Monday morning (now) it is quite pleasant, otherwise quite crowded with tourists and locals. The latter group contributes considerably to the noise pollution and other spam: constant honking and "buy from me", " everything one dollar". I misread the Lonely Planet, that motorbikes are banned from the centre of town. The reality is that "this town is for walkers and for primitive vehicle users" (as the signs declare at the entry points to the center) and that the numerous motorbikers are clearly among these primitive users.
One way to escape the noise is to bike to the Cua Dai beach (6 km away). The ride there is rough (spoiled by honking), but once there, it is quite relaxing. There are many simple restaurants that can keep an eye on your bikes, provide you with a deck chair and a beach umbrella, as long as you order something (the prices are somewhat higher than in town). Around sunset local women start to show up and set up their mobile food stalls, right at the waterfront, and start grilling meat over charcoal. Then the local customers also start streaming in and soon the beach gets quite crowded.
This morning as early as 5 am we took a tour to My Son, an other UNESCO World Heritage site, only an hour drive away, where the Hindu temples of the ancient Cham civilization stand. Or whatever remained after the heavy bombardment of the US forces. The site was indeed quite destroyed, but still quite impressive, considering that the oldest ones were built when the Hungarians were still riding around somewhere in the "Puszta".
This afternoon we will take an overnight bus to Nha Trang. Officially 12 hours, but based on our Hanoi-Hue bus experience, probably 3h longer.
No comments:
Post a Comment