View on the way to Elephant Springs, Vietnam
The 6th of November was the end of our time in Hué and the start of our ped-trek towards the Hai Van Pass! I had been looking forward to this day for ages; I was so pumped and ready to go. However, some in the group were not quite feeling themselves. This was an occasional downside to travelling in a group with strong characters, even when you think it won't impact on your mood, it inevitably does; you become close and you care for each other. This aside, it was such a great day of exploring, travelling independently, laughing, swimming, nearly dying, losing each other to then find each other again (somehow) and finally getting to our destination: Hoi An.
One part of the day that I could highlight was Elephant Springs. The solo-traveller, who I met in Malaysia, recommended I go there when doing the Pass. Luckily, it was a quiet day and not many tourists were about; my idea of perfection! We drove around 53 kilometres out of Hué towards winding roads that led us to idyllic areas of natural springs. The weather was kind and the sun warmed our skin as we jetted towards our first stop. When we arrived, we saw little wooden platforms and a giant elephant statue majestically overlooking everything and everyone. Shame it couldn't talk and tell me and one of the trio where to avoid swimming...
Elephant Springs, Vietnam
Referring back to the 'nearly dying' part, we needed to pee and so decided to go into an area of water we thought to be safe; we were unequivocally wrong. The current was very strong, and even though we were nervously giggling it could have been incredibly dangerous had one of the other trio not pulled us away from the rocks and out of the water... Only hindsight has made us realise how oblivious we were and quite frankly: stupid. Yet, here I am to tell the tale and I still laugh about it now!
Lesson number ten: even when you desperately need to pee, don't be an idiot and do it in a life-threatening area of natural springs leading to a waterfall!
We stopped for lunch at a seafood restaurant that overlooked a large body of water. Silhouettes of upright wooden stakes and the occasional hut was our view; with the addition of an anchor beer. After refuelling on some average seafood (for the price;) we set off to the beginning of the pass. It was starting to get a little colder as we began our ascent into the mountains. The breeze was welcomed, due to the heat, but we did gradually put more clothes on as we continued, simultaneously stopping to get pictures and take a moment to revel at the view.
View from the Seafood Restaurant - Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
We arrived in Hoi An at around 6pm. Along the way, I had wanted to escape driving through the incredibly busy Da Nang, which led to me and my ped-partner, and the other pair, to accidentally part ways for around 30 minutes. We luckily bumped into each other just after the 1,850 meter long bridge that led us out of Da Nang and on route to Hoi An. I'll always remember the sunset colours on the water as we drove along and out of the big city; all lethargic but knew we were close...
That evening we were all very exhausted and glad to be in a hotel with our own space and bathroom. We had a few beers from the mini-fridge, freshened up and got ourselves out as quick as possible; otherwise we would have collapsed and gone straight to sleep. Our plan was to get some food, catch up with a couple that the trio met in Laos, and explore the small, yet colourful, city of Hoi An. However, when we met the couple we were also greeted by a very interesting man from Oslo, Norway. This was all we managed to find out about him, through his alcohol-induced slur, oh, that and he went by the name of G; I never did find out his real name...
That night got a little crazy... After food we went to a bar called Mr. Bean, had some very strong cocktails which then led to free bottles of vodka! I looked around and realised we had gone from three, to six, to all of a sudden more than ten people? As you can imagine it stemmed into quite the evening… Myself and one of the trio were one of the last to leave the couple’s after-party (they had a pool, which was actually freezing, but still great fun,) eventually stumbling home in the early hours of the morning.
The following day we all woke up feeling extremely rough, reminding me of my old uni days; all feeling absolutely terrible together. With food on the brain, we used what little energy we had to trudge into town and feed our hangovers with Western food.
The rest of the day was a bit of a right-off until I realised I was heading back to Phnom Penh a day earlier than I had originally thought. This made alarm bells go off in my head that all I had done all day was feel sorry for myself and wasted so much valuable time. So, I got up and told everyone I was going to hire a bicycle, have a little ride around the city and if people wanted to join, they could! It was so beautiful with it's lanterns, lights and colours... It was quite difficult to cycle in the market area, as it was extremely busy with tourists; this was the only negative aspect of Hoi An that I could highlight. That evening, after chasing the sunset along the water, we had fairly cheap food and got back to the hotel early enough to have a good night's rest.
Fishermen on the Thu Bồn River, Vietnam
The next day we took a trek on the peds to a place called Marble Mountains. It wasn't necessarily a highlight for me as it seemed quite same-same; another cave, another temple and lots of stairs. I was also still extremely exhausted from drinking and not having quite enough sleep, so I actually felt weak and a little grouchy. However, I powered on through and ended up really enjoying my day.
We took the scenic route home, which allowed us to absorb the surrounding views, smells and moment. This tends to happen when i'm nearing the end of being somewhere and I become very present and try to savour everything. I love those times, I feel completely alive and so aware of where I am, what I'm doing and how lucky I am to be alive.
Lesson number eleven: remember to stop and take a pause, remember you're alive and appreciate what is around you; not through a lens, not after it’s happened, but in that exact moment.
More images from Marble Mountains...
Next week: I return back to Cambodia for a chance to explore the country I called home for 7 months...