Привет From Nha Trang

I was expecting the Vietnamese beach resort of Nha Trang to be touristy, what I wasn’t expecting was for it to be full of holiday-making, upper class Russians. The city is so busy with Russians, flying in directly from Moscow, that there are restaurants and tour agencies catering solely to Russians; when we entered one to extend our visas we were met with a blank, frosty glare from the Russian rep at the desk who spoke neither English nor Vietnamese. In spite of their grumpy, sour expressions, Ric and I shared some private giggles at the Russian tourists in their speedos and their none-too flattering thongs on the beach, posing provocatively in the sea for amateur photo shoots. Fortunately, there was enough room on Nha Trang’s 6km beach for us non-bethonged beach goers to top up our tans and relax for several days of sun, sand and sea.

Ric went for his first fun dive in Nha Trang after completing his PADI certificate in Thailand at the start of the trip. He said it was great and the visibility was much better here, although after seeing the blisters he got from his flippers I’m not sure it was worth it!

As if chilling on the beach all day wasn’t relaxing enough, Ric and I booked ourselves onto a day at a mud spa. The Thap Ba Hot Springs well exceeded my expectations; it was wonderful. We started with a mud bath shared with two Russian ladies. To elaborate on how unfriendly these guys were, we shared a bath with these women and they didn't so much as make eye contact, let along respond to our friendly greeting. Two days later when we bumped into them in a shop they maintained that we were invisible and ignored our acknowledgements. Rude! After that we rinsed off the surprisingly fragrant mud in a hot water, massaging shower, and hopped into our own, private bath of thermal spring water where we stewed happily until we were light-headed from the heat and asked move on by the attendant. We spent the rest of the day lounging around the numerous, different temperature pools and jacuzzis and then returned to our hotel half-comatose from the extreme relaxation. 

Thermal baths at Thap Ba Hot Springs.

We did manage to get in some sight-seeing, visiting the Cham Towers, built in 817. The towers are basically a temple built on a small hillside over looking the fishing village at the end of Nha Trang's main beach. The temple was nice and the views from the top were lovely. Afterwards we walked down past the fishing village where men fished using an 'coracle', which looks very much like a giant washing up bowl to me. 

Cham Towers on Cu Lao Hill, Nha Trang.

'The Coracle'

Wooden fishing boats fly the Vietnamese flag whist Nha Trang rises up in the background.

The "longest cable car in the world", which we didn't go on because it cost $25!

We also visited Long Son Pagoda, a pleasant temple overflowing with visitors (it was a bank holiday weekend), where we saw two Buddha statues built on a hillside. The statues and the temple are not particularly special but we enjoyed strolling through the city to get there, and had a leisurely coffee next to the Buddha at the top of the hill.

Reclining Buddha half way up the hill behind Long Son Pagoda.

On our modest budget Ric and I don't have many nights out drinking, we save our pennies and try to see and do more in the daytime. We did, however, plan for a good session on the cocktails in Nha Trang, where the beach parties are said to be legendary. As luck would have it (our bad luck, that is), the night we decided to get jolly pissed was the night of the biggest storm during our entire one week stay. After a couple of roof top cocktails the heavens opened and we emerged from the hotel two hours later to find the streets flooded, the power cut, and most of the bars and restaurants had shut their doors early. Needless to say we were in bed before midnight.

First cocktails on the roof...

Two hours later.

How To Get To...
Thap Ba Hot Springs: We booked through our hotel, who offered us a 5% discount. The spa picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel for $3/£1.80 each return and the cost of the mud bath treatment was $6/£3.60 each for the day. We went for the [cheap] communal mud bath option and only had to share our tub with a couple of moody Russians, great value.

Cham Towers: Take bus number 4 from the corner of Hung Vuong in the tourist area and get off at the first stop after you see the towers. We walked back along the beach, it took approximately 45 minutes.

We Stayed At...
Thien Ma (3 nights): South of the main tourist hub, right on the beach. Room was a bit drab and dated but the staff were super. $10/£6 per night with AC, fridge, TV.
Dung Trinh (3 nights): Smack bang in the middle of the tourist hub, one block back from the beach. Room was great, staff not so much. $13/£7.80 per night with AC, fridge, TV and balcony.

