Day Forty-Four

Danang, Marble Mountains & Hoi An Old Town

Early rise as we wanted to make an early start to reach Danang so we could visit the Marble Mountains. We headed downstairs to our hotel's reception for breakfast. The breakfast was nice but once again we ate eggs - there is no getting away from them. After breakfast we tried to organise our next stop in Vietnam but when I called the bus office they said that we had to go to their office. The lady behind the reception desk gave us a map & directions so we could walk.

We walked along the streets trying to find the road & the shop we needed. I have to say that the map the lady had given us wasn't very clear or well drew so we had to ask for directions in an airline booking shop. They gave us better directions & we finally reached the tour booking place we needed. Inside we approached the desk where a lady was sitting & as I went to sit down Andy hadn't realised & moved the chair from underneath me so I landed on the floor on my back - bad times, I don't think the lady knew were too look as Andy stood laughing!

After I hauled myself up off the floor we booked our tickets to Nha Trang for tomorrow. We made our way back to the hostel to get ourselves ready for our day out in Danang. We made our way out of the hotel & we walked straight down the road for about 15 minutes till we reached the bus station.

At the bus station we were met by a man who showed us the bus to get on for Danang. He had told us that the bus to Danang was 20,000 Dong each but we knew it was 10,000 but we couldn't argue the toss so we just had to pay & get on. We took a seat on the bus & sat patiently for it to crawl for 20 minutes along the road side to see if it could pick up anybody else & possibly make more money. In the meantime we could see that the bus money collector had been to the driver & was laughing & joking about how he had got us to pay double the fare. This had got Andy proper angry but there was nothing we could do about it.

On the bus it was really hot as the sun was blazing & the air was humid. Finally after several beeps of the bus horn along the road we were off on our way to Danang. We passed through really remote villages which had street markets & cattle on the side of the road. This place felt more like traditional Vietnam than Hanoi. We must have been on the bus for over an hour when we hit the busy streets again. Danang is the fourth biggest city in Vietnam & you could tell as driving in to it there was traffic everywhere & you could see the pollution already.

The bus pulled in to a big bus station which was Danang's main stop so we got off the bus to ask around about how to actually get to the Marble Mountains. We needed to see if there was another local bus of how much it would cost in a taxi. We went to a few of the bus ticket desks but nobody could hardly speak English. We finally found a lady who told us that we needed to get back on to the bus we have just got off but we need to tell the driver & the money collector that we want to be let off at Marble Mountains & they should tell us & stop the bus. If only we had been told that in the first place we would have not needed to travel all the way in to Danang.

It was going to be fun & games getting the bus back & on the one we had just got off to head back. Rest assured the money collector was certainly not getting another 20,000 Dong each from us for the bus back. We walked up to the bus & money collector was there & he was smiling. Andy had said to him that the lady at the desk (even though she never) had said that he had robbed us & that we wanted to go the Marble Mountains. Andy had also said that he could b***** off if he thinks he is getting more bus fare from us. Not being sure if the man understood us he led us on to the bus & we sat down.

We had to wait a while for the bus to set off but as soon as it did the man came up to us & demanded bus fare. We laughed in his face & told him that he robbed us on the way here so if he thinks he is getting more money from us he can effectively do one! Throughout the ride to back he kept coming up to us wanting money. It got to a stage were we just totally ignored him. There was another 2 westerners that got on the bus & he soon got off our case because they had paid 30,000 each! Give the man his due though even though we were having disagreements he still stopped the bus at where we needed to go & pointed us in the direction for the mountains.

Off the bus & we crossed the road, we went in to a shop to see if we could get some biscuits because we hungry but they didn't have anything that we liked. We walk down the main street towards where the mountains where. Right the way along the street was marble shops. They sold & carved any type of statue from any type of marble imaginable. We saw lots of big massive Buddha's which were at least 6ft tall & 3ft wide - the detail on the statues was magnificent. A woman approached us & was asking us questions about where we are from & she was telling us about her life living by the marble mountains. She was trying to sell us marble, being polite we agreed to look in her shop on the way back!

We got to the entrance & we paid our fee to enter. We had to walk up lots of big stone steps in order to get to the first section. On the 1st part there was lovely shrines & pagodas. Inside the temple it was beautifully decorated with fabulous paintings on the walls. We had a quick look around before moving on to the next section as we had seen that many temples & pagodas we wanted to see something different for a change We had to climb up more steps. On the next level of the mountain was lovely walkways that led us around the mountain. We walked under a huge archway & up a passage.

At the end of a passage there was a big Virgin Mary statue which had a prayer box in front of it were people can donate money. It was set in to the rock & it looked all covered in green moss. At the side of the statue there were steps leading down in to a dark cave so we decided to go & have a look. As we walked down the steps the place was lit with candles & all you could smell was incense burning. In the cave was a bigger statue of the Virgin Mary but this was carved out of the rock in the mountain & was really high up in the cave. There was a bit of natural light that shone through a small hole in the top of the cave. Around the whole of the cave was many statues & many places for people to pray. It was dark inside & the air was very musty & damp smelling. We headed back up the steps & back out on to the walkway. There was another section that you could walk to so we went to take a look. By another cave which you could not enter there was more & more prayer statues so we turned around & headed back to where we entered under the archway.

