Hi all We only went to Danang to see the famous Cham Sculpture Park, and were intending to get off the bus, see it and then jump back on the bus and head to Hoi An. Things started to go awry immediately, but for once in a really good way. At the bus station were four blokes on motorbikes, armed with log books and as easy going and friendly an attitude as we'd so far encountered in Vietnam. They started straight away hassling us in their incredibly friendly way, to let them take us on a motorbike tour of Danang. I was decidedly edgy about this, mainly because Mand has such an aversion to bikes but partly because I'm naturally suspicious of everyone. After a few minutes of chit chat about England, football, Vietnam and Danang, they said the magic words. Easy Riders. Now I didn't know much about them at the time, but Mand had read about them in the LP and her face lit up. These boys are essentially motorbike guides, but wiith a difference. They form a very loose gang (we'd probably just call them bikers), who originally made a name for themselves among travellers in Dalat. They stick you on the back of their bikes (rucksacks and all if necessary) and take you wherever you want to go. Wherever. If you don't know, they just drive you wherever they think you'll like it, stopping here and there at places you wouldn't normally get to see on an organised tour. And they are funny as f***. Their English is excellent and their sense of humour and enthusiasm is infectious. They're already gaining legendary status among backpackers according to LP and I can definitely see why. One of the guy's log book had accounts of people meeting him in Hanoi and driving them all the way through the country, down to Saigon. And back again. And not just one. Loads of them. You can tell they love their jobs (who wouldn't?) and they love meeting people and just chatting the whole time about whatever happens to be on their minds. Which can be anything and everything. When I mentioned to one of the guys I came from Pompey, his face broke into a huge smile and he just started laughing. In between breaths, he explained that he'd been there. Obviously, I didn't believe him and asked when. About 20 years ago came the reply. He was one of the boat people who illegally left Vietnam crammed on a boat to find a better life elsewhere. His boat took him on a 3 month journey that ended in Portsmouth. He promptly got nicked and put on a boat back to Vietnam. He lasted in the country for about one and a half hours. He was laughing his head off like it was the most fun he'd ever had. This is when I realised that these guys were off their heads and this promised to be a right laugh. Although I did decline his offer to come and stay with me when I got back to England. So. After talking to these guys for a while, between us we worked out an itinerary for the day. See, we thought that the Sculpture Park would take us all day to look round. Turns out, it's not a Park, but a museum and only takes about an hour to walk round. D'oh! But, wanting us to hang around all day and make the most of it, they suggested they take us to the beach afterwards, and then to a temple in the afternoon. That way, we'd be busy all day and still make the 4 o'clock bus. Sweet. On we hopped, me, Mand and Lau on some big old fashioned bikes, and much to her disgust Kimbers ended up on a moped. Well, in theory it was a scooter but it was much more fun telling her it was a moped. And didn't she moan. She was gutted. All day. She loves bikes and was around them from a young age and to be put on a scooter while the rest of us got bikes just didn't sit right. So I did my best to stop her moaning about it by calling her 'Scooter Girl' at every opportunity. I'm nice like that. As soon as we were away, my driver immediately began chatting incessantly and good naturedly about his home life and the fact his wife was a Tiger. That is always going on and on at him. Never leaving him alone. It was like we'd known each other for years and it felt fantastic. Bloke talk. Real bloke talk. With another bloke. Not just Mand doing her best to understand. Travelling with three girls is sweet, but... And these guys rode like everyone else in Vietnam. Only worse. Constantly coming up close (we're talking within inches of each other) to joke with each other and us, and to generally chat. It was superb. At the Cham museum, they dropped us off and said they'd be back in about an hour and a half to pick us up, and in we went. The museum was excellent. It contains Cham sculpture from 7th to the 15th Century, most of it recovered from the sites of old temples and palaces. Again, I was really startled (not to say impressed) by the detail of the sculptures. Some were carved to a relief of maybe 15cm (ok, so I'm inventing terminology now too) and they still looked magnificent. Now I don't know anything about sculpture, but I'm pretty sure Britain wasn't producing anything like this in the 7th Century. Alright, some of them looked