Jeongdongjin

With our departure from Korea fast approaching, Ric and I spent two consecutive weekends in the north-east province of Gangwon-do, one part of the country that we'd barely explored.

On the first weekend in the region we spent a relaxing two days on Jeongdongjin beach with our favourite Cheonan person, Sydney!

We found the place rather by accident whilst browsing Google images one day and decided it looked cool with the iconic ship-on-a-cliff resort hotel, beach-front train station and North Korean submarine. It didn't disappoint.

Happy threesome.

Jeongdongjin beach and the Sun Cruise hotel behind us.

We spent most of the weekend drinking beer, playing cards, reading books and eating junk food on the beach. We trekked up to the Sun Cruise Resort Hotel (the ship-on-a-cliff) and watched a stunning sunset over the mountains. The hotel is really beautiful, albeit in need of a lick of paint. It has a swimming pool, and huge gardens full of sculptures and the view from up there really is worth the 5,000won you have to pay just to enter the grounds!!!

Sun Cruise

Sunset

Sunset

We ever managed to get up at 5am to watch the sunrise over the East Sea. Too bad it was overcast...

Sunrise, not worth getting out of bed for at 5am.

Jeongdongjin is also home to one of Korea's many "Unification Parks", set up to teach about North and South relations and to promote the peaceful reunification. The park has a North Korean submarine that was recovered in 1996 when it crashed onto the rocks off the Jeongdongjin coast. Inside the sub were "26 armed guerrillas" that abandoned their sinking submarine and entered South Korea, where they were at large for several weeks before they were eventually captured/killed by South Korean forces. In addition there's a wooden boat, that brought North Korean defectors to the South in search of asylum and smart phones, and a naval ship, all of which you can nosy around in.

Unification Park

Not sure why a naval ship has this...

View from our hotel, overlooking the train station on the beach.

Ric and Sydney took a speed boat ride along the coast.
I didn't think it was 'relaxing' enough for my schedule.

And my favourite photo of all...

We made friends with this couple when we decided to photo bomb their wedding snaps.

Photos courtesy of Sydney and her smart phone, as we broke our camera :(

How to get to...
Jeongdongjin: we took a direct bus from Cheonan to Gangneung (3hrs30min) and then a local city bus (#106) straight to the beach. The bus took about 30 minutes but you can get the train from Gangneung station to Jeongdongjin station and it only takes 15 mins.

We stayed at...
A motel. There are plenty of motels, pensions and min baks to chose from along the beach, most motels cost around 40,000~60,000 won. Ours was the Full House Motel, and it was 60,000 for a room with a sea view.

The Oeyeondo Island Adventure

Sometimes thing just work out really well for us...

Thursday night; it had been raining constantly for 7 days (ever since the Taean soaking) and we were facing a weekend indoors. Checking the weather however, a two-day window of sunshine was forecast for Saturday and Sunday; so, at 10 o'clock at night, we hastily packed a backpack ready to set off on an adventure straight after work on Friday.

Motel essentials

Friday night; taxi straight to the train station after work, Lotteria burgers bought and we jumped on the first train to Boryeong with barely a minute to spare. Arriving at Boryeong at 10.30pm we were less than enthusiastic about the prospect of wandering the streets in the rain trying to find a cheap and conveniently located hotel, when, in the station, we were approached by a Korean man offering to take us to his hotel. Now in South America this is completely normal; at every bus, train or plane you get off you're met by a dozen or so people waving leaflets at you and offering to take you to their hostel. In Korea however, this just doesn't happen. Naturally we were sceptical, and when he led us to the back of a mini van and his bandana-wearing accomplice joined us I decided it was either going to work out very very well or very very badly.
Fortunately for us, it work out very very well. He took us to a motel by Daecheon beach, saving us the 10,000won taxi ride there. The room was basic but did come with half-used bottles of massage oil, lotion and a toilet roll next to the bed - classy. Having saved ourselves heaps of time looking for a hotel, we took a romantic stroll on the beach, and just as we sat down on a rock to watch the ocean, a firework display began just 50 meters down the beach. Perfect.

