Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! - Vesele Vanoce a Stastny Novy Rok

Hope you all had a great christmas and all the best for the new year! We spent our xmas riding an elephant, white water rafting and cooking yummy thai food in Chiang Mai and we are now about to get boat to Koh Phangan for the mother of all new year parties.


Doufame, ze jste vsichni prozili krasne Vanoce a budete mit hodne stesti v Novem roce! Nas na Vanoce vitr odvlal do Chiang Mai, kde jsme se svezli po rece na raftu, povozili se na slonu a absolvovali Thajsky kurz vareni. Ted se nachazime na jihu Thajska, chystame na ostrov Koh Phangan, kde stravime prichod Noveho roku na jedne z vyhlasenych "Party za uplnku".

Vietnam, Beautiful Halong Bay & Stunning Sapa aneb Nashledanou Vietname

After our delay, the flight was pretty painless, we had already booked our accomodation and a 3 day trip to Halong starting the following morning. We checked into our lovely room just after mid night, which had everything except windows and after one of the comfiest nights sleep yet it was off to Halong Bay on a 3 hour mini bus journey. When we arrived, we were filtered out onto our various boats and once we got going we were served a nice seafood lunch.

Po priletu do Hanoje s par hodinovym zpozdenim jsme se neco malo po pulnoci ubytovali v hotelovem pokoji, ktery mel uplne vse krome okna. Ale to nam moc nevadilo, protoze postel byla jedna z nejpohodlnejsich, v ktere jsme asi doposud spali a hned rano nas cekal 3 denni vylet do Halong Zatoky. Po snidani jsme byli vyzvednuti a mini autobus nas za 3 hodiny dovezl na misto urcene. Tam jsme byli rozdeleni do skupin a lodi, podle toho jaky vylet si kdo zvolil. Hned po tom, co lod zvedla kotvu jsme byli posazeni ve skupinkach ke stolu a byl nam servirovan obed.

After lunch we took in some sun and the beauty of the bay from the roof of the boat and got to know a few of our fellow boat trippers. After a couple of hour we stopped off at a large cave and an area for kayaking, it was at this point we came up with the cunning plan to buy vodka on the floating markets that were around the caves. We smuggled it back onboard (this was all due to the near criminal prices of dink aboard the boat) and after dinner got stuck into some drinking games . . . which led to karaoke . . . which led to serious hangover in morning (great night though).

Po obede jsme se vysplhali na horni palubu lodi. Nasat trosku Slunicka, seznamit se s lidma na lodi a kochat se krasami Halong. Po nejake dobe jsme zakotvili a navstivili zdejsi jeskyni a po nejake chvili jsme zakotvili znovu, abychom si mohli pujcit kajak a trochu se projet. V te dobe uz jsme meli v hlave plan, jak propasovat na palubu lahev vodky (udelali jsme to jen proto, ze ceny na palube byli nekrestansky vysoke a jako batuzkari mame urcity rozpocet), ktera byla hodne uzitecna pozdeji pri hrani pici karetni hre, coz vedlo ke karaoke a coz vedlo pozdeji rano i k dalsi cestovni opicce.


The next day we had some trekking to do on Cat Ba Island, and let me tell you, its not easy when you sweat cheap hanoi vodka. But we all got through it and it was a really nice day including a climb up one of the dodgiest looking watch towers i have ever seen but with stunning views as a reward. The afternoon we were dropped at our hotel on Cat Ba and had the rest of the day/evening free. We got settled and took a little walk around before getting ready for the evening. After a lovely dinner our guide picked us up and took us to "the place to be" in Cat Ba. Need i go into details? After the cocktails started flowing, it was hard to get Veronika away from the karaoke.The next morning was the same story as the morning before, except hangover worse for Veronika this time. We made our way back to the mainland, taking in final couple hours of the brilliant Halong Bay back on our spot on the roof of the boat and then before we new it we were whisked back to Hanoi.

