Where on Earth is Imogen? : Beach

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24 July 2014

Travelling through Vietnam - Nha Trang

After our travelling in Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Hué and Hoi An, we were looking forward to going somewhere a bit different, a break from visiting cultural and historical buildings! However, the 11-hour journey to get there was not very pleasant. We were the only foreigners on a bus packed full of Vietnamese people. It seemed they had put an extra bus on for the Tet festival as it was starting very soon.

The main issue with the bus was that it didn't have a working toilet and that the driver didn't like to stop. In fact, it was like this on all the buses we travelled on after Ninh Binh. A perfectly acceptable toilet stop seemed to be stopping on the side of the road somewhere, which may have been fine for any males desperately needing to go but not for the ladies! There was one actual toilet stop in the whole 11 hours. On the way to Hoi An, I tried to get off the bus at a station in Da Nang to use the loo but there was a queue and I turned around to see the bus doors closing. I went back to the bus and banged on the door. I told the driver what I wanted to do but he refused to wait and said that I would have to wait until Nha Trang. A similar thing happened when ladies wanted to go to the toilet on the way to Ho Chi Minh later on in the journey and tried to get off at Mui Ne. There were also no stops for food on the Hoi An - Nha Trang journey like there had been on previous buses we'd taken.

It was a relief to finally arrive in Nha Trang and find our hotel. We dumped our stuff in our rooms and quickly went out to get some food as we were really hungry from not eating during the journey. We grabbed a banh mi each from a street seller. This became our favourite street food in Vietnam. It is basically a sandwich made with French-style bread. Vietnam was a French colony, the French introduced the baguette in the country.The filling can be various different kinds of meat with salad such as cucumber. Usually very tasty and cheap! Living in China, we didn't get very much bread, so it was nice to be able to get bread so easily. We then went to a Western-style bar to eat pizza. We thought we deserved a treat! We then went to a travel agent to book a tour. During the festival all tours stopped running so we decided to book one for the next day, the last day before the holiday. We chose to do the 4 island tour which began early the next morning.

So, the next day we were up bright and early waiting outside the travel agent for the bus to take us to the tour. The 4 island tour is a boat trip that goes to "4 islands" off the coast of Nha Trang. What they don't tell you is that you actually only visit 2, one of which you have to pay to enter, and the other you have to pay to visit the aquarium on it. Despite this, we had a really enjoyable day. It was a "party boat" and our guide was great. He was a man probably in his late 50s - early 60s but who thought he was still 21! Such a character. He made sure that everyone was having a good time as he handed out the beers (at a price, of course).

Alex and Chloe with their life jackets on, ready to go

The first island was the aquarium island. Some of the group paid an entrance fee and had a look around while the rest of us stayed on the boat. We had decided that we weren't that interested in going to see some fish and pay yet more money! The second island was where we went snorkelling. I had never been snorkelling before and enjoyed it once we got into it. Unfortunately there weren't very many fish to see though.

Chloe and I on the roof of the boat at the first island

Snorkelling at island no. 2

The third island was where we stopped for lunch. We all moved to the sides of the boat and the benches, where many of us had been sitting, were transferred into one long table which was covered by a table cloth. The food was then dished out, a feast of Vietnamese delicacies including spring rolls and rice. It was one of the best meals we received as part of a tour package. This was then followed by entertainment. "Vietnam's best boyband" performed, consisting of the tour company workers, one of them dressed as a lady boy. They also got people from different countries to go up to the front a sing a typical song from where they were from. All a bit of a laugh! The last activity at island 3 was a floating bar. A barman with some disgusting orange liquid containing alcohol went out into the water and we were provided rubber rings to go out as well and drink. Probably not great health and safety...

Lunch

"The best boyband in Vietnam"

Lady boy of Nha Trang

Floating bar (minus the bar, that's to the right somewhere)

The 4th island was as uneventful as the first as you had to pay to enter the island. It looked like what you were paying for was to sit in a sun lounger by the beach so, again, we decided to stay on the boat. When the others came back, it was time for the boat to return to Nha Trang. There were lots of nice views along the way.

Floating village

On the way back to Nha Trang

That evening we went to find the travel office and book our bus to Mui Ne. We also booked to go to the mud spa the next day but we found out, after much confusion with the non-English-speaking hotel receptionist, that the our day trip had been cancelled. We went out that morning anyway to see if we could go with another tour operator and thankfully found somewhere who could do it. The mud spas are famous in Nha Trang and it was nice to have a day of relaxation for a change. We had a really enjoyable day showering in mineral water, bathing in the mud (which is supposed to be good for your skin), bathing in mineral water and swimming in the mineral water pools.

