The Beach VI: Ganh Da Dia and The Bridge over the River Phu Ngan (Cau go ong cop)

4:30

I'm living in a city and I already don't like it.  At The Beach I would be getting ready for my beach walk and swim now.  I'm too far away from the beach here.

5:15

GOOD MORNING, Viet Nam !

6:30
Tuy Hoa is a nice city.  There are markets here where I SHOULD go shopping for clothes.  But I MISS the peace, the quiet, and the by now so familiar company at The Beach, so I'm packed and ready to roll at this early hour.  

OMG, if I feel like this here, what am I going to do in Vancouver?

But I'm not going to leave without at least getting a glimpse of the 'famous' Tuy Hoa Beach !

At first I take a wrong turn:

This is where the river flows into the ocean.  There is Beach but it's kind of hard to get to because this is where the fishers live ....

.... and work.

I've taken enough pictures here, so I head North, along THE beach and in the direction of the place that initiated this whole trip.

A quick park of the scooter and I'm at the beach.   Not bad, but not as nice as The Beach I've gotten accustomed to by now, LOL.

I continue North.

They're building these ROADS.  The picture below shows what the road looks like before.  The tiles for the HUGE sidewalks are poured in forms on site.

The reliable Suzi.  I'm just one of the crowd ;-)

Note the grave above and its occupant's view below

8:15 
I arrived at Ganh Da Dia, or as the Da Dia Reeflandscape as the MANY road signs proclaim in English.   This country is prepared for an onslaught of HUGE crowds of foreign tourists and once those tourists figure out how gorgeous Vietnam is they will indubitably come !  Foreign tourist numbers in Vietnam went up by 31% during the last year already.

There are stairs leading down to the water .....

HOLY !

Popular with tourists.  I am the ONLY Westerner though ;-)

Very nice.  And given the beauty, it is amazing how few people are here, LOL

I keep walking along the prepared tourist route:

Looks like someone was using some concrete filler here

The landscape is changing.

This country is SO FRIGGIN BEAUTIFUL that after walking around the third corner in a row where the vista is even more beautiful than before the turn, I actually shout out loud "Oh, come on!  STOP IT !"

And there is not a single Westerner in sight, LOL.

9:00
I didn't have breakfast so I sit down in one of the typical Viet restaurants next to the Reef site.  Bia Saigon is easy but somehow the kitchen is not open yet. Or something else.  I have no idea because no one speaks English.   But I keep making the EATING hand motion and finally the owner points at the bowl of I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT IT IS and after only the briefest moment of terrified hesitation, I nod.  If she is eating it, it must be edible, right ???

They even have a designated passwordless WiFi at this tourist restaurant !

The food arrives and this is probably the HEALTHIEST breakfast I've eaten in my entire life.  It's ALL vegetables and sesame or rice crackers.  Throw some spicy fish sauce over it and it actually TASTES GREAT, LOL.  60,000 VND ($3) might include a tourist surcharge, but it's still a great deal.

There is still ONE ADVENTURE ahead of me today !  And thinking of it fills me with just a tiny tad of trepidation.  It's a narrow wooden bridge.  And I might just cross it on the scooter.  I'll find out within the next hour.

Good thing I have GPS and Google Maps.  THIS is the turn-off I have to take:

Easy to miss

THERE it is.  The Dragon that needs Slaying !  THE Bridge that I spied on my way to Tuy Hoa.  My scooter almost throws me off when it sees where I am steering it !

NO, it does NOT look any more stable when seen from the side, LOL

But other people are driving over it.  And the two Viets' combined might weigh almost as much as me !

They are not crashing through the wood !  Oh, What the Fuck, let's just DO IT !

OMG, SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME !!!

EVERY FUCKING BOARD sounds and feels like it is loose.  This bridge is probably 500 meters long but that is not enough for me to get used to it.  

OMFG ! I'm going to DIE !

Am I ever glad when I'm FINALLY at the other end and the bridge guard waves at me to stop to collect his 5000 Dong.  
But I will HAVE to do that AGAIN some time, LOL

It might all look peaceful but that Bride is in this picture !

This bride is actually quite famous in the Viet internet world. Here are some pictures from other people:

The last picture actually is the title screen of a YouTube movie of the same crossing. Well Worth Watching!  Listen for the sound of the boards moving, LOL

After I return home, Binh tells me that this or last winter someone actually went swimming with his scooter when trying to cross the bridge.  
I actually don't want to know the exact details, LOL.

That bridge crossing actually saved me quite a bit of detour driving, so I'm back in Song Cau rather quickly.


Now why is my Banh Mi stand closed?  Oh, the other one is closed too?  WTF?

Explanation: It's Market Day.  Must not miss that !  And I finally buy some mandarin oranges.

The vendor subsequently tells the shopper that I was taking pictures, which started them both giggling

I find another Banh Mi stand further down the road......

What did they wrap my sandwich in?

Pages of a Mathematics book?  LOL.  Best use of a Math book I've ever seen, LOL.

I had a very strange thought early this morning.  George died at 32.  My father at 42.  And I'm going to be 52 shortly.  And the strange thing was that after an initial shock at the idea I wasn't even scared of it anymore.  But then I thought about all the great people in my life, and thought of JJ, who made it to 82, lol.

Noon
I'm back !   When I see The Beach my heart beats faster and my mind relaxes.  Binh is there and I see T running from far away.  Apparently the 2 year old missed Mann this morning.  Shit, so far I have been talking about Vietnam as a new home, but THIS actually IS HOME, LOL.  

14:00

17:00

This is where the Duk Ling let from in better weather

Just after lazing in my deckchair in the perfect weather I read that Hong Kong and Macau were just hit by the strongest Typhoon in 50 years (HELLO says Global Warming) with 16 dead in Macau.  








18:15
Dinnertime at B&M's place

Frueh uebt sich 

21:00