Dalsi den nas cekal maly vyslap na Cat Ba ostrove, a reknu vam, neni jednoduche se plahocit do kopce, zatimco ze sebe potite Hanoj Vodku. Ale vsichni to zvladli bez vetsich potizi a rozhled z velmi, ne zrovna nejbezpecnejsi rozhledny, byl prekrasny. Potom jsme byli odvezeni do hotelu, kde jsme meli volne odpoledne. Chvilku jsme pospali a pak se sli projit kolem mestecka. Po moc dobre veceri nas nas pruvodce zavedl do maleho baru, kde meli dobry vyber alkoholickych koktejlu. Podle Peteovych slov v jeho odstavci, pry nebylo jednoduche me odtrhnout od karaoke mikrofonu. Rano, tak jak uz to byva, nebylo tak vesele a usmevave jako predesla noc. Celou cestu na zpet jsme prospali na horni palube lodi, pak poobedvali v blizke restauraci v pristavu a nez se nadali, byli jsme na ceste zpet do Hanoje.

We spent the next couple of days exploring the maze of streets around Hanoi and running travelling errands, arranging Thai tourist visa from the embassy, flight to Laos, trip to sapa, then in between, we had the worlds cheapest beer from Bia Hoi juction (3000VND = 10p) and saw a traditional water puppet show. Trying to find the puppet show was stressful but turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip so far. I walked on down the street with a map only to turn back see veronika asking for help from a local security guard. The scene was priceless, Veronika acting out with full on arm movements how she would imagine the puppet moving and the guy looking back at her with an almost scared look, not sure i've ever seen anything funnier.

Dalsich par dni jsme stravili v Hanoji, prochazenim ulic pripominajici bludiste, vyrizovanim Thajskych viz, zakoupenim letenek do Laosu a vyletu do Sapy a take jsme zabrousili do ulice Bia Hoi, kde se prodava asi svetove nejlevnejsi pivo za 3Kc, ktere dokonce i dobre chutna. Jedno odpoledne jsme si vyhradili pro shlednuti loutkoveho vodniho divadla. Asi po hodine bloudeni a naze najit divadlo jsem se rozhodla vzit situaci do svych rukou a oslovila jsem vietnamskeho bezpecnostniho strazce, ktery mi prikyvnul, na otazku, zda mluvi anglicky. Tak se ptam, jestli vi, kde je loutkove divadlo. On na me hledi, coz me nechalo na vazkach jestli opravdu anglicky mluvi. Kdyz to neslo slovne, rikam si zkusim to jinak a zacala jsem mu ukazovat jak je ta loutka asi vysoka a jak vypada, kdyz ji taha za provazky. Kdyz se otocim, vidim jak se na me Pete s uzasem diva. Chlapik nemel absolutne tuseni o cem mluvim a musel si asi myslet, ze me zrovna propustilli z blazince. Mohli jsme se s Petem smichy potrhat, jak jsme si tu celou moji show prehravali znovu v hlave.

Then it was the night train to sapa for our 3 day trip into the highlands and rice paddies. At the station we must have shown our ticket 20 times to the same woman, who would then group us together like sheep and there was generally alot of running around and chaos despite the fact there only appeared to be 2 platforms. But eventually we made it to our compartment which we shared with 2 snoring vietnamese guys (they later turned out to be the drivers on the 2nd shift of the night) and did our best to get a few hours sleep.

Ten vecer nas cekala nocni jizda vlakem, smer Sapa, misto zelenych kopcu a ryzovych policek jedno za druhym. Na vlakovem nadrazi se zdalo, ze organizatori to nemeli zorganizovane, tak jak by meli a po asi dvacete, co jsme jim ukazali nas listek se nas ujal chlapik a dovedl nas k nasemu vlaku. Kabinu jsme sdileli s 2 mistnimi chlapiky, kteri si pul noci pochrapkavali, nez se vymeli s dalsimi dvema, z cehoz jsme posoudili, ze to byli asi ridici vlaku a vymenili si sichty. Alespon ta druha pulka noci byla poklidna a bez chrapotu a tak jsme i trochu zaspali.

