A Road-trip Worth Remembering

As many of you may remember, we have had some bad road trip experiences in the past (I won't go into detail, but they involve bathroom doors unceremoniously detaching and puking in cars!), ones that were, as Mum likes to say, "all part of the experience!" So when I heard that we were going on ANOTHER 8 hour road trip, it's understandable that at first I was just a bit skeptical! I thought that it would be looooong stretches of boring travel, feeling sick and doing nothing. Boy, was I wrong!

Day#1 Friday 9th August, 2013
We started the day at 4.30am (I love early starts!), dressed, gathered our bags and headed out into the night to meet the bus that would be our only source of transport for the next 3 days. We all climbed in and found seats (Dad, in the process, hitting his head on the disco-light for what would NOT be the last time). We then drove to Dad's workplace to pick up the rest of the gang. We all boarded the SOS express and once settled we were on our way. I thought that the bus ride would be kind of boring, but as it turned out it was the complete opposite! Everyone was very friendly and talkative, always chatting, laughing and smiling. (Vietnamese people will always act 15, even if they are 30!) After numerous breaks for meals and nhà vệ sinh (rest-room), and more Vietnamese stage show movies than I would care to mention, we FINALLY made it to Báo Trùc Resort, Phan Rang.

The minute I stepped into our room I was straight into my togs (swimsuit, for those who aren't familiar with the term) and diving into the pool before you could say hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, which wouldn't actually be that fast. After the pool I decided to hit the beach, which was only about 50 meters from the pool. A few hours or so of splash fighting with Isaac and a few others later, once we were dry and dressed, we (again) drove in the bus to a restaurant to have dinner. After dinner we all went to karaoke and Dad had the highest score! When we arrived back at the hotel I was utterly exhausted but happy; it had been an awesome day!

                          (me at the beach with Mum and Dad and Moss and Cường in the background)
Day #2
In the morning we ate at the buffet breakfast (Dad was mortified to find that there was no bacon) and then got back on the bus for an hour's drive to Vinh Hy Bay where boarded a boat with a glass bottom. Cương, Isaac, Moss and I went onto the more precarious top deck to enjoy the view. We passed a lot of steep rocky hills that might have been mistaken for cliffs that had a few little houses on them. When we reached our destination we alighted onto a floating platform close to the shore that had a few chairs, hammocks, tables and large containers holding shellfish of every sort.

                        (above) Dad: "you boys are so tiring"! (below) Dad: "that's better, now sit!)

                                   
                                    
                                   

                                     

                                    
                                       
                                   
                                             
                                

                                    

 I, being already in my togs, immediately ran to the edge of the platform and dove right in, instantly awestruck by a stunning array of fish and coral of all sorts of shapes and colors; I even saw a couple of lion fish(Lena was over the moon when she saw them, I myself didn't want to get too close, knowing how venomous they were)! After a few hours of diving off the floating jetty, pushing the guys into the water and exploring the underwater paradise that was Vinh Hy Bay, I joined the others at the table and ate crab with them(Lena had a bit of trouble getting the meat out of the shell).

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Isaac tried to teach Cường how to dive, and, well... not exactly the most graceful I've ever seen!

 Then we drove back (stopping on the way to have lunch) to the resort where I did even more swimming at the beach, then the pool. Once I (finally) went back to my room, I gave Moss a ukulele lesson (afterwards he forgot most of the tune, but it was still fun!)

 We had dinner (same restaurant but no karaoke), and when it was dark and we were all back at the resort we went down to the beach and, after kicking a shuttlecock around a bit, we lit a campfire and sang and played some fun silly games around it. Eventually when the campfire had dwindled down to a few glowing embers, we all wandered back to our rooms. Some people went out to have seafood but I was simply too tired to bother.

Day #3
The next day I got up early, and had breakfast with Moss, Cương and Isaac. After the meal I went back to my room (meeting Mum and Dad on their way to breakfast) and continued to teach Moss the song on the ukulele. All too soon it was time to pile back into the bus for the loooooooooooong trip back home. At one point, near the end, the exhausted bus broke down and it took about an hour for a replacement to get there. On the final leg home I gave up trying to get Moss to remember the chords, and just wrote out the music for him. Once we finally dropped off everyone else and arrived back at the apartment, we were too tired to even bother to have dinner and just went straight to bed. It had most definitely been a road-trip worth remembering!

notice the charming face Isaac is making.

Road Trip II

This weekend, we went on a road trip with Dad and his workmates to Phan Rang, a beach town 8 hour's drive from Ho Chi Minh City. This being the case, we had to get up at 4:30 to be picked up by the bus that would take everyone there. At least we got picked up from the apartment rather than having to catch a taxi. Most of the others had to meet at Dad's workplace.

We were early, but after about half an hour everyone arrived and we headed off.

For the first hour or so, our tour guide entertained everyone and spoke about where we were going. The catch? He did so in Vietnamese. Luckily, our friends translated the important stuff for us.

At 7:00 we stopped for breakfast. Most people chose hủ tiếu, but all the Middlemisses had chicken and rice instead. Between the breakfast and lunch stops, the guide talked some more and various shows that seemed to be comedy played on the tv, again in Vietnamese, so the English speakers mostly listened to music or played on our various devices (those of us that had them anyway, Amberly just talked to anyone she could; mostly Jesse, the other Kiwi on the bus).

