ROAD TRIP (II&III).... Tuy Hoa to Whale Island to Tuy Hoa ... meeting friends....

6:00

I slept in...... it's bright outside already.....

.... and I'm about to find out how FROZEN Dalat wine tastes......  I've left one small bottle in the freezer compartment and this morning I am rewarded by the cork having been pushed out halfway and a wine-iceberg inside the bottle, LOL.



























In my private news channel:
WTF is going on in HK?   These are people being frisked at an MTR Metro station....

looking for yellow umbrellas ???

7:30
A fervent e-mail exchange with the Whale people... they thought I'd be arriving tomorrow .... Khong Khong !!! ..... but what is unbelievably fucking amazing..... I find that I can write 70% of the e-mail in fucking Vietnamese !!!!   This is one of those moments after months and months of language desperation.... all of a sudden the brain FUNCTIONS in a different language ..... and I suspect sitting with someone for a few hours and only talking Vietnamese might have a lot to do with that ;-)

7:45
I guess my Vietnamese wasn't THAT good.... they reply in Friggin tieng Viet (serves me right) but they didn't really understand what I was trying to say.... NO, I'm not having a 4-course dinner for TWO people tonight for $15 per person !!!!

morning sun ;-

8:00
Time to hit Coopmart for my travel supplies....

Along the way I see a phone store.  I can't hurt to try..... WHY is everyone so subservient in this store.... must be the owner's fault.... but the point is: I finally get to buy minutes for my Vietnamobile phone.....

9:30
My mind is BUZZING.... too much traveling?  ... too much booze ?  .... or too much interaction with lovely people?  .... or the ABSENCE of NEGATIVE energy ?.... I don't know and I don't care !  It feels RIGHT, LOL.

10:15
It's time to go ...... ADVENTURES AWAIT !!!!

Crossing the bridge out of Tuy Hoa ...... BIG RIVER on both sides !

I pass these guys and can't believe my eyes.... 
so I stop to let them pass again ..

And OF COURSE they wave at the nguoi Tay ;-)

Another 10 km south..... building progress is slow.... nothing has changed really since my last trip down here in last October and February of this year...

THAT gorgeous house is still sitting precariously ....

But this is definitely the best weather I have encountered on my ~4 or 5 trips through here !

now on the brand-new section of fabulous new road.... a DREAM for any bike rider ;-)

HEAVEN !

MORE heaven !

this country is SO FUCKING beautiful......

 ...let's hope they don't build huge ugly resorts on those endless beaches 

FUN..... (I'm going FAST because I want to catch the ferry at 13:30)

Thank god for Google Maps....

 finding the jetty would have been downright impossible otherwise !

Is this it ?  THIS is where I am supposed to leave from ?

But there is a boat.... I walk over and start abusing the captain with my horrible Vietnamese..... toi la mot khach..... di den dao khi nao?....xe may cua toi o dau ?     He indicates a shed 50 meters away... YES, that's where I park my scooter..... then he directs me to a DIFFERENT boat !?!

Half an hour until departure.... I have time to take pictures ....

these people MUST be Russians !   Notice the girth and how no one is smiling !

The Russians board the boat I first went to..... god knows where they are going... a day trip from Doc let most likely....

I'm still sitting in my non-moving boat.....

su kien nhan !

half flags do quite well ;-)

the boat started MOVING !

We pick up what I presume to be two woman resort workers and then it's off into the bay ...

Hello Menhirs!

OOOH... that looks just fabulous ;-)

I hand over my passport, get shown to my shack.. (no A/C, no fridge, but spacious) and then walk over towards the more populated areas and ask  Nguoi phu nu my o dau?  (Where is the American woman?)   They understand me right away and point at a slender blob floating in the bay....

14:00
Joanna is in the water snorkeling..... I swim out and am shocked that after 20 meters out I am floating 30 cm over a coral reef.....

The next 3 hours are occupied by 2 demi-bouteilles of wine and a lot of chat on her terrace ;-)


17:45

time to move to the bar..... time for a milk shake?

Joanna is actually unaware of the sunset happening behind her ;-)

19:00
I NEED SLEEP but room is HOT......

needless to say, I don't sleep very well....

5:30
It's still HOT, there is NO wind, plastic drifted into the cove overnight.... 

....but I need to get my WiFi fix in the bar..... good thing they left it on overnight ....

6:00
It looks as if that tiny piece of silver paint that was embedded in my big toe a few days ago when I kicked the kickstand of M's crappy bicycle is about ready to fester out of my right big toe..... I apply Polysporin liberally and I hope my body manages the festering and the expulsion of the foreign matter without the help of a bac si (doctor) and his scalpel ....

7:00
finally breakfast time.....

They want to bring me bread with omelette..... toi khong muon!   But after 3 times asking back and forth I find out that they also have pho ga for breakfast..... probably instant noodles though... the coffee is as VICIOUS as it looks ...

The chicken in the pho ga is a bit dry but since I didn't eat a single proper meal yesterday, I wolf it down ;-)  And the broth is FABULOUS!

walking back to my room after breakfast...  the staff got rid of almost all of the new plastic crap in the water with fishnet-poles......

8:45
A last chat with Joanna (with two G&T to lower my core temperature) and it's time to take the boat again .....

9:55

The driver is sleeping when I step aboard five minutes early but starts the boat right away and ferries me to the mainland.

bye bye Whale Island !

Hello Mainland!

I get my scooter out of the shed and head out into the HEAT .....

FABULOUS clear skies....

It is SO HOT.....I decide to skip the coast road today because the alternative is faster and I can't wait to feel chilled air on my skin again....

Easter Island ?   NO.... but this thing is famous in these parts ...

12:00
FINALLY I'm back in the air-conditioned hotel lobby..... 24 hours without a/c almost did me in.....

16:00
A/C, water, and finally cold wine all have helped to lower my core temperature again..... NOW I KNOW, why in the days before Air-conditioners, the French retreated to the cooler climes of Da lat !  Same reason, the British liked to live up the slopes of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong.... it's just TOO BLOODY HOT by the water...

18:30
I've just taking a shower and I'm grooving in my room, and there is water on the tiles.... and I land FULL FORCE on my arse........ I get up and laugh..... I guess I haven't reached THAT age yet, where I would shout.... HELP, I have fallen, and I can't get up..... always look at the bright side of life !




18:45
time to go and meet a friend......

20:00
back in my hotel..... OMG, will this never end ? .... endless Tantalus Torture..... only one hour of hanging out with Mr. Perfect, and I'm back to square one....