We arrived early the following morning where we were picked up and taken to the Sumit Hotel which would be a kind of base for the next couple of days. After we checked in, it struck us how much colder it was up here, for the first time since we'd been away I dug out my hoodie. We were put into small groups and given a guide from one of the local villages, our guide was Pam, and it seemed we also each had a companion as we had a another group of local tribe women accompanying us. We trekked through couple of villges to a waterfall and tried some local bbq snacks (rice in bamboo was pick of the bunch) and then as then walk was coming to an end our helpful tribal friends became ruthless saleswomen. In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel for lunch, a lovely hot shower and caught up with a little sleep before heading down to the market to buy some bargins. We took it easy that evening as it was freezing and we needed our rest as the followng day we had a 12km trek to our homestay up in the hills.

Do Sapy jsme dorazili v 6 hodin rano, kde nas vyzvedl minibus, ktery nas odvezl do Sumit hotelu, ktery byl nasi zakladnou na par dni. Bylo to poprve od te doby, co jsme vyrazili na cesty kdy jsme byli nuceni vydolovat z nasich ruksaku mikiny, protoze nam byla zima. Pote, co jsme se ubytovali, nas cekala mala prochazka. Byli jsme rozdeleni do skupin po 6. Nas pruvodce byla Pam plus se zdalo, ze kazdy z nas ma sveho osobniho strazce v podobe mistni vesnicanky. Prosli jsme par vesnicemi, minuli jsme maly vodopad a meli prilezitost ochutnat mistni barbeque. Prekvapilo nas jak dobre chutnala ryze v bambusu. Po prochazce jsme byli doprovozeni zpet do hotelu a z milych mistnich vesnicanek se staly neuprosne obchodnice nabizejici jejich rucni prace v podobe sperku a ruznych vysivek. Pak nas cekal obed a zaslouzeny odpocinek. K veceru jsme se vydali na trznici koupit par veci a pak studeni jak psi cumaci jsme skocili zpet do electricky vyhrate postele, aby jsme dospali to, co jsme ve vlaku nestihli, protoze nas zitra ceka 12Km dlouhy vyslap, kde nas na konci cesty ceka nocleh u mistni rodiny.

The following morning Pam was waiting for us out front of the hotel (as were the the little Umpa Lumpa sales women) and we had another couple added to our group. Both veronika and I were pretty concerned about the trek, not knowing how hard it was going to be, I had a pretty nasty cut on my foot banndaged up and veronika a strapped up knee, but it turned out to be fine and a absolutely brilliant day. Although it was cold and cloudy, when we reached certain points the views were stunning and the mist added a kind of magical feeling to it. Pam taught us some phrases to put off the tribes woman and then towards the end of the day we said goodbye to a few of our group and were picked up by our hostess for the home stay.

Jak jsme rano prisli na recepci, Pam uz na nas cekala a s ni mistni jarmark baby. Ze zacatku jsme byli s Pete opatrni pri kazdem kroku, protoze me porad zlobi koleno a Pete si zase nakopl palec u nohy uz asi po 6. K nasemu prekvapeni slo vse dobre a vyslap nebyl vubec obtizny. I kdyz byla zima a mlha, pohled na ryzove policka (i kdyz nejsou zelene a v sezone) byl krasny. Pam nas naucila par frazi v mistnim jazyce, jak odmitnout nabizene zbozi, o ktere nebylo nouze po celou cestu. Na konci vyslapu jsme se rozloucili s par lidmi z nasi skupiny. Byli to ti, co se vraceli na noc do hotelu, zatimco my jsme byli vyzvednuti nasi hostitelkou, ktera nas dovedla do jejiho domu.


