Happy 1000! Hard to believe that what started as a crazy idea in 2013 is still going ...

Yes, I am talking about this little travel blog here....

It all started on Chinese New Year, February 10, 2013 as an admittedly crazy idea to chronicle my admittedly crazy adventures (they seemed so at the time) during the Year of the Snake, My Year.  







And it would not have happened without Yiman first telling me about the significance of 'My Year' and Alan having discovered and shown off this new 'blog' medium a few years before.



















But at the end of that Year of the Snake, I discovered that I'd never had as much fun as during that year....

....probably a result of living EVERY DAY consciously and trying to make the most of it.  

So I kept going.  The blog..... and the modus vivendi.....

... and without that effort I would not be writing this post where I am writing it ;-)

Time to reflect and ponder:   I've been at this for 6 years now.   Not all of it good times, but the effort to seek out in life what makes me happy or at least content seems to have paid off.   I think I'm in a much better spot now than where I was those 6 years ago.   To think that in those days I was still learning from THIS FABULOUS GET-OUT-THERE SONG...... but we all have to start somewhere....

This is a milestone.  There are now 1000 published posts (actually 1001 including this one ;-). And another ~250 posts in progress, which one day might should electronic daylight.  

The world has changed (When I started this blog, the term Selfie had not been coined yet)....

I called it a cell phone reverse camera image then, LOL

...and I have changed (IMHO, the Western world has gone to shits (and they say the 80s were harsh) while I'm fleeing to the East.... but then I've always been an opinionated bastard).

Is there a moral to it all?

I'm not sure...... except Frankenfurter was not wrong: 

Even when facing the end (and aren't we all have to fact that sooner or later?), he stuck to living his dream.  So the moral:  Don't loose a minute in making your dreams come true, even if they do not consist of wearing lipstick & high heels ;-)

Don't dream it, be it !

Epic Road Trip (VII): Phan Rang to Nha Trang... The wind, the kite, and more bun cha ca

6:00
Dancing in my room again?   Is it the room, the music, or the new me? (or just the wine?)


6:30

there is something very endearing with Vietnamese and their life at the beach at sunrise....

Air temperature 22 Celsius.... how could I not?

What a divine swim ;-)   And NO surprise waves !

8:00
I'm packed and ready to go ....  on y va

Ban Nha:   Sell House ....  (I am THRILLED that my tieng Viet has come this far ;-)

Menhirs ?!  And I'm not even in France, LOL

What a sky to be allowed to ride into !

New fish ponds

Temporary road block by a truck dumping construction sand

It's morning and the young men of the village are out on their bikes to run errands.  TOO MUCH eye candy! I'm having a hard time tearing my eyes away from those brown legs in jeans shorts

Gorgeous legs with Gucci hat on the right ;-)

8:45
Is THAT what I think it is?   Kites in that tiny shop on the side of the road?  I stop and look......   

It's a pack of 10 kites still in the original wholesale pack.   The man's almost toothless mouth forms into a grin and he shakes my hands with both of his.  FINALLY someone is buying one of those bloody kites..   
How about string?  He finds something and I ask him for 30 meters.... but I suspect I only got 13 meters.  His wife starts rolling the string around a bit of paper but the man proves he has two right hands..... an old pop bottle is much better and he even secures the loose end of the string with the bottle cap.

Yes, in Vietnamese garbage dumps they still separate ...

I REALLY don't like leaving Phan Rang.....  The beach area with its developing resorts might not be my thing, but the hinterland is still pure Vietnam..... and now I'm on my way to Little Vladivostok... Don't like!

9:30
I've just rolled into the Com Cay Dua restaurant again.  And there is the same cute waiter.... big grin, he recognizes me from 4 days ago.... and I'll order the same thing again...

OMG, this stuff is GOOD. How can simple steamed rice and an omelette harbour such flavours?

Still another 60 km to Nha Trang....  but I'm in no great rush... I don't even know whether my room will be ready.

The wind is ATROCIOUS.... half the time I'm traveling at 40km/h and even at that speed the wind rocks the scooter from side to side.  Also probably not the best thing for that shoulder of mine, which I slammed into the sand while swimming and which now emits intermittent bursts of pain.

the Cam Ranh peninsula with its HORROR of resorts

Yes, it really is that gorgeous ;-)

By the time I reach the beach promenade in Nha Trang, I am exhausted.   Too much friggin traffic on the last few kms of road.

Now where is that hotel/hostel?  Oh.  A tiny 2-storey building RIGHT NEXT to that high-rise construction monstrosity.   If their construction elevator collapses, the pieces will come through my ceiling.....

Also, I really got used to the QUIET in last night's hotel.   The promenade traffic just outside my window is already starting to annoy me.

I buy wine from the usual store..... and I can't believe how TIRED I am ...

I'm still not quite awake and I can't find my room key ....

Strange thoughts:  Here I am in Nha Trang, a place where any pale freezing potato-fed Russian can consider himself lucky to spend one week per year, and I'm dreaming of getting back to the real Vietnam...... 

the construction site next door being well guarded !

Time for a brief walk at the beach.... but it doesn't feel right.... too many Russians....

a high-rise casting a shadow on the beach ....

Good thing the old airport, by now no longer used, separates me from the centre of Nha Trang

my hostel being dwarfed by the new high-rise

But I am content in my single overshadowed hostel room palace.   


E-mails from M, Joanna, and Phap.... some more wine....

18:15

The Disneyland equivalent across the bay ...

 I should go out and get some dinner .... maybe buy some munchies too?

Tet is near!  Mandarin trees for sale ;-)

I find the Bun Cha Ca place in the side street again ;-)

OMG, this stuff is even better than last time!

