Gettin Muddy

(9.28.08 9:33am Room 305 Noble House, Cat Ba Island, Vietnam)
(9.19.08) At 7am I was picked up by a small bus headed to Nha Trang. I thought I would catch up on some sleep but bumpy windy roads ensured that it would be impossible. I had again grabbed the back row on the bus so I could lie completely down across the 6 seats. Most people don’t like sitting in the back of the bus because it’s too bumpy. On this leg of my journey I wish I had followed the crowd. Twice I bounced completely out of my seat and hit my head on the ceiling of the bus!!! As we neared Nha Trang the landscaped changed from mountains to beaches and shore lines. I called Lisanne my CS host when I got off the bus and she had her room mate, Gabe, meet me at the dive shop they worked at show me back to the their house. Lisanne is originally from Holland but had been traveling for about 6 mix months in Vietnam. She came to Nha Trang with Gab, who she met in Hanoi and they both ended up taking jobs at the Scuba Zone in trade from getting their Dive Master Certifications. They both had Vietnamese boyfriend/girlfriends that also worked at the dive shop. Lisanne had only been in Nha Trang for about a month and had hosted couch surfers for almost the whole time as she was the only host in Nha Trang. She gave me a tour of her house and showed me the hand drawn map of Nha Trang that she had made for CS’ers. It had her favorite restaurants, bars, internet cafes and her house on it. She was an amazing host!!! We made plans to have dinner and I left to explore the town. Not finding much more than restaurants and bars, I made my way to the internet café to play on the internet. I stopped and had photos made for postcards and filled them out at home. I was surprised to find that stamps for international post cards were 10,000VND which is about .75 USD which isn’t really expensive for western standards but with the cost of printing the pics made the postcards more expensive than my breakfast!
I joined Lisanne and her boyfriend Sea for noodles and then went to the Scuba Zone to talk to Gabe about diving in the morning. They offered two dives, lunch and boat ride for $40 but after looking through Gabes pictures I decided I would save my money and dive back at Maui for free!! Nha Trang is the best spot for diving in Vietnam but that doesn’t mean that Vietnam is a diving hot spot. There are a lot of fish and small creatures but no sharks, big fish, rays, ect.
I asked Sea if he wanted to join me for some kayaking the next morning and he agreed. We decided not to set a time but just figure it out when we woke up. In the morning (9.20.08) I didn’t see him so went for breakfast and scouted out the kayak rentals. The only place I found was at a beach front upscale resort and charged 6$ an hour!! I explained that I wanted it for the day and he said it was still $6/hr. That is REALLY expensive for Vietnam so I declined. I stopped and bought some paintings for gifts on the way home. They are black water color on white silk. Finding nothing to do in Nha Trang I told Lisanne I would be leaving later that night. She let me know that Travis was on his way and would arrive at 1pm. My bus was at 7pm so Travis and I decided to rent a moto bike and go to the mud baths/hot springs. The price was 80,000 for public baths or 150,000 VND for a “private bath” we were confused that they even asked us if we wanted a private bath so we laughed and told them the public would be just fine. The experience started with a hot spring water shower. Then the attendant led us to our mud bath and opened the pipe to let the “Mud” flow. I expected thick mud, but it ended up being thin water like silt. Either way we spent about 15 soaking it up. The attendant turned our pipe off when the tub was only 1/8 of the way filled so we turned it back on and filled our tub half way. Next you were suppose to sun bath and let the mud dry on your skin, but the overcast weather made that impossible so we headed back to the shower. From the shower we were directed to the High presser hot spring water; two walls with about 50 small holes spraying stinging streams of hot spring water. The next phase was a hot spring water bath. They gave Travis and I a heart shaped tub, it was special. After 15 in the tub and many strange looks, we had been getting the whole time; we headed for the pool which was again full of spring water. It was getting late so we took off back to Lisannes. I packed and we went for dinner, I was cutting it really close so Travis agreed to let me use the moto bike to ride to bus stop. I arrived right after the bus left so they directed me to the second stop. I called Travis and let him know I got the bus and that the moto bike was at the second bus station. As I rode away on the bus I realized I left my board shorts hanging on the moto and I left my Hawaii drivers license at the moto bike shop as a deposit. I called Travis again and asked him to grab them for me. I was sure we’d see each other again on the way.