The house wasn't at all how we imagined it, although it was pretty basic, it was spacious and comfortable and the beds were really warm. We sat in the kitchen and warmed up by the fire helping prepare carrots and potatoes. After a couple of hours we'd settled into the swing of things so much so that veronika was carving her carrots into flowers! We made some lovely spring rolls and other goodies in the wok and sat down and had a lovely evening feast followed by plenty of "Happy Water" (rice wine). Pam told us some fascinating stories, mostly about her life and the evening ended with the girls having a sing song back around the fire.

Dum byl mnohem "vic" nez jsme ocekavali, i kdyz vse bylo velice zakladni, dum byl velky a postele pohodlne s teplou prykryvkou. Vsichni jsme se sesli v kuchyni, kde jsme se ohrivali kolem rozdelaneho ohne, ktery byl hlavnim sporakem pro vareni nasi vecere, kterou jsme vsichni spolecne pomohli pripravit skrabanim brambor a mrkve, ze ktere nam bylo ukazano jak vyrezat kvetinky. Spolecne jsme tak ukuchtili zeleninove zavitky a spoustu dalsich dobrotek, ktere jsme zkonzumovali u dlouheho stolu. Po veceri nam bylo nalito spoustu stampli "stastne vody" (ryzoveho vina, ktere chutna jako slivovice, bez paliveho efektu po spolknuti). Potom, co jsme se vsichni zahrali jidlem a alkoholem, jsme si vykladali. Pam nam popisovala jeji zivot v horach. Bylo zajimave poslouchat jeji pribehy, ale taky tezko predstavitelne, jak zakladni zivot zdejsi lide ziji. Konec vecera jsme stravili kolem ohne s mistnimi detmi, ktere byli nadsene slyset nas zpev.

After a yummy pancake breakfast, we took another trek around the beautiful paddies, through some bamboo woods and over to another waterfall where we'd have luch at the bottom. At one point we came across some workman building a road, they seemed to be doing a lot of drilling. There was a really nice view at the edge and as we all stood there taking photos one of the workman came running over blowing his whistle. We took that as a "go go go, quickly" sign and quickly made our way towards the restaurant but before we were half way there were several massive explosions and rock flying from where we'd just been standing! It wasn't just drilling but holes for dynamimte. We were driven from lunch to the hotel, said our goodbyes to the brilliant Pam, showered, got some supplies and got to the train station to catch our night train back to the city. We had a much better sleep the second time sharing a cabin with an American lady and her German mother and arrived pretty fresh the following morning and got a taxi straight to the airport for our plane to Laos.

Po velice chutne palacinkove snidani jsme se znovu vydali na cestu pres ryzove pole, bambusovy lesik a kolem vodopadu, pod kterym jsme pozdeji zakotvili na prestavku na obed. V jednu chvili jsme se objevili na miste, kde byl krasny pohled na vesnici pod nama a spoustu chlapiku kolem, kteri udajne staveli cestu na vrcholku. Bylo tam celkem hodne hluku, protoze pouzivali "zbijecku", coz se pozdeji, (potom co zacali piskat na pistalku a kriceli na lidi kolem, aby rychle zmizeli) ukazalo, ze zbijecka byla vrtacka obsahuji dinamit. Vsichni jsme se zacli presunovat a netrvalo dlouho a prvni vybuch byl tu. Nastesti jsme ale vsichni byli daleko od nebezpeci. Jak jsme dorazili zpet do hotelu, rozloucili jsme se s Pam, dali jsme si sprchu a posledni veceri na hotelu nez jsme byli vyzvednuti a dovezeni na vlakove nadrazi zpet do Hanoje. Cesta vlakem na zpet byla mnohem prijemnejsi. Kabinu jsme sdileli se 2 zenami. Matkou (Nemkou) a jeji dcerou (zijici v Americe). Dokonce jsme i dobre zaspali a byli tak celkem cili, jak jsme rano dorazili zpet. Z vlakoveho nadrazi jsme si vzali taxi, ktery nas odvezl primo na letiste, protoze chytame ranni let do Laosu.