Eating food like this, no wonder the Vietnamese are so healthy and look so good!  Only good stuff: fish, rice noodles, spices, vegetables, bean sprouts, broth.....  no need for any of that gluten-free or other bullshit the crazies back 'home' like to practice.


Toi muon tra tin (I want to pay)... I see the owner starting to think and mentally stutter ... so I say "bang tieng Viet "(In Vietnamese).... ba muoi  (30), she says with doubt ..... Cam on nhieu; rat ngon! (Thank you, very yummy), I reply after I give her 30,000 and I get a big smile .... even the people at the other table turn around and smile .... 

I couldn't control myself.... I just had to unwrap it ;-)

Epic Road Trip (II)... Tuy Hoa to Dai Lanh.... Riding that BEAUTIFUL Coast Road again

5:30
That means I slept about 9 hours.  That should be enough!

The weather forecast changed again.   

For an hour I consider turning back and heading back to My Beach..... But then I decide that I'm not THAT OLD..... I should be able to handle some rain.....

.... and YES, I'm fully aware that I might regret this decision BITTERLY ....

6:40
If I go early, I might miss the rain altogether .....

Breakfast: 

Cheese Sandwich with a can of Tiger beer and Groenemeyer..... 

Don't belittle it before you try it ;-)

I'm ready to leave at 7:00.....

... and the weather seems to cooperate ;-)


On y va!

Yes, it it is a Suspension foot bridge but WHY does it have to have that spike in the middle?

The Vietnamese ignore it, so why I should I heed it?
I suspect traffic signs in Vietnam only apply to cars but not to scooters!
My kind of thinking ;-(

From left to right on the top ridge:
Buddhist temple, Cham Tower, temple to ugly construction, 

heading South

Road building progress is slow, apparently.   I've witnessed this already last October....

The 4-lane divided highway ends abruptly to turn into a village road....

.... which means that these lovely old houses along the village road will be demolished in the not-too-distant future ;-(

it looks WET, but I will stay DRY until the end of today's trip !

Then:  Another bovine road block.

That cow is NOT moving !

At least some of the other ones have pity 

A fork in the road:   Paved on the right, mud on the left.   And a sign that I can't read.  After first intending to follow the paved bit, I change my mind to follow most other bikes and turn onto the mud road.  

Which is a GOOD THING, because the paved road ends abruptly at the top left of the picture below:

Yes, the straight black bit at the top left, that's the road I WAS going to take, LOL.

 It's not just the road that's washed out..... there are houses that lost their front yard....

 It's spooky looking how the landscape has changed.   A wash-out or a result of constructing the new highway? I don't know.

Back at the water's edge, building is progressing:

A divided 4-lane highway in the making !

Time for a stop, a break, a gulp of wine, a cigarette, and a look back....

This is when I notice Phap's e-mail, sent 15 minutes ago.
 He wants to know whether I'm still in Tuy Hoa.......  Damned.  Bad timing...

I've just passed the easternmost point of Vietnam....  and only because I already travelled this road last October, I am not completely blown away by what I see nextL

 But it's STILL good for a few WOW moments, LOL.

 And here are the goats again that last October in THIS VERY SPOT I almost ran over because I was staring at the gorgeous scenery and not on the road ;-)  

nhung con de

 If you have fishing boats, then there must be a village nearby !

Hai con heo va mot xe dap !  (two pigs and one bicycle)

 Believe me, these pictures are UNABLE to convey the FEELING of riding along the highway along this coast 

When I get to Dai Lanh (where I've stayed already last October) at 9:00 I notice that my neck vertebrae already are complaining about the bumpy ride.  
Do I really want to ride another 70 km to Nha Trang???

I ride into the resort with the intent to eat, drink a beer, and then to decide whether to drive on.  My decision is made FOR ME by two young women (from Poland?) who FLED here from Nha Trang to get away from all the Russian hubbub down there.  
I ponder the idea over a YUMMY bun cha ca ...

THE BEST fish balls ! (must be the MSG ;-)

...and the beer confirms it.  I did stay TWO nights here in October and the reason is that this place is comfortable and has a nice beach.  Isn't that more important than traveling as many km as possible?

Thought & executed (Toi muon mot phong, I say to the grinning receptionist ;-), Her English is MUCH better than my Vietnamese (What type room would you like?) and after choosing the same room class as last time, I am led to the exact same room that I occupied last October.

the new fancy resort is still not done..... I am relieved ;-)

11:30
I am ready for a NAP but planning thoughts and the wedding noise keep me awake..... but I fall asleep eventually.

What wakes me is the noise of the FEROCIOUS wind outside....

The re-erected canopy

There are about 7 Vietnamese guys pushing on a large canopy with 4 long metal legs (Tent?) that has been flipped on it's side legs with the other two legs sticking out into the air about 2.20 meters above.  The wind is still pushing into the canvas area so any pushing from behind that is pointless.   But I AM a tall guy, so I grab a children's highchair and point at the canopy legs up in the air.  The Viets get it instantly and start cheering.  Highchair under under the airborne legs, climb up, start pulling on one of the legs up there and the Viets double their efforts pushing on the canvas canopy.  
Within a few seconds the entire contraption has all of its legs on the ground again.    

 I have a hard time taking pictures..... it is WINDY !

What the hell has Western Marketing done?   

THREE Spider Man trinkets within 50 meters of Viet beach?

COLOURS !

16:00
7 hours for a bottle of wine.... is that excessive?  Naaa.
toi say lai (I am drunk again) but I want to ride into town to buy munchies .....
OMG, I am getting addicted to Vietnamese Pringles, LOL.

18:30
Time for bua toi?

com chien hai san (seafood fried rice)

Over dinner a plan is hatched.   There is someone I know who is growing up in a tiny Vietnamese village and a way of life that is placing a curfew on his abilities and desires. And I can do something about that!