Oh the joys of travelling. In our infinite wisdom we decided
that sleeper buses were the best (note: cheapest) way to get around this
glorious part of the world. How wrong we were.
Yes they are by far the cheapest mode of transport, but also
by far the most uncomfortable. Our travel itinerary from Siem Reap to Nha Trang
read like this: seven hour sleeper from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh a quick two
hour stopover in steamy Phnom Penh, then another sexy six-seven hour bounce-athon
from The Kingdom to the Pearl of South-East Asia. We then enjoyed an
exhilarating 4 hour over layover in Ho Chi Minh, where we did meet a lovely
German couple, and because we are bus enthusiasts, we got on another ten hour
trip to arrive in beautiful Nha Trang. The final leg of the journey was an
experience as the Sinh Tourist sleeper bus we were on was similar to placing
yourself in a bobsled for ten hours and attempting to sleep. The beds are made
specifically for a small, fine limbed Asian person which is just the best news
a 6’1, 95kg Australian male has ever heard. Needless to say I felt every turn
and hard braking manoeuvre the driver performed.
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| The incredible floating villages of the South China Sea. People live here full time, rarely accessing land; it is quite phenomenal to see. |
Nha Trang is worth the 24 hours of travel though as it is a
beautiful city built on the beach and is reminiscent of Surfer’s Paradise
(without the high rises) or South Beach Miami (minus the roid boys). A small
note about Nha Trang; it is essentially Little Russia. Everyone bar the people
staying in our hostel appear to be Russian. All menus are written in Russian.
There are Russian tour guides; many of the Vietnamese speak Russian. It is
Moscow by the sea! They are also some of the rudest, most obnoxious tourists we
have ever encountered. There is rarely a smile to be shared, no please or
thankyous’ and majority of the men looks like they own a swimming pool with
sharks in it, in which one of their henchman is currently dangling 007 over.
In saying that the hostel we are staying at is full of the
most vibrant eclectic bunch of people we have met yet. The staff are the
friendliest women on earth and remember everyone’s name and will give you a hug
if you have partaken in the six hour long happy hour the night before.
The idea of hiring a moped was tossed around in a few places
before, but seeing as crossing the road in Ho Chi Minh and Phnom Penh felt like
the Grim Reaper was sitting on my shoulder, we decided against taking on the
might of the Vietnam traffic. Until now.
The hire of scooter was decided upon mainly because I had heard
of there being actual surf able waves about 30 minutes south of Nha Trang.
Well, with two minutes of moped training under my belt we hit the open road
feeling like we were starring in ‘Free Rider’, but looking more like ‘Dumb and
Dumber’. It is a truly magnificent coastline and the road snakes along with the
ocean offering breathtaking views. Whist averaging an eye popping 40 km/h we
arrived at the aptly named Long Beach (Bai Dai, for all you Vietnamese playing
along at home) and were greeted with waves! Albeit one to two foot crumbling
closeouts, but still waves!! I got completely ripped off by the Nordic owner of
the rental place, who bore a striking resemblance to Odin the Viking, by paying
$15 for an hour hire of a very stock standard 9’1” pop out mal, but still I was
surfing in Vietnam! The waves were actually quite fun, the beach was basically
deserted and we had survived our initiation into Hell’s Angels.