After the worlds slowest check in it all became a little chaotic, but we got through and just in time. Neither of us were overly impressed by the little, fairly battered looking plane but we figured it was only an hour or so and what can you do about it at that point. We took off and got stuck into some reading about Laung Prabang , our first stop in Laos, at least thats what we thought at that time . . . coming into land, you could see out the windows how thick the cloud was over the city below, the pilot tried once and pulled up, circled for half hour, tried again pulled up sharper, i'll confess - my palms were dripping with sweat. Over the speakers we get the pretty blunt message that the cloud is too thick to land in and we'd been circling the airport so long we were low on fuel, we were being diverted 30mins away to Vientiane, we were guessing we didn't have much of a backup plan left if this doesn't work . . .

Po nejpomalejsim snecim odbaveni na svete jsme byli skoro hned pripraveni na nastup do letadla. Pri pohledu na male "Jumbo" letadylko jsme se pro jistotu vyfotili (memorial z cest) a nastoupili na palubu. Je to jen 1 hodinovy let, takze asi nema cenu pilotovat neco vetsiho. Po vzletnuti jsme se pustili do cteni nasich pruvodcu o meste Luang Prabang, nasi destinaci. Potom, co bylo oznameno, ze se mame pripravit na pristani jsme proletali pres huste mracna, ktere se pilotovi nejak nezdali, a tak oznamil, ze budeme krouzit asi 30 minut a zkusime to pozdeji...po pul hodine a pokusu cislo dva nam bylo oznameno, ze pristani neni mozne, kvuli pocasi a ze musime letet do hlavniho mesta Vientiane, protoze nam dochazi palivo... tak zatimco se nase dlane zacinaji potit, premyslime jestli jsme radsi nemeli jet autobusem . . .



To be continued . . .
Pokracovani priste . . .

Good morning, Vietnam - Dobre rano, Vietname

We took a bus to the port just outside of Phnom Penh and boarded a small 20 person boat which took us steadily to the boarder. We were going a little into the unknown, not sure how the crossing was going to go or how uncomfortable the boat was going to be. But to be honest it turned out completely trouble free and was a really beautiful, relaxing way to cross. We stopped off for half hour at a check point to do the immigration formalities, and then continued down the Mekong and into Vietnams Mekong delta. Straight away we could feel a different kind of people, kids waving at us and splashing around, happy people, as though life wasn't so hard. There was definitely a more prosperous atmosphere.

Rano nas odvazel minibus z centra Phnom Penhu do pristavu, kde na nas cekala lod asi se 20 dalsimi pasazery, ktera nas prevazela pres hranice do Vietnamu. Nevedeli jsme jestli to bude jeden z nejlepsich napadu prekrocit hranice po vode, ale jak se ukazalo asi za hodinu jsme byli na imigracnim a vsechno slo jako po masle. Zastavili jsme asi na pul hodiny na Vietnamskych hranicich, kde jsme cekali na razitka a potom vesele pokracovali dale plavbou po Delte Mekongu. Hned jsme si zamilovali zdejsi lidi zijici na rece Mekongu, deti se cakaji ve vode, zeny umyvaji nadobi na brehu reky, muzi se venuji rybolovu a vsichni vypadaji spokojene, usmevave a pratelsky.

Eventually we made it to Chau Doc where we checked into a hotel and grabbed a moto guy to drive us up Sam Mountain for sunset. At the top we saw the most amazing panoramic looking down on some rice paddies and enjoyed our first Saigon Beer as the sun came down.

Pote, co jsme dorazili do mestecka Chau Doc, jsme se ubytovali a asi za pul hodiny odpocinku si pronajali chlapiky na motorkach, kteri nas vyvezli na horu z nazvem Sam, abychom se mohli pokochat zapadem Slunce. Bylo to nase prvni kochani se Vietnamskou prirodou a sledovani ryzovych poli z ptaci perspektivy za doprovodu naseho prvniho vietnamskeho pivecka Saigon.