a little like any old piece of brick, but the better preserved stuff was amazing. Some of the statues looked brand new. Who knows, maybe they were for all I know. It's not my fault, I'm new to this culture lark. After shuffling around for about an hour or so, we ended up outside smoking and waiting for our drivers to come back, and believe it or not, discussing our favourite pieces of scuplture. Culture baby, yeah. Our drivers arrived 10 minutes later, and after some discussion about the best value for money place to eat, they took us off for some lunch. Which was obviously cheap and fantastic. Then, back on the bikes and off to the beach for a couple of hours. The beach was amazing. Made more so by the fact that it was our first proper beach time since the first couple of days in Koh Chang. Blazing hot sun and golden sands. And it was deserted. Just us, messing about in the clear blue water, laying out on the sand and generally being seasiders for a couple of hours was just the boost we needed. While we were there, we decided that if the drivers were up for it, then we'd get them to drive us down to Hoi An, rather than get the bus. After some discussion amongst themselves they decided that they could take us there, but that they'd have to be back in Danang tonight. Fine with us, so they'd drop us off at the Cao Dai Temple, go pick up our stuff and then come back and pick us up and head for Hoi An. Sweet. Cao Daism is a new religion (founded in 1926) and seeks to unite Buddhism, Taoism and Confuscianism. Therefore, its central beliefs are of One God (God the Father), The Universal Mother (the embodiment of the outer world including the Universe) and the Divine Beings (including Confuscius and Jesus). "According to Cao Daism, at the beginning, there is nothing but one principle, one monad, no heaven, no earth, no universe. This monad is Dao or God. God has no name, no color, no beginning, no end; God is invariable, unfathomably powerful, everlasting, and is the origin of all. After creating the universe, God has divided His spirit and with it made all creatures, plants, and materials." Essentially, what they're saying is that every plant and animal in the Universe contains some of God's spirit. I'm hearing the call once again...almost. Well, the Cao Dai Temple was closed. As in locked up tight. Eventually though, a blokey arrived and tried without success to open the door for us. On failing, he hurried off to fetch a monk who happily opened the door for us. However, we could only stand at the back, and weren't allowed all the way in, due to the fact we were all improperly dressed. In fact, some temples wouldn't have even let us through the door dressed as we were. There was a beautiful 'divine eye' on the altar (the meaning of which escapes me, although Kimbers acting as our unofficial guide for the day did explain it) and a sign in Vietnamese that apparently means 'All religions have the same reason' and behind the letters are pictures of the founders of the five biggest religions - Maohammed, Laotse, Jesus, Buddha and Confuscius. I have to say I'm pretty smitten with the idea of uniting all the world's religions (not that I'm an egotist you understand) and have now decided that if I ever truly do hear the call, it's Cao Daism for me. Although I'm not altogether sure you get to choose when the call comes. It's not like choosing dessert after all. Back outside and there was a slight problem. The guys at the bus station (who'd be selling us our tickets) weren't happy that we'd decided to take the Easy Riders instead. Back we went and explained that it was our idea and they hadn't poached us, and we were off to Hoi An. Here, they drove us round til we found suitable accomodation (by suitable I mean for us and suitable for them to get commission), and then they drove us to tailors (more commission I presume) then off for a well earned Bia Hoi by the river. We agreed that we'd meet with them again on Monday so they could take us to a place called My Son. Although the conversations with them over the day were numerous and for the most part informative and funny (especially when discussing the differences between their culture and ours), there is one that particularly sticks in my mind. It happened when we stopped for petrol on the way to Hoi An. Pompey guy was probably the most eager to talk about politics and began moaning about the price of petrol and how much it had gone up. Due to American influence in the Middle East. Warming to his subject, he began talking about how the US were never going to be satisfied until every culture was the same as theirs, and wondering what gave them the right to interfere in other countries' affairs. His final statement will live with me til I die. 'You know, first Afghanistan, then Iraq, next Iran, then it will be someone else' Then he gave us a huge warm smile and with a glint in his eye said 'They won't come back here though'. Beautiful, and I think he might be right. Laters all xxxxxxxxxx