Today we got up at 8am, had breakfast and waited in the lobby for our designated tour guides for today. We were doing a tour round the Nha Trang area on motorbikes. Obviously we weren't driving the motorbikes, although there was the option to.
The first stop was just on the side og the road overlooking what I think the guide said was a fishing village. There was a whole load of boats just moored up. Apparently they go fishing over night and bring in the catch the next morning to sell.
The second stop, again at the side of the road was overlooking Turtle Island, named after its shape rather than its inhabitants.
The third stop was at a harbour where the mornings catch was being unloaded off boats and sold. It stank of fish (obviously) and there were loads of women sitting around peeling prawns.
We hopped back on the bikes after having a wander round and headed off, before stopping again to look at Monkey Island. This time it was named after its inhabitants but unfortunately we didn't get to go to the island to meet any of the 3 different types of monkeys.
Our next stop was at a salt farm, where there were big pools of sea water that were left to evaporate, leaving fairly sizeable rocks of salt. At the edge of the farm was a little concrete building where a family lived. It was really small and in the middle of nowhere and it was quite an contrast to all the other houses we'd seen. It was also a big contrast to the house we visited at our next stop.
We pulled up outside a house and looked at the rice fields. I had know rice was grown before I came here but I didn't have a full knowledge of how it grew but we saw the grains and plants and our guide picked us some to eat raw. We then went into the house where we were offered a coconut. I literally chopped it from the tree, the woman cut the top off and gave me a straw and I drank the contents. I didn't drink it all; there was a hell of a lot. When I'd had enough the woman emptied the rest into a glass and I was quite surprised the liquid was actually clear. Then she chopped it in half and gave me a teaspoon so I could scrape the inside to eat. I tried a little, which was alright but I didn't eat it all.
Our next stop was probably my favourite. We rode out to the side of a river and parked up. Then one of the driver guides lead us on what seemed like a hike, scrambling over huge rocks, in totally inappropriate shoes, to the bottom of a waterfall. There was people jumping off the rocks into a deep pool of water. Lauren and I got in the river and sat on a slightly submerged rock for a while, with the water keeping us cool in the burning sun. The fish kept nibbling at our toes which was not that pleasant. After a while we got out and trekked back to the changing rooms near the car park. It was a really nice waterfall and the water was really clear.
After the waterfall we rode to a little restaurant on the side of a road for lunch where we sat with the guides. I had really nice BBQ pork and rice and Lauren had chicken and rice. After we'd eaten we went round the back of what was essentially someone's house to try and get to the beach to take a photo. The guide told us the toilet was round there as well. We found a toilet but it was in the backyard of someone's house so we weren't sure if we could use it. But we did anyway. We never made it to the beach as the gate down was shut.
After lunch we headed back towards Nha Trang. We stopped on the way at a temple which was by far the nicest temple we have seen so far. A lady unlocked it especially for us so we could have a look inside.
Once we were back in Nha Trang we stopped at probably the ricketiest (?) bridge I have ever seen. The guide told us that it gets washed away quite frequently only the wet season and it takes a couple of weeks to rebuild. We then got back on the bikes and rode over it. You have to pay a toll at the end, that goes towards rebuilding it.
Our next stop was at a random little house where they were weaving mats of all varieties out of dried plant. We had a quick go and then headed off to our last stop, which was a pagoda with a huge white Buddha statue on the top of a hill behind it. We looked in the pagoda before climbing up loads of stairs to see the statue. You could also go through some doors in the back of the Buddha where there was a little temple type set up. From the top of the hill you could also get quite a good view of Nha Trang city. We then hopped back on the bikes for the last time and headed back to the hostel.
We had such a fun day. The tour was through an organisation/company/set up (not really sure which) called Easyrider that does different tours of different lengths all round the country, either as the driver or siting behind. It's such a fun way to get about and see things and the guides were so nice. We got up to 60km/h at one point which was pretty cool.
When we got back we showered and got ready and now we are heading out for the evening. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