The following day we went back out into the Delta and visited a fish farm and some local Cham people before catching a bus to My Tho for another free afternoon, we sat down in the park for little while people watching. At one point a local guy jogged up to a tree just in front of us and started doing pull ups whilst some other guys shouted over a him in Vietnamese, and over to the left of this some women were fighting over who was going to take some tourist girls out on the river, it was all quite entertaining to watch.

Dalsi rano nas mala lodka vyvezla opet do proudu Mekongu, abychom mohli navstivit rybi farmu a lidi kmene Cham zijici v okolni vesnici, pred tim nez jsme vyrazili autobusem do mista My Tho, kde jsme meli osobni volno. Odpoledne jsme stravili v parku sledovanim mistnich lidi (stare zenske, ktere se celkem otevrene dohadovali o tom, ze jedna prevzala kseft druhe, aby mohla vzit par turistu na lodicku anebo chlapika, ktery pred nama v parku, asi dokazoval okolnim chlapikum, co ho sledovali a smali se mu v povzdali, jakou ma silu, se vytahoval nahoru a dolu na vetvi stromu) bylo to pro nas celkem zabavne.

Our final day of the Mekong Delta trip we went out to see a couple of floating markets and then over to a rice noodle making farm. Another really interesting farm that showed some traditional ways of doing something we really take for granted in the west. There were also some pigs, i mention them because this was the first sign of things to come from one Australian guy on our tour. He was posing for pictures with them kissing and at one point had his whole fist in one pigs mouth. Obviously immune to swine flu.

Nas posledni den straveny na vylete po rece Mekong jsme stravili navstevou plovoucich trhu a farmy na vyrobu ryzovych nudli. Obvzlaste navsteva farmy byla velice zajimava. Byl nam vysvetlen a ukazan cely postup od ryzoveho zrnka az po krajeni nudli, ktere my na zapade uz vidime jenom v hotovych baliccich v obchode. Meli tam taky par prasatek, ktere zminuji proto, protoze to byl zacatek, kdy jsme si vsimli jednoho Autralana, ktery se zviditelnil jeste par dalsimi ukony behem cesty... ne jen tim, ze za obdobi vzrustu praseci chripky tem cunikum daval pusinky na rypak.

We continued the journey the Ho Chi Minh, crossing a ferry, the oz guy appearing to be drinking quite heavily and chatting up a married woman in front of her burly husband. The other side of the ferry, the call of nature came for this super intelligent guy from down under. He ran to a tree (less than 2 mins away from some toilets), over some rubbish and then we heard the scream. A few of us turned to see him, up to his waist in a sess pit! Not nice, but i suppose when you gotta go you gotta go.

Do Hociminova mesta jsme pokracovali autobusem, ale na chvili jsme podstoupili v plavbu trajektem, kde uz se zdalo, ze uz drive zmineny Australan mel neco vypito a tak vesele flirtoval s zenou nejakeho chlapika. Po prejeti reky na druhou stranu uz Autralana neuprosne volala priroda a tak si v rychlosti chtel ulevit na strane silnice v mistnim krovicku (asi jen 2 minuty od zachodu).Dalsi vec, co vime, ze se Australan po pas brodi v mocuvce. No, kdyz se chce, tak se chce, ze jo?

In ho chi minh city we checked into phoenix hotel, a really nice room and they were very helpful with bookings. We booked with them to go to the Chu chi tunnels. This was great value for a half day trip. We heard how the Vietnamese fought against the US during the war, some of it very propagandist but interesting nonetheless. We were taken to some of the booby traps they made, a disabled tank and into the tunnels themselves. The air got quite thin at times and it was quite tight in there (they kept reminding us they had widened them for westerners). We were in them for about 10-15mins and it was a real relief to get out, to think they would sometimes spend days in there is mind blowing.

