出行了兩個星期,沒有寫過像樣的遊記。這年頭,感覺用照片可以表達一切,用文字的衝動越來越少,真有點可惜,很希望可以一直寫。
回想在南美旅遊十一週時,沒有帶手提電腦,WIFI也不普遍,只能隔幾天到網吧上網,寫網誌,現在就算沒有電腦,人人也是有一手機在手,天下盡在掌握之中….
好了,話說回來…
由南部的胡志明市向北走到會安,用了剛好兩週時間。雖說沒有時間限制,但簽証只能逗留30天,所以會安這中間點,行程上算是時間剛剛好,希望在30天內完成整個越南,北至沙壩…然後下一個國家是哪裡,還沒有決定。
<<胡志明市 Ho Chi
Minh city>>
一到胡市,最大的喜悅是可以穿背心短褲,但馬上就想把沉重的牛仔褲丟掉…然後就是很想享受越南的美食!! 在胡市每天我們都找幾個景點閒逛,能走路的都走路,沒有坐過一次的士,中午吃過飯就回酒店午睡(實在太熱),到下午3,4點再出動。終於可以天天吃牛肉粉,春巻,法包,和喝越南咖啡,我們還買了咖啡,可以自己動手沖咖啡。
<<美奈 Mui Ne>>
胡市後到了美奈,是一個沙灘小鎮,除了晚上的海鮮檔外,感覺不算很旅遊,消費也是超便宜的。有點可惜的是沙灘都被一家家resort擋住了,要找小路走到沙灘,幸好沙灘還是公眾的,也很美麗。除了沙灘,美奈比較特別的是紅沙丘和白沙丘,是兩個小小的沙漠區,白沙丘比較遠,所以只能參加當地團。沙丘雖小,風起時形態之變化莫測,還是很引人入勝…值得一遊。
<<大叻 Da
Lat>>
從熱情的沙漠一下子到了大叻高山區,景緻完全改變。是湖泊和瀑布。我們的行程特別在沒有怎麼做過功課,到達大叻時,我們完全沒有預料到這個鎮很大,而且很熱鬧…因為大叻氣候清涼,四季如春,所以也是國內的避暑勝地。我們到達的那天剛好是週末,晚上的市集可熱鬧了,攤販成行成市,還有許多大排檔,這氣温的轉變也讓我們興奮地享受著熱食和熱飲!!
大叻有一個全國最古老的火車站,我們不止參觀了火車站,還坐了一趟火車到Trai Mat鎮,這個火車現時只剩這一段了,我想只有遊客會坐。火車到了 Trai Mat 逗留40分鐘就回程,在這時間,我們到訪靈褔寺,這寺廟絶對是出奇的漂亮,全寺是用玻璃和缸瓦片砌成的,艷麗非常。
<<芽莊 Nha
Trang>>
我們的行程有點繞,我想其他計劃到芽莊的旅客會把美奈放棄掉,因為(也是到了才知道)芽莊的沙灘實在是太漂亮了!! 而且,長長的沙灘全是公眾的,酒店都建在大馬路的另一邊,旅客可以在沙灘上隨意走,如果想在太陽傘下躺一下,就光顧任何一家,每張沙灘椅收費HKD15,任坐,也可以帶食物飲品,沙灘上還有各式小販,想吃龍蝦也可以! 這讓享受一個下午,也很愉快,不過,亮說:只有我們沒有去過這種陽光海灘的旅遊點,其他香港人大概覺得這些很普通。
芽莊另一主要活動是所有人都會參加的四島遊一天團,本來我們不打算去,但在大叻遇到有人說這個活動還算很划算,只要USD10,我們因為坐夜車,所以倒也不妨安排一天團在白天,不用担心check out後如何打發時間。
行程中我們會在一個點浮潛,當然不能跟大堡礁比較,但也算是有些珊瑚礁和魚可看看,也看到長得像水蛇般的海參和超級海星。午飯在船上安排好,船泊在漁排,如果想食海鮮,可自費,但價錢就有點坑遊客感覺了,我們這些港人食慣海鮮當然不上當。午飯過後船上的水手搖身一變成為boy band,最正斗的是用寫著 ”YAMAHA” 的兩個煲做的鼓!! 樂隊邀請各國旅客上台合唱,他們當然是準備了各國語言的一首名曲,和大家一起歡樂一番!!