Bath time!

The mud made you float

Mineral water shower

Waterfall

That evening was the start of the Tet festival so we went out for a few drinks to celebrate. There were fireworks down by the beach to celebrate the occasion.

After much thinking, we decided that we neither had the time nor the money to justify going to Mui Ne. We had originally planned to spend 12 hours there but when we looked to find somewhere to stay, it was all out of our budget. We asked the bus company if we could change our journey to go all the way through to Ho Chi Minh instead. They agreed but made us pay a fee which seemed strange as it was the same bus doing the whole journey!

On our last day we hired scooters and went out to a beach an expat lady had told us about. It is called Long Beach in English and is about 20km south of Nha Trang. I have to say, I wasn't very keen on the idea of the scooters, it just seemed that we were too exposed to the other traffic. Clearly not a biker girl! It was a good way to get around and see the area though and Alex and Chloe enjoyed it! Long Beach was definitely worth going to. It was quiet with few people but probably won't be 20 years or so down the line once it's been developed. It's beautiful. We had some lunch at the only western restaurant (so that we could use their toilets!) and relaxed in the deck chairs and hammocks. It was a lovely day and great end to our time in Nha Trang. That evening we took our final bus ride to Ho Chi Minh.

Chloe on her bike

Just some passing traffic

Beautiful view

It's a hard life

Enjoying the deck chair!

Long Beach

17 January 2014

End of semester exams and winter holiday travelling

I still need to write a post on spending new year in Hong Kong but as soon as I got back to Xiamen on 3rd January I was busy catching up on lessons I'd missed and preparing for my end of semester exams. Exams started on Monday this week and finished on Wednesday. I also had to do a performance for my 唱歌学汉语（Learning Chinese through Song) module which I didn't find out about until that day! Exams went ok apart from a not so good 口语 (oral) exam and I passed all of my modules. The pass mark in China is 60% which is a bit of a difference from 40% in the UK! On Wednesday night we had a last night out together as a way of celebrating exams and end of semester. Some people are leaving as they were only here for one semester so there will be new people when we go back.

The majority of those who are staying are spending the month-long holiday travelling either in China or southern Asia. We were advised by teachers and Chinese friends not to stay in China over the holiday as lots of Chinese people are travelling at that time to be at home with their families and many shops and restaurants close over the period. However, some people are planning to stay in China to travel to Harbin for the ice festival, Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Chengdu as these cities are a long way away from Xiamen so difficult to get to during term time.

From the warnings it seemed to me that a better option was to get out of China for a bit and go to other countries in Asia. I had originally hoped to go to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand but realised that that was a bit too much considering the time we have. My current plan is to go to Vietnam for almost three weeks with Alex and meet Chloe, a friend studying at Nanjing University, in Hanoi which is our first stop there. We plan to travel our way down the coast, stopping at cities along the way, to Ho Chi Minh where I will be for my 21st birthday. From there Alex will fly back to Xiamen as he is going home to Dubai and Chloe and I will fly to Chiang Mai in Thailand where we will spend some time before leaving the country and going back to China from Bangkok. I will have a day and a half in Xiamen before flying off again as I'm going to my cousin's wedding in Kathmandu, Nepal, for a week in February where I will see my family for the first time since September. Finally, my family and I will go to Xiamen so that I can start next semester and they can spend another week with me.

I'm writing this in Hong Kong airport as we have a 6-hour stopover which isn't enough time to leave and go into Hong Kong so my journey's already started! Hong Kong airport has free WiFi which is great for keeping us amused during the long wait. Our flight from Xiamen left at 8:30am so we've been up since 5am having got to sleep at about 1am. We got up late after going out on Wednesday night so couldn't sleep! It's already been and will continue to be a long day... but hopefully worth it!

9 January 2014

Christmas in Dubai

I was lucky enough to be invited to Dubai to spend Christmas with Alex and his family rather than stay in China where Christmas doesn't really seem to exist! Xiamen University doesn't have a holiday for Christmas meaning that classes continued almost as normal throughout Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I think my teacher gave the class the morning off on Christmas Day itself but that was it. I'd prepared myself for a strange Christmas in China eating noodles without my family, the first Christmas I'd spent without them, so it was lovely to find out I could still have a family Christmas outside China but with Alex's family instead.

We flew with Cathay Pacific/Dragonair which meant a stopover in Hong Kong. This worked out perfectly as we planned to spend new year there so it was just a longer stopover than usual with no change to the price of the ticket. Our flight to Hong Kong was on 20th December so we left Xiang'an the evening before and went to Siming on the island as it would be easier to get to the airport. We had a last Chinese meal at a DongBei (northeastern Chinese food) restaurant near the main campus which was really good.