"No one has died, yet"

(9.26.08 Good Bar. Cat Ba Island, Vietnam)

(9.17.08)We stepped off the bus into light rains and about 65 degree temperature in Dalat! It felt amazing, coming from the 100+ humid temperatures of Southeast Asia. We were dropped off at a hotel and walked inside to check it out. The rooms were only 10$ for two and included breakfast, wifi and hot water. A/C wasn’t needed. Travis was ready to check in, as was I, however on principle you have to at least say no and try to get a better price. ESPECIALLY at the hotels that the bus drops you off at. So I carried my bags downstairs and told her the room was very nice however I was going to look for something cheaper. She lowered her voice, there were other travelers in the lobby, “ok for you” she looked around “8$, don’t tell anyone”. We took it. We dropped our bags on our way to grab dinner and see what Dalat had to offer. On the way out we were stopped by the “Easy Riders” they are a group of Vietnamese motorcycle tour guides. They offered tours ranging from Dalat city tours of major attractions, all the way to 5 day tours to Hanoi. Travis was ready to book a tour but I again, not one to buy something under pressure, wanted to wait and see what else was offered. I declined but told Travis to go ahead if he wanted. We went to dinner and walked to the market. We found to westerners in a bakery, the first we had seen, and ask where the “Westerners” hang out in town. They told us two streets over they had seen some others in a restaurant. On our way to investigate we passed several activity agents and began comparing tours and prices. The tours offered were: city tour, a few mountain biking tours, trekking tours, and a waterfall abseiling tour. I was sold on abseiling and as I negotiated the price down from $25 per person I was told that if there was a bigger group the price would be cheaper. Right then a couple walked in. “Hi, my name is Tim” as I extended my hand “wanna go abseiling tomorrow?” I asked them. “Actually that’s what we are here to check about” he replied. The agent agreed to $20 per person but insisted on 18$ and he finally gave in! We asked our agent where we could find other westerners and he told us at Peace Hotel/Café and pointed us to it. Sure enough there were a few inside drinking coffee and checking emails. It was cute lil café and they had free wifi so I was sold. I asked how much rooms were and she showed me upstairs to show me room. She also started at 10$ but when I told her we only paid 8$ for our room she agreed to the same. The benefit was that their free breakfast was actually breakfast and not a piece of bread like our hotel! We should have checked the menu before checking in. We recruited one more guy, Dan, at Peace to go on our abseiling tour. We were able to get our tour guide to pick us up early in the morning (9.18.08) so we could transfer to Peace. We dropped our bags and off we went on our tour. We had three guides; one spoke really good English (main guide) and taught us a Vietnamese song on the way: “Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh”. When we arrived we had the option of walking down to the first waterfall or taking a “rollercoaster” for an additional fee of 25,000 VND. I opted for the rollercoaster. It was a one or two seater cart on a railing. I was instructed on how to use the hand break as the attendant gave me a shove down the track. It was SICK!!! And a lil scary. (www.youtube.com/timlara ) Half way down there was cart stopped on the track “Stop STOP!!” they yelled. The only problem was I had my camera in my hands making a video and my foot was holding the break wide open! I dropped the camera and gave the break a pull, giving myself whiplash! They were working on the railing but moved the cart and let me continue down. Classic Southeast Asia for ya! At the bottom Travis, Dan and I joined the couple that opted to walk down, with huge grins explaining that they should have definitely taken the coaster! Our guide allowed us to pause for photo opts with the first waterfall and then we began our trek. Our first stop was a 15 foot wall where the second guide (ropes guide) gave us our harnesses, secured the lines and showed us how to tie into them. For the remainder of the tour the main guide simply took pictures and explained what we would be doing along the way. The third guide (grunt guide) didn’t speak English and was responsible for carrying the equipment and doing any other jobs the first two didn’t want to. At our first stop the ropes guide had us tie in and abseil twice; making sure everyone knew what they were doing. They also had us practice falling against the rocks flat, once on our front and once on our back, and getting back to our feet. These made for great photos. We trekked for another 5 minutes and came to an amazing overlook which was also our next abseil. This one was about 60 feet. Another 10 minute trek and we were given life jackets. We had to jump 20 down into the water below and then continue down the river to our next abseil. The water was freezing and the air temp was about 70. They made the grunt guide jump first; we followed, while the rope and main guides took the dry path! Our next abseil was about a 30 foot face and paused for lunch after we completed it. The main guide cut up local fruits and vegetables to go with the large bag of baguettes. Peanut butter or butter were our choice for toppings. After getting our fill we were directed to continue down the river. I noticed the rope and main guides were again taking another (dry) trail and I asked if I could go that way, not wanting to get back in the freezing water after having just finally warmed back up. They agreed but as soon as the others tried jumping on the ban wagon they insisted we get wet. And for good cause, the