The stormy waters of our outward boat trip

At the ungodly hour of 6.30am we were up and on our way to the ferry terminal to catch the 8am ferry to Oeyeondo island. Oeyeondo is one the 3,000 islands surrounding the Korean peninsula and is the furthest island away from the mainland.

Spoiling the view....

Although the rain had ceased the sea was still in storm mode and I lasted all of 25 minutes before I was throwing up at the back of the boat. I wasn't alone though, half of the passengers were there with me and even Ric looked a little green! We passed countless islands, each one as beautiful as the last with golden beaches, unspoilt greenery and rocky cliffs. We stopped at two islands before finally reaching Oeyeondo two and half hours after setting off.

Oeyeondo fishing village, volcano in the background

Now I'm not going to lie, the small fishing town in the centre is a hideous contrast to the beauty of the island. There's a slight waste disposal problem: rubbish lines the streets and bright blue septic tanks provide an eyesore on the outskirts of town as well as a stomach-turning smell. My first impression of Oeyeondo was far from enchanted.

Basic?!

Our bed for the night was in a minbak, a traditional Korean guest house. I was expecting basic but when an old lady led us to our room I was still a little surprised - 4 white walls and little else, the shower was a bucket with a hose pipe.

Oeyeondo island is amazing though. To the left is an overgrown dormant volcano and to the right a towering mountain. It's a trekker's paradise. Some parts of the island have had wooden paths installed - part of Korea's initiative to turn everything into a "national monument", other parts have sort-of rocky paths and elsewhere, the volcano for instance, there is no path at all.

We did a fairly easy 4 hour trek, mainly sticking to the paths as we were both wearing shorts and didn't fancy having our legs ripped to pieces by nettles and tree roots. We didn't miss out on any wildlife though: the insects on Oeyeondo are HUGE. Every couple of yards we walked I'd jump out of my skin as a kitten-sized grasshopper jumped across our path, or we'd have to stop dead in our tracks to avoid a head on collision with a tarantula casually building its web across the walkway. We saw snakes, beetles, butterflies - all gigantic! We even got a video of a tarantula making it's web. It was incredible to watch.

One of the more civilised paths

The weather was perfect, warm but still cloudy so the sun didn't fry us (although I still managed to get burnt shoulders). After our trek we went down to one of the rocky coves and swam in the crystal clear sea; there was no one there but us - it really was like having our own little island.

The thing about going to the furthest Korean island from the mainland is that it doesn't get too many tourists, lest still westerners. In a town with a population of 300 people I'd say we met half of them in the evening when we went looking for somewhere to eat dinner. Everybody wanted to talk to us, regardless of the fact that we didn't understand what they were saying. We gathered, from mimes, my broken Korean and their broken English, that the previous week's storm had had a devastating effect on the island. As a fishing village, if the fishermen can't go out to fish, the whole island is affected. As a result, many of the town's restaurants were closed and finding dinner was no easy feat.

Grasshopper mating season, so passionate...

Eventually, with half of the town tasked with finding food for the westerners, we had a tasty meal in a family home turned restaurant. I even made a courageous effort to eat the fish they brought us.

Away from the neon lights, traffic and drunk teenagers of Cheonan, sleeping in our room/cell with nothing but the sound of crickets (/GIANT grasshoppers) was wonderfully soothing, even if we were sleeping on a mat on the floor.

Praying Mantis

The next morning we were rushed out of the room at 8am by two old ladies speed-chattering away to us in Korean. They wouldn't even let us brush our teeth before we left! We'll never know why the wanted shut of us so promptly but it was by no means in malice, maybe they wanted to make sure we didn't miss our ferry... (which wasn't until 10!)

The sea was forgivingly calmer on the trip back to Boryeong and the boat ride was almost pleasant. Back by midday, we spent the rest of the afternoon on Daecheon beach. Without the thousands of mud-covered morons the beach was lovely, the sea warm and the sun was out in full force.

Another tarantula boldly blocking our path

Great weekend.

Web making in progress 

Beasty

Oeyeondo, beautiful

 

We walked past the headland and then some

Oeyeondo beaches

Oeyeondo

Deserted rocky beach (burnt shoulders, back sweat...)

The fish that I courageously ate

The fishing port of Oeyeondo at sunset

Ric on the pier

The ferry back to Boryeong - calmer seas

Daecheon beach