Alex enjoying our last Chinese meal for a while

The journey went well and we managed to watch a couple of good films on the main flight from Hong Kong to Dubai. I, as a languages student, watched a French film "Les Femmes du 6eme Etage" which I thoroughly recommend. The film was about Spanish maids living in Paris so there was some Spanish in there as well! We chose our seats in advance so that I could have a window seat which was definitely worth it as we could see the lights of Dubai as we arrived at about 11pm on Friday evening. Alex's parents and sister were there at the airport to meet us and take us to their apartment.

First sight of Dubai from the air

The next day Alex decided to show me round the marina and take me out to the palm.

Driving round the marina

We went out to Atlantis which is a big ocean themed hotel with a water park and shopping centre at the very top of the palm

Driving up to Atlantis

In front of Atlantis

On the Palm with the marina in the background

On Monday we decided to go on desert safari which is one of the main touristy things to do in Dubai. We were picked up at 3:30pm by our driver for the evening in a 4x4 before picking up the rest of the passengers, an Indian family, and making our way to the desert. It soon became clear that it was not just our car doing this trip. The driver stopped in a car park by a couple of small shops where a lot of similar cars were parked so that people could use toilets, buy snacks/drinks and so that the drivers could take some air out of the tyres before going over the sand dunes. We got back in the car for a short way until we reached the desert and yet more cars. It seemed we were waiting for the rest of the Arabian Nights (tour company) cars to turn up before going over the sand dunes together. We used this opportunity to walk around in the desert sand and take photos. Once all the cars had arrived we started going over the sand dunes in a line, not something I'd recommend to anyone who gets car sick! I really enjoyed it and they even stopped so we could get some pictures of the sunset.

On the way to desert safari

Cars waiting to go over the sand dunes

Going over the sand dunes

Sunset over the desert

Me in the desert

We ended up at a camp in another part of the desert where we stayed until 8pm. At the camp you could ride a camel, go sand boarding, ride quad bikes (for a price), dress up in traditional Arabic dress, an eagle, get Henna tattoos and get photographs taken. There was also a buffet and a stage in the middle for live entertainment consisting of a guy who span around for about 15 minutes (actually quite impressive) and a belly dancer. I enjoyed the evening and would recommend it to anyone going to Dubai.

Riding a camel

Sand boarding

Some locals

The camp

Queuing for food

He just kept spinning!

His dress had lights on it

Buffet

Belly dancer

Eagle

On Christmas Eve we went to the beach because we could and it was warm enough to! We brought Santa hats and took photos wearing them with our swimwear. Danish people begin celebrating Christmas in the evening of Christmas Eve so we went back and smartened up for the Christmas meal afterwards.

Christmas Eve at the beach

God jul! (Merry Christmas in Danish)

Chinese Christmas tree decorations

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Alex's family which was really nice. Eating, opening presents, eating, watching Love Actually and going out for a coffee in the evening on Christmas Day. I had a phone call with my own family as well meaning I got to talk to my parents, two younger brothers and Gran which was lovely.

On the Friday we went out to Friday brunch. I don't really know what I was expecting, a buffet containing breakfast and lunch items maybe, but what Friday brunch actually was, definitely wasn't it. There were several rooms containing buffets with all kinds of food and drink as well as an outside area with live band. Alex and I avoided the Chinese food room but made sure we filled up on other things! The waiters made sure that our champagne glasses were always full which was quite strange considering it was early in the afternoon. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the food as I was too busy admiring it, but I got some photos at the end when they were clearing up.

Burj Al Arab in the background

Chinese lanterns leading to the Chinese food room

Boats

Christmas tree

BBQ Pit

Over the course of the week I got to meet Alex's friends from sixth form and experience Dubai nightlife. They all seemed like really nice people! On the Saturday though I met up with some friends from Southampton, something I hadn't thought would happen on my year abroad. Caitlin, Josh and Ali's parents all live there and Rebecca was visiting Caitlin so it was nice to meet up at a beach bar for a catch up whilst also being a bit surreal.

Alex's parents got us tickets to go up the Burj Khalifa on our last day in Dubai. I can now say I've been up the tallest building in the world! We went up at 5pm so managed to see both a day and a night view from the viewing platform, the sun setting while we were up there. It was a nice way to end the trip as I could recognise places I saw below. Afterwards we had a last family meal and wandered around Dubai Mall (largest shopping centre in the world) before going to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong where we spent new year. Thank you to Alex's family for making my time in Dubai so enjoyable.