Lunch was several dishes: rice, seafood soup, salad and squid suckers, an interesting delicacy that we hadn't tried yet.  Finally, around 5:00, tired and ready for a rest, we arrived at Bàu Trúc Resort.  The rooms were very nice, large with air conditioning and ceiling fans. They had proper bathrooms, something not always found in Vietnam, with a bath and a shower. My room mate was a guy called Cường. He was probably one of the best English speakers of our group.

 Before dinner, most people went for a swim, either in the pool or the ocean, just 50 meters away. Again, ate soup, rice, salad and meat. A pattern was emerging... The place we went to was large and sprawling, and like many Vietnamese cafes trying to impress, the decoration was very over-the-top. They went for a Disney theme, and this is what they came up with:

There were several other statues apart from Vampire Mouse, but this one was the strangest. Dinner was, again, fish soup, rice, salad and meat. A pattern was emerging...

After dinner, we split into two groups. One went to sing Karaoke, while Cường, Dũng (pronounced Yoom), myself and a couple of others played pool in a nearby room.

Dũng and I won 3-2 against Cường and another guy and girl whose names I forgot to ask. It was close though; Cường is a very good player, we only won because his teammate accidentally sunk the 8 ball.

Most people went home from there but one or two guys stayed out even later (it was past 10:00) to get drinks.

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to see that Cường was back; I had had the keycard and I was pretty sure I had fallen asleep almost immediately, so how had he gotten back in? I asked him, and he said that I had let him in. For about 10 seconds, I was gobsmacked because I had no recollection of getting out of bed to open the door. Then a fuzzy memory came back of seeing his face through the window; I must have fallen asleep again as soon as I lay back down. That was weird though.

Breakfast was a Vietnamese buffet: fried rice, bread, congee, meat, salad ingredients etc. Very tasty, but I couldn't help wishing for some bacon and/or pancakes. It was Cường's birthday.

The highlight of the trip was coming up next: Vinh Hy bay, again travelling by bus. Luckily, this trip was only half and hour or so. On the way, I got some pics of the countryside.

We caught a glass-bottomed boat and went around the coast to an area with coral before heading to a beach for a swim and some seafood. Sadly, less than a third of the reefs that used to be here remain because of pollution; rubbish is heaped at the sides of the harbour and floating on the water. Still, there was enough to impress Lena.

We arrived at the beach and, like out last beach trip, it was like something from a travel magazine:

I didn't have any goggles, so I couldn't see anything underwater, but Lena and Amberly saw plenty of fish, including Lena's highlight, a lionfish.

 While she was checking out the fish, I was teaching Cường to dive properly. He still needs some practice.

Once we'd had a swim, we stayed for a while on a floating building that caught and sold seafood of all sorts, from crabs to sea urchins.

On the way back to the resort, lunch was again rice, soup, veges and meat (this time, chicken).

Dinner was at the same place as the last night, but the food was a bit better. In the evening, everyone went down to the beach for a bonfire and some games. It wasn't quite what we were expecting; Vietnamese bonfire activities differ somewhat from western ones, and of course most of the talking was done in Vietnamese, so sadly we didn't fully understand everything.

Next day, after another buffet breakfast, we packed up and left for home. We stopped at two places along the way that sold local delicacies such as wine, grape juice and fish-related products; sauce, dried fish etc. Lunch was at a massive place that was almost just two giant rooms filled with tables and chairs. I thought it was one of the best meals we'd had, but Cường and some of the other Vietnamese guys said that they didn't think the food was very nice. At our last stop, a big market, the bus broke down and we had to wait over an hour for another one, so we didn't get dinner. By the time we got home exhausted, it was about 10:00. We were all happy to be back.

STAR OF THE SHOW, VINH HY BAY.

Vinh Hy Bay, http://vinhhybay.vn/ which is pronounced vin hi bay, is  in the Ninh Thuan Province of Vietnam,  on the east coast next to either the East Sea or South China Sea, depending on who you are, and is a picturesque location with white sand, rocky cliffs and, of most interest to me because I am a fish nut, an amazing coral reef. After a short trip in a glass bottomed boat, we stopped at a floating jetty. Shedding my clothes (I had my togs on underneath), I leapt into the water, grinning with delight as I saw the reef and it's inhabitants spread below me. A quick trip to the surface for breath, then right back under to peer into the seaweed forest growing on the bottom of the jetty. That is where I saw the undisputed star of the show, the king of fish, and the highlight of the trip. A Lionfish. If any of you have seen a picture of a Lionfish, you know they are impressive. Add to that that each of their stunning frills has venom waiting in the tips, that it's at the top of the food chain, and that they are rarely seen in water as shallow as I was in, and you can guess why I was so thrilled to spot it. Later on, another star joined the show. A lot darker in colouration than the first, a baby lionfish was hiding in the shadows when I detected it. Double whammy! I just couldn't get enough of them! Other interesting sights included a bicolour fox face, a pipe fish, a cleaner wrasse, batfish, cross hatch angelfish, black damsel fish, two spot damsel fish, and four striped damsel fish. Up on the jetty I learned how to extract and eat the meat of a crab (harder than you'd think), saw a sea snail as large as my head, and got squirted by a very grumpy couch snail. Apart from cutting my leg (I still don't know how I did it) it was a perfect trip, and beautiful Vinh Hy Bay is somewhere I would definitely like to visit again.