讓大家的胃都休息了一下,船已開到沙灘邊,這時,水手帶頭,從船頂一躍下水,把大家都淋濕如落水雞….既然如此,大家也一湧以上,跳到水裡,水手會拋一個大水泡給你,躺在水泡上,享受floating bar!! 這可是我的第一次跳水啊!!! 感覺好爽!!
<<會安 Hoi
An>>
晚上坐「强姦大巴」到會安。會安是一古鎮,直至19世紀末還是越南第一大港口,後來才被峴港取代。古是真的夠古了,連所有酒店都挺古舊的,而且這裡又熱又潮,我們看過好幾家酒店都是一股霉味的,實在受不了,一定要找通風良好的,才能沒有霉味,但房間的牆壁還是有掩蓋不住的發霉痕跡。
古鎮已經極度商業化,而且我也沒有覺得古房子特別漂亮,說實在,是有點兒失望的。在不購物的大前提下,古鎮沒多久就逛完了。由於我們是坐夜車到的,中午回去午休。晚上再出來,景緻的確有別,感覺反而良好一點,燈亮起很美,也少了一點悶熱,多了一點晚風。
第二天,我只有一個目的,就是要到Thanh Ha 陶藝村,這個村是某些到美山的團會途經之地,但絶對不是主要景點,但我又豈能放過(因為資料上說是可以試玩…),所有書都是互相抄襲的,但這一次估不到連google map的地點都點不對,幸好我們錯有錯着,誤打誤撞,再問一下路才找到村落。
Thanh Ha pottery village 的確是比較純樸,村內有約廿多戶,每戶都是一個家庭式陶藝工作坊,很多都歡迎旅客進內參觀。用的轉盤都是人手操作的,安裝在地上,由另一個人用腳轉動。在第一個工作坊,老太太熱情招待我,强迫我完成一件東東,弄得我哭笑不得。到了另一家,因為大家正在午飯,我自由地玩,自得其樂,爽得很。當然要多謝幫我踩轉盤的助手,才能讓我順利完成一件作品,過一過癮….不枉此行。
by: Jo
P.S. 相片分享見前文。
It’s been two weeks into the journey and I
have not written any proper travel blog. These days, it feels like photos tell
more and you simply lack the motivation to write. It’s a shame, I wish I can continue writing.
When I was travelling in SA for 11 weeks, I
did not bring a laptop and wifi was not everywhere back then. I had to go to internet cafes every few days
to update my blog. Nowadays, everyone
has a smartphone and you have the whole world in your palm.
OK, let’s get back on track…
We started our trip from the South, from Ho
Chi Minh city, travelled up North to Hoi An.
Although we have no time limit, the visa only allows us to stay for 30
days. Spending 2 weeks up to Hoi An
sounds about right. We will continue to
head North and hope to finish up to Sapa in a total of 30 days. What’s next? not sure yet.
<<Ho Chi Minh city>>
The first burst of happiness when we
arrived in HCMC is that we can now wear our summer clothes, I wanted to throw
my jeans away immediately. Next, it is
the Vietnamese cuisine that I have longed for!
Every day, we picked a few places of interests to visit, we walk as much
as we can and have never been on a taxi.
After lunch, we went back for a nap as it was really too hot. We wondered out again around 3, 4 pm. We eat pho, spring roll, baguette and Vietnamese
ca phe everyday. We even bought ca phe
so we can make it whenever we like.
<<Mui Ne>>
After HCMC, we went to a small beach town
Mui Ne. Unless you go to the seafood
places at night, Mui Ne is not touristic at all and everything is so cheap. The only downside is that the road to the
beach are pretty much blocked by private resorts. But if you manage to find the alleys, you can
still walk down to the beach which is open for public. Apart from beach, the red sand dunes and
white sand dunes are special places in Mui Ne worth a visit. The white sand dunes are a long way so you
will have to join a tour to go there.
Although the sand dunes are pretty small, I am very attracted by the
scenery esp. when wind blows.
