Nha Trang and Hoi An

Pa bussen till Nha Trang traffade vi pa Johan, 55 ar fran Eskilstuna. Han ar ute och reser varje ar och har varit i Vietnam ett antal ganger redan. Forsta gangen var 1991, har jag for mig.
Vi letade boende tillsammans med Johan, for Sally & Emily skulle lyxa till det lite, och hade redan stallt sig in pa att ta in pa ett lite dyrare stalle.
Efter mycket om och men hittade vi ett stalle som kostade 150 000 Dong (ca 75 Sek) per natt med AC, TV och varm-dusch. Ha’ Tha Hotel heter stallet.
Det blev en kvall ramfor TV’n den kvallen, ”Fast vid dig”. Mycket rolig film, och det ar skont att kunna ha sadana kvallar ibland.

Pa lordagmorgonen traffade vi Johan nere vid stranden. Han hade bytat hotell pa morgonen for han tyckte inte om attityden pa vissa av de anstallda pa vart hotell, och det kunde vi halla med om.
Vi bestamde oss for att inta var frukost pa Sailing Club nere vid stranden. Vi hade hort mycket om det och det var valdigt mysigt. Utsikt over stranden och havet.

Efter en god frukost gick vi till PoNagar Cham Towers som ar ett buddistiskt tempel byggt runt 1000-talet.
http://www.vietnamsunshinetravel.com/nhatrangtours.html
Det anvands flitigt an idag av bade kinesiska och vietnamesiska buddhister.
Efter att ha hittat en kompis till dalageten (kommer foto sen) och en ickekompis till A-M (en gigantisk ratta), gick vi tillbaka. Det var en promenad pa ca 3 timmar totalt och det var ca 32 grader ute.
Pa vagen tillbaka sag vi en fiskebat som precis kommit tillbaka och dar de lastade ur fisken. De lyfte av nagra enorma fiskar som vi tror var tonfisk. Kommer foto pa det ocksa sen.
Efter lunch pa Sailing Club, traskade vi tillbaka till hotellet. De hade stangt av all strom pa rummet, sa det var valdigt varmt. Jag fick ga ner och saga till om att fa strommen tillbaka. Upp de 4 trapporna igen…*pust* Dagens I-landsproblem. 🙂

Nar vi gar kommer ner for att ga ut pa middag, star dar en sur tant och kraver att vi lamnar in vara pass.Det ville vi definitivt inte gora, for vara pass ar valdigt viktiga for oss. Vi har inte behovt gora det pa nagot annat stalle, men det ar tydligen vanligt i Vietnam av nagon anledning.
Vi sager att vi kan fylla i papperna bara, och det gar hon med pa efter ett tag. Problemet ar bara att vi inte har nagot visa-nummer och det tror hon inte pa. Hon bara fnyser till och ser annu surare ut.
Vi bestammer oss for att forsoka hitta ett annat hotell…

Vi ater middag med Johan pa en fisk-restaurang som ser trevligt ut. Tyvarr vet de inte hur man grillar fisk sa det blir en kokt tonfisk-bit som smakar noll.
Efter middagen ger vi oss ut pa hotell-jakt. Vi fragar pa Johans hotell (Thien Thanh). Det var fullt, men han ber oss aterkomma morgonen efter, sa det gor vi. De har ett ledigt rum sa vi flyttar in direkt.
Tyvarr blev det strul vid utcheckningen pa vart andra hotell. Han kraver oss pa 316 000 dong istallet for de 300 000 vi kom overrens om nar vi checkade in.
Han sager att 150 000 ar bara for vietnameser och for oss utlanningar ar det minsann 15800 for varje $. Saken ar ju den att vi inte betalar i dollar och vi blev lovade 150 000 dong per natt. Forbannade lagger vi 300 000 och gar darifran.
Nu tanker kanske en del av er att det ar ju bara ca 8 kr och inget att braka om. Jag far val skriva till vart forsvar att har nere blir man lite val principfast kanske, men man ar lite trott pa alla som forsoker att lura en.
Att tanka att ”det ar sa billigt anda, sa det gor inget” gor man nog bara forsta tiden och sen kommer man inte i vad grejer kostar och man vill ogarna betala overpris.

Vi tog pa oss badkladerna och stack ner till Sailing Club dar vi slanger oss i varsen solstol nere vid havet.
Vattnet var valdigt skont och jag kom pa att detta ar forsta gangen jag badar i Kinesiska havet! 🙂

Pa kvallen blev det Internet-tid dar jag la upp bilder, och sen blev det middag pa en italiensk restaurang som hade premiar den kvallen.
Johan sa till oss att han tyckte det var uppfriskande att ga med oss pa kvallarna for da slapp han bli antastad av ”the hookers on wheels” som han uttryckte det.
Trakigt nog ar det massor med sant i dessa landerna men som tur ar slipper jag och A-M utsta det. Pa det viset ar det skont att vara kvinna har.