After climbing another set of big stone steps we reached a semi flat part of ground to walk on. We got to a part where there was big cave like areas. There were vietnamese women with torches that followed us in to the cave. She began to guide us with her torch. We didn't really needed her to but we couldn't get rid of her. We started to climb through the dark caves but we were slowed down by two stupid Australian women who were so slow at climbing through & we couldn't pass them because the passage was too narrow.

We had made it out at the top & in to the daylight. Without realising we had actually been climbing up one of the mountains but from the inside. At the top the views were great. We could look out one way & see the big massive city of Danang, another way we could see the other Marble Mountains as there is actually five, the other side we could just make out Hue in the distance. The view straight ahead of us was of China Beach. This is the beach were the American soldiers in the war used to come to rest & relax (R & R) when they were having a short break from the fighting.

Now it was time to climb back down. The climb up was uneasy but on the way back down & once we had managed to clamber over a few big boulders there was steps for us to walk down. The Vietnamese lady was demanding money from us for her trying to guide us to the top of the mountain but we just laughed & carried on walking down the steps. As we passed the Australian women they were moaning about giving the people money they demanded but we thought more fool you for giving it.

At the bottom of the caves but on the other side there was some steps to walk down. At the bottom of the steps there was a big massive pagoda so we went to take a look. The architecture, detail & design was out of this world. We walked around a took a proper look. We saw that there was a small monastery type place down another set of steps. We could hear traditional music faintly being playing so we followed the sound. Further down we had seen that people were burning lots of incense sticks & were kneeling to pray. We stood around & watched them for a while.

We saw some monks that were sitting under and archway which had steps leading down the mountain so we went over. Under the archway was a big massive pond that had fish in it. Over looking the pond was an big statue of the Buddha which was carved out of a beautiful white marble. After taking a few photographs & watching the monks we headed down the steps & towards the exit.

We had to walk down another street which was lined with more & more marble selling shops. Hopefully the woman we met on the way in won't be down this road & she might not see us. How wrong we were! She saw us coming a mile off & ran down the street to drag us inside. As we walked in to her small shop Andy made it clear we were looking & not buying. We had a quick look around & then tried to leave the shop. She was virtually begging for us to even buy a drink but we already had one so we weren't buying for the sake of it. She had a big massive cob on when we left.

Back at the big main road we crossed over to the other side & waited for any bus that was labelled Hoi An. We had out 10,000 Dong each ready as we weren't going to be cheated this time. On the bus we sat down & enjoyed the journey through all the little villages back towards to Hoi An. The weather had become strange because it was so warm & sunny when we got on the bus but as we drove it had started to rain really heavy. It was only raining on one part of the road so you could actually see where the rain started & finished.

At the bus station we got off & it had started to rain in Hoi An too so we headed towards the hotel. Along the road it was crazy because there was big massive cows grazing on the pavement as we were trying to walk past as well as motorbike trying to get past. The rain didn't last long so we decided to walk past the hotel & go for some food in a nice restaurant by the river by ourselves. We got on to the river front & there was old fishermen that were sitting happily in the boats & were smiling as we walked past.

It was starting to get late & dark would be setting in soon. We walked around looking at all the different restaurant menus. We crossed the river bridge to see if there was a menu we liked there. A young lad approached Andy & brought the restaurant menu with him on to the street. We checked the menu & it seemed ok so we went & sat down. Our table was right by the river front but we were under a little straw roof shelter. We order 2 glasses of draught beer whilst we picked from the menu.

With food ordered we sat back & relaxed watched out on to the river front. this place was really romantic & I think we were gutted to be moving on tomorrow. Our food came & it was delicious. We had traditional Vietnamese noodles & meat with vegetables. Another beer later we paid the bill & went for a stroll around. I had my eye on a couple more pairs of cool funky trousers so tonight was the night for bartering.

We wandered in to a few shops selling the pants I had seen but they weren't budging on lowering the price so I decided to continue looking around. We went in to every shop in the whole town selling these pants until we found a shop down a small dark street. The lady was nice enough & her prices were more than reasonable but me being me said I would continue to look around. At this point Andy was getting fed up of going round all the girly shops. I said to him that we should go to the shop where I were getting my trousers made to see if they were ready & then I would make my decision about the other pants.

In the tailors my lovely designed trousers were ready for me to try on. I had them on but alterations needed to be done as they were a little long & a bit to baggy round the legs. I said to the lady that we would go for a beer & then come back in an hour. She was fine with that so off we went wandering around again for my other trousers. I finally said to Andy to go back to the shop were the lady was being reasonable & luckily she was still open. I bought 2 pairs of pants & then we went for a beer in a lovely posh looking bar. The music was really chilled & it was great to spend real alone time together - not that we didn't like Ana but our relationship time was suffering.

Beer finished we went back to the tailors for my pants. I quickly tried them on & they were perfect. With the extra left over material from the alterations the lady had made me a matching headband. I was really made up with all my little buys & we headed back to the hotel to sort ourselves out for the next day.

Back at the hotel Ana was in the room & she told us that she had not really been out of the hotel today. We thought that was a shame as she missed out on seeing some beautiful things. I showed Ana all the nice things I had bought that day & my wonderful trousers that were made & she was impressed.

Time to start some packing as we had a busy day ahead tomorrow & we wanted to be up early to go to see My Son before we had to leave on the bus for Nha Trang.

Good Night......