<<Da Lat>>
All of a sudden, we went from a hot desert
to the cool highland of Da Lat, a complete change of scenery – lakes and
waterfalls. One thing about our trip is that we have not done much homework
ahead. It came to our surprise that Da
Lat is such a big town and full of people.
Da Lat is in the high land, so, the weather is much cooler and spring
like all year round. As such, it is a
very popular destination for Vietnamese people. We arrived on a Saturday and
the Da Lat market was so heat up with hawkers and food stalls. With the change
of weather, we very much enjoyed the hot food and drinks!
The Da Lat train station is the oldest in
Vietnam. We didn’t only visit the train
station, we also took a ride to Trai Mat, which is the only section left in
operation, only for tourists. The train
stops for 40 min at Trai Mat and returns.
We spent the 40 min seeing a very splendid temple, all the decorations
in the temple are made out
of broken glasses and ceramics.
<<Nha Trang>>
Our route is a bit unusual as most people
who plan to be at Nha Trang would skip Mui Ne. We came to find out (when we arrived) that the
beach at Nha Trang is so pretty!! The best thing is this long beach is all
public, hotels are on the other side of the main road, and you can freely
wonder along the beach. If you feel like
having a seat on the beach under the shade, you can pay HKD15 and get a beach
chair. You can bring your own food and
drinks, and maybe choose to buy from hawkers on the beach. Well, if you want a lobster, you can! Spending an afternoon on the Nha Trang beach
is so relaxing. But, Mat said this is so
common for HK people to have beach vacation, it is only the two of us who will
find this special….
The next day, we spent a day on a popular
4-island boat trip. It costs only USD 10
for a full day boat trip. Since we had
to take a night bus, might as well spend the day on a boat trip.
During the trip, we have one snorkeling spot. You cannot compare this to the GBR, but it
still have some nice coral reef and some fishes. We got to see some snake-long sea cucumbers
and some huge star fishes. Lunch was
included, but you can also order sea food from the floating seafood
market. The prices are a rip off
though. After lunch, the sailors turned
themselves into a boy band. Haha, they
used two cooking pans labelled “YAMAHA” as drums, it was so funny. They invited visitors from every country onto
the stage to sing and dance with them. I
am sure they have one song for each country which they can perform!
After your stomachs are settled, the boat
already arrived at a beach. The sailors
led by jumping from the boat deck into water, splashing everyone wet. The tourists followed and everyone
jumped. You got a life buoy and enjoyed the
floating bar! This was actually the
first time I jump from this height into water, felt good!
<<Hoi An>>
At night, we took a night bus to Hoi An.
Hoi An is an ancient town, one of the
oldest town with settlement in Vietnam.
It was the biggest port of Vietnam until late 19s, when it was replaced
by Da Nang. The town is truly old,
buildings and hotels are the same. The
weather here is hot and humid, we went to a few hotels and they all had this
moldy smell. You need a room with good
ventilation to get away with the smell but the moldy walls are everywhere, cannot
hide.
The old town is too commercialized, and I
do not find the houses very attractive neither, a bit disappointed to be
honest. Without any kind of shopping in mind, we finished walking the old town
in half a day. We arrived from a night
bus, still pretty tired, and chose to take a nap to recover. At the evening, we wondered out again, the
night in the old town actually feels better.
The scene after lighting up is quite pretty, less heat and humidity,
replaced by a bit of a breeze.
On the second day, I only have one mission
to accomplish – to visit the Thanh Ha pottery village. Some tours to My Son
will stop by the village but it is certainly not a popular spot for
tourists. But I cannot have missed it because
info indicated that tourists can try on the wheels. Google map got this place mapped wrongly, we
only found it because of some luck and we have to ask around.
The Thanh Ha pottery village is indeed less
touristic. There are about twenty family
run pottery workshops in the village, they all welcome tourists to go in and
look. They are all using manual throwing
wheels mounted on the floor, have to be pushed by foot by another person. At the first workshop that I sit at the
wheel, the old lady was being too helpful and forced me to get something
done. At the next one, since everyone
were at lunch, I got the wheel to myself and took my own time. I had the time to finish one pot on the
manual wheel!! Thanks to my wheel boy, job very well done. This has made my day!
by: Jo
P.S. see the earlier blog entry for photo album sharing.