Jak jsme dorazili do Hociminova mesta ubytovali jsme se v hotelu s nazvem Phoenix, pokoj byl moc utulny a cisty a personal ochotny pomoct se vsemi rezervacemi, takze na dalsi den jsme se jeli podivat do Chu chi podzemnich chodeb. Byl to hodne zajimavy vylet. Ukazali nam film jak se tam lide schovavali a zili v dobe, kdy se statecne branili proti americanum. Potom jsme asi ve skupine 15 lidi prochazeli lesem, kde nam ukazali vsechny nastrazene pasti, nemocnici, stary tank, zakladnu, zakop, kde vyrabeli naboje.Taky jsme meli sanci "poobedvat" u spolecneho stolu (dostali jsme caj a neco, co chutnalo jako sucha brambora, jidlo co jedli za doby valky, zajimava chut) Nejvetsi, no jestli se tomu da rict zazitek, spis neco, co si clovek vybavi zive, jsou tunely sami o sobe. Prochazeli jsme asi 100m tunelem (a to jsme byli upozorneni, ze jsou zvetsene pro lidi ze zapadu) a byl to celkem zvlastne ztisneny pocit. Vzduch byl tezky, sem tam svetlo. Predstavit si, ze tam lide muesli zustavat po cele dny je celkem sokujici. Kloubouk dolu!



After a couple of days in the madness of Saigon we decided it was time to head to the beach so bought an open bus trip north up to Mui Ne, supposedly one of the nicest beach areas in Vietnam. We arrived just after lunch from a fairly pleasant 5hr journey and then spent quite a while trying to find somewhere to stay. It seemed most places were fully booked, but to us it looked like an empty town but eventually, knackered from an hour and half of walking up and down the streets with our rucksacks, we found a nice place with bungalows close to the beach. That evening we went to check out a Czech place which was suppose to sell Czech food, but it wasn’t quite what we expected. Beautiful restaurant, nice beer, but to call it a Czech menu because the have dishes called Czech pork or Czech chicken didn’t really feel right.

Po par dnech ztravenych v Saigonu (Hociminovo Mesto) jsme se rozhodli, ze bychom se na chvili chteli zase povalovat na plazi a misto z nazvem Mui Ne se zdalo perfektnim mistem, protoze to je udajne nejkrasnejsi plaz ve Vietnamu. Tak jsme si koupili tzv. otevreny autobusovy listek. Jak jsme dorazili na misto asi po 5 hodinach cesty autobusem, museli jsme najit mistecko, kde slozime hlavy. Jak se zdalo vsude meli plno, i kdyz jsme skoro nevideli ani nohu. No, ale asi po hodine a pul vlaceni se s ruksaky na zady, jsme nasli bungalov, ktery byl asi vzaleny od more, co bys kamenem dohodil (taky zalezi na tom, kdo zrovna hazi :-)) Ten vecer jsme se vydali najit restauraci, ktera udajne serviruje Ceske pivo, alkohol a jidlo. Nebylo to presne, co jsme ocekavali, protoze napis v jidelnicku Brambory po cesku, Veprove po cesku a syr po cesku se nam nejak nezdal. No, ale objednali jsme si Pilsnera a Becherovku, ktera byla zarucene ceska. Misto samo o sobe bylo prekrasne, meli tam hodne jezirek s vyhledem na more a vlastni pivovar.

Check out this video for rough idea of Saigon traffic and the 6 million motos.

Podivejte se na tohle video a udelejte si obrazek jak ridit nebo prekrocit cestu ve meste, kde je 6 milionu motorek.

The following day we went to see the local sand dunes, had a great day but decided that there wasn’t enough happening in mui ne so booked on to the bus to go and meet our friends from Bangkok in Hoi an. After a quick swim in the rough sea, we began our 16hr coach journey comfortably in a half full coach. We had a 2hr stop for dinner in the evening and then boarded the coach again, this time completely full. Fortunately we managed to get some decent sleeper seats at the back and we had a spare seat separating us from the Australian couple next to us. Half we through the night we were woken to the bus stopping to fill the remaining seats with locals so we spent the rest of the night shoulder to shoulder with a scary looking Vietnamese man. Didn’t sleep great!