next part of our trip was the waterfall slide! Here was a small waterfall with smooth rocks that you literally lay down and slide down the waterfall (www.youtube.com/timlara) We all went twice; then they started telling us to go head first. I was out on that plan but Travis and one other went for it. He later said it hurt his back. We continued down the river and came to our last abseil; a gushing 50 foot waterfall. The first 15-20 feet were slippery as ice and the flowing water made it impossible to see your foot placement. As soon as we were ¾ of the way down main guide started yelling to stop. He motioned with his hands to let go and fall backwards into the water. Naturally your mind tells you this isn’t a good idea but I said “F” it and went for it. After a 15 foot free fall into a back slap I wished I had worn my lifejacket! Again we all went a second time. On Travis’ second turn the rope guide suggested that Travis and I go at the same time, no safety line, just both of us abseiling. Normally there is one line you use to abseil and one safety line that the rope guide holds to ensure you don’t fall should you let go of your line. I wondered how safe it was as Travis instantly said yes! (www.youtube.com/timlara) Again we went for the back slap drop. We regrouped and headed down trial until we reached the last part of our tour; a 40 foot jump into the water below. Actually there was the option of a 30 foot jump from a lower ledge, which our grunt guide opted for. I looked to judge the higher jump, once…. Twice… three times. I wasn’t sure I could make it out far enough to clear the lower ledge. “Is it safe” we asked. “yes safe, no one has died yet” the main guide replied. This was his token response to our safety concerns “how deep?” I asked. “deep enough, I don’t know, no one has die yet” we tried talking the grunt guide into going from the top ledge and he refused. No else was willing to go for it, they all said they would take the lower ledge. I took one more look, and went over my foot placements in slow motion three times. Then handed over my camera, took a running start and L_A_U_N_C_H_E_D out! My arms burned on impact and I hit the sandy bottom at the bottom of the river. Deep enough my ass, I thought to myself. My bravery inspired the others, Travis hesitated but after I called him a sissy (3 times) he went for it. Dan stalled even more. The couple decided for the lower ledge. We later found out that the tour guide had previously lost his footing while attempting the higher jump, hit the lower ledge, split his head and almost died. This is why he refused to jump from it! We trekked out of the woods and were picked up by a van and escorted back to our hotels.
We made plans to meet back at the Peace Café for dinner, drinks and share photos. I made an arrangement with the owner of the hotel that she would take 1$ off the price of our room for every person I got to stay at the hotel. I also got free dinner because I got everyone to eat dinner there. I got a call from Minirose one of the CS’ers I contacted in Dalat, she was on her way to meet us at the Café. She had a friend with her and the two girls suggested that we take a walk thru the markets and town. After a quick walk we came across tandem bicycles and decided to go for a ride. I took Minirose and Travis took her friend. They showed us the university they attend and other sites around the city. Returning to the hotel I realized there wasn’t anything else I wanted to do in Dalat, so I told Travis I would be leaving in the morning for Nha Trang. We decided to stay and do a moto bike tour of the city the following day.

"Up to you"

(9.26.08 Bus Station. Hanoi, Vietnam 9am)
Next morning (9.16.08) I woke up, said goodbye to Bill and Janina and left to meet Travis for breakfast before our bus. When the bus arrived I realized I didn’t have my tickets. I searched and re-searched my bags but they weren’t there. I called Bill and he didn’t see them at the house either. Travis said he would try to hold the bus and I caught a moto back to the house to search for my tickets. As we pulled away, so did the bus! Back at the dungeon I found my tickets and grabbed a moto back to the office. I was able to find another bus to Mui Ne but I had to eat the cost of my original ticket. I arrived to Mui Ne about one hour after Travis. Travis had already found a guest house on the beach for 10 USD so I spent the next half hour trying to find it. We rented a moto bike took off North towards the town of Mui Ne to explore. Every once in a while we would pull down an alley to get a glimpse of the shore line and see what we had passed and where were heading. We made it thru town and down the only major road heading north. We eventually came to some sand dunes and decided to check it out. Travis had heard from some other travelers that they went sledding down sand dunes in Mui Ne. He was told that children would come and let you use their sleds for a fee. Soon three children came running up, they pleaded “mister, mister, you go sled. You use my sled” “how much” I replied as we pointed and asked where the BIG hill was. “follow me!!” they enthusiastically answered, realizing they had just made sale. “How much?” I inquired again. “up to you” in an innocent, playful voice they returned. “Really? It’s up to me? Soooo 500 VND (3 cents USD) per slide?” I jokingly asked to test the water. Travis had already told me that his friends paid about 2000 VND per slide. “ok, up to you” they again replied in the most childlike, innocent, playful voice. They had me convinced; I really thought they didn’t care about money. For the first time I felt as if they were simply there to play and if they could make a little bit of money and meet some tourist that was a bonus. But I asked again just to be sure “ok 500 