Morgonen efter, kl 6.30, akte Johan, A-M och jag med buss till Hoi An.
http://www.hoianworldheritage.org/eg_index.htm
Det var en 11-timmars buss-fard och som tur var akte inte sa manga med den, sa jag kunde sova langst bak. Sov val en timme i stoten under halva resan iaf, se det gick ganska snabbt.

Personalen pa Thien Thanh hade redan bokat rum till oss pa Than Phat och dar fanns swimmingpool!
Vi fick ett dubbelrum for $10 (flakt, TV och varmt vatten), tog pa oss badkladerna och rusade ner till poolen.
Underbart!

Vi traskade de 10 minuterna in till gamla stan i Hoi An dar vi kakade en sen middag.
Hoi An verkar vara en mysig stad och i gamla stan ar inga bilar tillatna. Tyvarr ar mopeder det och av dem finns det hundratals korandes omkring dar, tutandes.
Nagot som det ocksa finns massor av ar skraddare. Overallt kan du se dem och det ar billigt! Man kan sy upp klader, skor, vaskor och allt kan matcha varandra.
Det var mycket lockande att ga in och bestalla en ny garderob, men detta ar ju inte i slutet av min resa, sa jag far ta det i Bangkok innan jag aker hem istallet.

Dagen efter blev det en hel-dag vid poolen. Vi traffar Jeanette och hennes 8-ariga son, Mads, fran Danmark samt Sofia och Markus fran Jonkoping. Hade valdigt trevligt. 🙂
Jeanette och Mads ar pa en ca 4 mander lang resa och de har redan spenderat 2 manader i Australien och 1 manad i Vietnam.
Mads ar en riktigt rolig liten kille och vi gjorde nagra Scandinavian Bombs” i poolen. 🙂

Nagot som slog mig nar vi kom hit till Vietnam ar att hundarna som finns har blir val omhandertagna. Strax darefter slog det mig ocksa att de ater hund har….
Jag lovar att jag inte ens tanker tanken pa att ata hund. Det skulle aldrig falla mig in, med tanke pa att jag har Oscar och han ar ju min familje-medlem.
En som inte ska bli middag ar lilla Lucky, hotellets 8-veckors valp. Hon ar en bedarande multi-blandras som fullkomligt vann allas hjarta.
T.o.m Johans, aven efter att hon kissat i hans sandal.
Ni som kanner mig vet att jag t.o.m. i Sverige fragar folk pa stan om jag far klappa deras hund. Detta lilla krypet hade jag svart att slita mig fran.

Pa kvallen blev det middag med Johan, Jeanette och Mads i gamla stan och sen blir det ett kvallsdop innan sov-dax.
Vi hade tankt att aka fran Hoi An pa onsdag-morgon, men den bussen var full sa det blev 13.30 istallet.
Vi hann ata frukost inne i stan samt ligga vid poolen innan dess.

Resan till Hue tog inte lang tid, men det blir i nasta dagbok. 🙂
Vi ar i Hanoi sen igar, och jag ska forsoka att komma ifatt nar det galler dagbockerna.

Kramar till er alla!

English version
(and as always sorry for all spelling-and grammar-errors)

On the bus to Nha Trang we met Johan, 55 years from Eskilstuna. He is out traveling every summer and he has been to Vietnam several times already. I think the first time was 1991.
We went looking for accommodation together with Johan, since Emily & Sally was gonna have some luxury and live somewhere more expensive.

After a lot of searching we found a place that cost 150 000 dong per night (about $10) with AC, TV and hot shower. Ha Tha Hotel was the name.
We spent the evening in front of the TV, watching ”Stuck on you”. A very funny movie and it’s nice to have evenings like that every now and then.

On Saturday morning we met Johan down at the beach. He changed hotels that morning, because he didn’t like the attitude on some of the people at the hotel, and we could agree.

We decided to have our breakfast at Sailing Club down at the beach.
We have heard a lot about it and it was very cosy. View over the beach and ocean.

After a good breakfast (brunch almost) we walked to PoNagar Cham Towers, which is a Buddhism temple built between 8th and 13th century
http://www.vietnamsunshinetravel.com/nhatrangtours.html
It is still used by both Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists.
After finding a friend for the dalagoat and a non-friend for A-M ( a huge rat!) we walked back.
It became a 3-hour walk in 32 degrees heat.
On the way back we saw a fishing boat unloading their catch. They lifted out some huge fishes, which we think was tuna. I will upload pictures of it later.