Dalsi den jsme se jeli dzipem podivat na mistni pisecne duny, bylo to super. Krasne hedoucky pisek, ktery byl po vyletu vsude. Ale protoze se zdalo, ze Mui Ne zrovna neni v sezone a je tam ponekud ticho, rozhodli jsme se vyrazit o kousek dal na sever do mesta Hoi An, kde jsme se domluvili se znovu setkat s parem z Anglie, (Simonem a Ali) ktere jsme potkali v Bankoku. Takze jsme se zbalili par svestek a jeste pred tim nez jsme vyrazili na dlouhou 16ti hodinovou cestu autobusem, jsme se vycabrali a poblbli ve vlnach. Autobus byl plne obsazeny. Meli jsme stesti, ze jsme mohli sedo-lezet vedle sebe v zadu na petce. Vedle nas bylo volne misto a pak par z Australie, takze vse bylo v pohode, nez asi kolem 2 hodiny rano pristoupil dalsi (Vietnamsky) nocleznik a tak jsme tam byli naskladani jak sardinky v tomate. No, abych rekla pravdu, moc jsme toho nenaspali!

We arrived in Hoi An at 6am and took the first hotel that offered decent room/price. We spent the morning and middle part of the day catching up with sleep before heading out in the afternoon to meet Ali and Simon. It was great to see some familiar faces and we spent the rest of the evening catching up with our travels and offering tips on where to go as we were travelling almost exactly the opposite routes to each other.

Pote, co jsme rano v 6 dorazili na misto, rozhodli jsme se vzit prvni nabidku ubytovani. Misto bylo pekne a cenove v pohode. Odpoledne jsme se jeste snazili dospat to, co jsme nenaspali pres noc a potom jsme se sesli se Simonem a Ali. Bylo fajn videt zname tvare. Cely vecer jsme si vymenovali zazitky z cest a super bylo, ze zatimco my smerujeme sever Vietnamu a Laos, oni uz to meli za sebou a naopak. Takze jsme si vsichni udelali obrazek a plany na dalsi cesty plne dobrodruzstvi.

We both loved Hoi An, it was a beautiful little town full of character. We spent one day touring the town with an open ticket which allowed us to visit a temple, museum, Japanese bridge and tradition music performance. Another day we took a boat trip to a beach, although the weather was poor we had lovely meal out on the sea front. But I think our highlight of hoi would be the fantastic food and in particular a little bakery we would make our days plans from each morning called Cargo.

Oba jsme si zamilovali Hoi An, je to krasne male kouzelne mestecko.Jeden den jsme stravili prohlidkou chramu, musea, Japonskeho zastreseneho mostu a shlednutim tradicniho koncertu. Dalsi den jsme se jeli malou lodkou podivat na mistni plaz. I kdyz nam ten den pocasi nepralo, nasli jsme milou restauraci hned vedle plaze, kde jsme meli moc chutny obed. Kdyz ale budu premyslet o Hoi An, a co nas nadchlo nejvice, budou to jejich mistni speciality, ktere bych mohla jist od rana do vecera a mistni pekarna s nazvem Cargo, ktera se stala nasim kazdorannim tercem.

Our last day in Hoi An, we were waiting for our bus to the airport only to find we were delayed 6hrs. Still, it wasn't too bad, we had the excitment of a trip to the beautiful Halong Bay fresh in our veins.

Nas posledni den, jsme kolem odpolednich hodin meli byt vyzvednuti z hotelu, abychom chytli nas podvecerni let, ale jak se ukazalo, let byl zpozden asi o 6 hodin. Nasi naladu to ale nepokazilo, protoze uz dopredu jsme vedeli, ze nas dalsi den ceka vylet do Halong Zatoky.


To be continued . . .
Pokracovani priste . . .