Dong” again the same answer “Ok, up to you. you sled. you use MY sled, ok mister?” they continued to badger as we walked along and I continued to try to make small talk; “what’s your name?”, “how old are you”…they would answer “Doa” and then quickly revert back to “ok if you go you go with me first, OK?” I would simply ask another question. “and what’s your name?” “Kim... you use my sled second, ok mister” “Kim?” I inquired. “Tim” as I pointed to myself. Kim smiled big but Doa wasn’t impressed and he again cut me off “mister you use my sled first, ok?” “No, No, No I go with Kim first” I teased him. “Ok, ok, you go with me second??” as he attempted to grab and carry my bag for me. I told him I would but I could handle my bag. Doa appeared to be around 7 years old would have been struggling to carry my bag which now had two helmets and sets of slippahs strapped to the outside. Also by this time in my travels I had learned nothing is for free. I looked across the dune to Travis who was about 50 yards away and being trailed by three other kids, I now had 5 kids myself. Every time I took a picture Kim would reach for my camera “I take photo, I take photo”. “no its ok, thank you” replied. “I take photo, of you” came back and it worked. I did want some photos of me. I handed her the camera, and she began to shoot, she even set the shots up for. “you stand over here” she pointed. One of the small children was now dragging my bag since I set it down to have my photo taken. I explained to Kim that I would jump and I wanted her take a picture. She spoke pretty good English and understood what I was going for. On just her third attempt she nailed the “jump shot”. Now I convinced them to jump. All five of the lined up “Ok, 1…2….3… jump” I counted down. We tried several times but they were all out of sync. I pulled some of the small ones out of shot and tried again. Again it didn’t turn out. I finally got down to two kids and was successful at getting a “jump shot” of them. The small child again grabbed by bag as we walked away and I took from him. Kim instantly grabbed it from me. She was about 12 and the largest of the kids so I decided to let her take it. I was already gonna have to pay her for taking pictures and using her sled so I figured I would let her carry my bag as well. When as we approached the “Big One” Travis came flying down. I was sold, I had to try it. I sprinted for the top and the kids gave chase. At the top the set the sled down and prepared it for me. I yelled to Kim at the bottom to make a video for me. “Hey Travis, make sure its on video for me” Kim cut me off as she pulled away from Travis “I got it!!!” I was directed to sit down and shown and how to hold the sled. Then they all began to push me. Five kids screamed and cheered as they got me up to speed and then let me go. It was a short but fast run and it was actually pretty cool. Doa came running down the hill “ok you go with me again” “no I go with Kim this time” I replied. Travis took the camera and we headed to the top for another run. This time was far less exciting than the first. Only two kids pushed to get me going and the speed just wasn’t there. I decided I needed Doa’s expertise if I were gonna have a good run and solicited him to take me up again. Travis had gone twice and was finished so I decided I was done too. When we let them know we were done they told us to pay them. “no we’ll pay when we get back done to the road” Travis assured them “NO!!!! you pay now!! There are many kids down there, if you pay there they will want money too” they all replied. It made sense so we decided we would pay up. By this time our crowd had grown to about 10 children however I had only used the services of Kim and Doa and Travis had used two kids as well. I pulled out 2000 dong and they all screamed and whined “noooooooo, not enough! We carried you bag… we took pictures… you go three times…noooooo” I reminded them they agreed to 500 Dong. Again they all whined, screamed and cried. “not enough, not enough, 20,000! That one, that one” as they pointed into my wallet and tried to snatch money! One girl, about 15 years old, had just arrived and was brokering the deal for the kids. I agreed to pay 20,000 for Kim and Doa to split and as I pulled it out of my wallet she snatched it and ran away. Kim’s eyes instantly teared up and bloodshot red. “WHY YOU PAY HER!! SHE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU!!!! YOU PAY ME!!!” she demanded. She was literally crying! The scene was getting bad and Travis told me to just start walking to the road. “this is all part of their act” he assured me. I could simply ignore Kim and doa’s cries so I tried to explain that the money was for them, that she stole it, I hadn’t paid her. Kim wasn’t hearing it, she angrily snapped back “YOU PAID HER, WHY!?!??! I carried your bag, I took pics, you used my sled” she whined. I became convinced it was all for show and got more firm. “You need to talk to her, don’t bother me about your money, she has it, go talk to her” They were really intense and forceful. I decided I had to get this on film. I told Travis I was gonna make a video and as soon as I pointed the camera there was complete silence. They stopped whining and covered their faces with their sleds. They didn’t want me to record THIS side of them. Earlier it was all fun and games and they lined up have their pictures taken, but now it was another story. My camera had just become my greatest asset. Every time one would approach I would just say “video” and point the camera. It was like garlic to a vampire, they recoiled back! Travis dubbed it the “Show me the money” video. (see www.youtube.com/timlara ) They retreated and we rode our motorbike back to the beachy resort strip of Mui Ne. Next afternoon (9.17.08) we caught a bus for Dalat!