Where are you from? Are you traveling from the south to the north? Oh, the other way around. Mhm. Yeah, the traffic is crazy. How long have you been in Vietnam?"
To deal with our frustration, we want to live less in the day and plan more activities. That's what we started with today: we booked surfing lessons for tomorrow.
And that's the way it was. It's been a long time since we went surfing and Da Nang is a great surfing spot. The waves come evenly and the seabed slopes gently and is sandy.
Cool surfer dude!!! In the surfing lesson we repeated the basics again and the surf instructors corrected a few things. After the lesson we were allowed to have the boards for a while to practice. Surfing drained us well and made us tired for the rest of the day.
On January 13th we drove to Hoi An. The city is only 25 km from Da Nang. In the past, trade flourished in Hoi An because it had a port and the city became rich. The traders came from China or Japan. That's why you see various houses with Chinese or Japanese architecture. There are also houses that combine all architectural styles. Unfortunately, the port continued to ship more and trade continued to flourish elsewhere. Since Hội An was spared from the war, the old town is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There are yellow one- or two-story houses everywhere. The doors and windows are made of dark wood. There are several temples and shrines. We visited the Tran family chapel. A daughter of the family showed us around. She belongs to the 11th generation! Colorful dragon More dragons! Bird! Ivar's new job! His old job wasn't so good. Hopefully he likes this one better! Dragons on the roof! These decorations! We have heard about this sticker and discovered it for the first time. I found the wealth of detail in the city very impressive. There are many sculptures, portraits and beautiful floor tiles. Often even the roof shingles were decorated with ornaments.
In the evening, when it gets dark, colorful lanterns are lit everywhere, which conjures up a special atmosphere in the streets. Boats also travel on the river, also equipped with lanterns (and tourists). For 5,000 dong (approx. €0.20) you could also put a floating light on the river.
A woman makes lanterns. The yellow light at the front is mine! On January 14th (Happy birthday, Katharina, Judith, Theo and Thorben!) we borrowed another surfboard. We spent the day on the beach and took turns with the surfboard. So far I have to say, the idea of daily activity has helped a lot! Mood is up again! By the way, today was the 100th day of our trip!