After lunch at Sailing Club, we went back to the hotel. They had turned off all the electricity in the room (which was very hot) so I had to walk down to ask them to put it back on. Up the 4 stairs again. *phew* The daily industrial-country problem. 🙂

When we came down to go out for dinner, a grumpy lady stands their and demands us to give her our passports. We really don’t want to do that, because our passports are very important to us.
We never had to leave them anywhere else, but it seems that it is very common in Vietnam for some reason.
We tell her that we will only fill in the paper needed, and she agrees on that after a while. The problem is that we don’t have a visa-number and she doesn’t believe us. She just snorts and looks even more grumpy.
We decide to find another hotel…

We had dinner with Johan at a fish-restaurant that looked nice.
Unfortunately they had no clue on how to BBQ fish, so we got a boiled piece of tuna that tasted absolutely nothing.

After dinner we head out on some hotel-hunting.
We ask for a room at Johan’s hotel (Thien Thanh). It was full but he asks us to come back the morning after, and that we do.
They have a room available so we move right away.
Unfortunately there was a problem when checking out of the other hotel. He asks us for 316 000 dong instead of the 300 000 we agreed on when checking in.
He says that 150 000 dong is only for Vietnamese and for us westerns it’s 15800 for every dollar. The thing is that we don’t pay in dollars and we agreed on the price in dong. Quite angry we leave him 300 000 and walk away.
Now some of you might think, hey it’s only small change we are talking about and nothing to argue about.
I have to write in our defense that down here you get stuck on principals easily, but we are a bit tired of all people that try to rip you off all the time…
To think ”it’s so cheap anyways, so it doesn’t matter” you might do in the beginning, but when you know what things cost you rather not pay overprice.

We got in our bikinis and went down to Sailing Club where we get a sunbed each by the sea.
The water was great and I was thinking to myself that this was the first time I took a swim in the Chinese Ocean. 🙂

That evening I had some Internet-time (put up pictures), and then it was dinner at an Italian restaurant that had it’s premier-night.
Johan told us that it is refreshing to walk with us during night-time because then he wont be bother by the ’Hookers on wheels” as he expressed it.
Sadly enough there are lots of that in these countries, and fortunately A-M and I don’t have to see too much of it. In that way it’s good to be woman here.

The morning after, at 6.30, Johan, A-M and I went with the bus to Hoi An.
http://www.hoianworldheritage.org/eg_index.htm
It was an 11-hour bus-ride and luckily enough there are not a lot of people on the bus so I could sleep in the back.
I think I slept one hour at a time during almost half the ride, so it went kind of quick.
The personnel at Thien Thanh had already booked rooms for us at Than Phat (I think it’s called) and they have a swimming pool!
We get a double room for $10 (fan, TV and warm water), gets in the bikini and off to the swimming pool.
It was wonderful!

We walk the 10 minutes to the old town in Hoi An and there we have a late dinner.
Hoi An seems like a very cosy town and in the old town no cars are allowed.
Unfortunately mopeds are and there are hundreds of them, honking.
Another thing that there is lots of are tailors. They are everywhere and it’s darn cheap! You can get clothes, shoes, bags and everything can match.
It was very tempting to go in there and order a whole new wardrobe, but this is not in the end of my trip so I have to do that in Bangkok before I go home to Sweden instead.

The day after we had a whole day at the swimming pool. We met Jeanette and her 8-year old son, Mads, from Copenhagen, Denmark and Sofia & Markus from Jonkoping, Sweden. We had a really nice time. 🙂
Jeanette and Mads are on a 4,5 month long trip and they have already spent 2 months in Australia and 1 month in Vietnam.
Mads is a really fun little guy and we did the Scandinavian bomb in the swimming pool. 🙂

Something that struck me when I came to Vietnam is that the dogs they have are well taken care of. The second after it struck me that they also eat dogs…
I promise that I am not even thinking the thought of eating dog. It would never occur to me, since I have Oscar and he is my family-member.
One dog that wont be dinner is little Lucky, the hotels 8-week puppy. She is an enchanting multi-mixrase dog that won everybodies hearts. Even Johan’s, even tho she peed in his sandal.
The people that knows me well, knows that I even in Sweden ask people on the street if I can pet their dogs. This little sweetheart I had a hard time pull away from.

In the evening we had dinner with Johan, Jeanette and Mads in the old town at a place called Hai Scout (can really recommend it) and then we went for a night swim before bedtime.

We had plans to go from Hoi An on Wednesday-morning, but that bus was full so we went at 1.30 pm instead.
Before we went we had breakfast at Hai Scout and then some time at the pool.
The trip to Hue didn’t take long, but that will be in the next diary.
We are in Hanoi since yesterday, and I will try to catch up with my diary’s.

Hugs to you all!