Hot Christmas + Vietnam is a building site.

Christmas was spent on holiday with mum, dad, sister and of course Chi and Louisa here in Vietnam. To start, we visited Hoi An via Da Nang airport, Chi and I returning for the first time since our honeymoon back in November 2006, where I posted the pictures here (some of my favourites from Vietnam). The old town, as you'd expect, hasn't changed much.





Even the restaurants seemed to be the same bar an additional posh wine bar. What really struck me was the development on the coast road from Da Nang heading south. From leaving Da Nang city until Marble Mountain there are numerous big name resort developments under way. Kilometre after Kilometre of fenced off beach front, earth movers and concrete foundations strutting out of the ground splaying steel cable everywhere give a sense of awe at the sheer scale of what is going on down there. The weather by the way, was miserable - rained constantly.

Moving south to Nha Trang, again a first visit there for what must be two years, not a lot changed really. A nice new terminal at the Cam Ranh airport making baggage collection a non-stressful experience. The only other thing of mention would be, again, the development along Tran Phu. The new Sheraton building, I have to say, looks awesome. I love the design. It stands with unobstructed views, and the 360 degree shaped thing on the top has to be bar...what a view that place will have.





It's not such good news for the Yasaka, which has a huge shopping/office center being built right next to it which has blatantly obstructed the view from some of it's rooms at the back...!



The old concrete shell/pillar has finally been replaced (it was an unfinished something standing on the edge of the public square on the beach front) - replaced with a..flower or a mosque - I'm not sure which.



One thing about Nha Trang never changes...walks along a beautiful beach!



Heading south again now, a 3.5 hour car journey to Mui Ne. The kite-surfing season is really getting going now but the winds remain calm until mid-morning. 7.00 am on the beach with sun already high, no wind and a gorgeous ocean convinced me that Mui Ne really is the place to be. Sun, sand, swimming and plenty of restaurants to choose from.







An interesting sidenote, possibly, I picked up a very old copy of Huck Finn from a second hand book store. The book has a stamp entitled 'Vietnamese American ****** (can't read), 55 Mac Dinh Chi, Saigon. BOOK SHOP For Students, Teachers, Members'. It has a name written in biro in the top, Pham Van But, and a date, 08-12-70. Obviously this book shop was there during the war years and stocked English language literature.

A fantastic trip overall, and Vietnam just keeps developing.

Nha Trang

A few pics from Nha Trang, that's all....it's a baby Saigon.

The river

Tran Phu from the ground

and from the air

These shacks still survive at the northern end of Tran Phu St. They overlook the new coastal bridge and the bay back towards the city, what a juicy piece of land.

The city

The countryside

And finally, something we can't deny, 'soaking in mineral mud is very interesting', as the sign states.

Disney, no, Vin-Pearl Land

Ever felt like you were in a James Bond movie? From the beginning to the end, visiting Vin-Pearl Land is, well, odd. Prehaps on the Florida coast, in amongst other spectacularly well oiled tourist attractions, VPL would fit in. Out here, in the midst of 'south central' Vietnam, it's surreal. VPL declares its presence to the entire bay with a Hollywood style message prominently displayed in the hills. These hills belong to an island, which has been hired on a 50 year lease from the Vietnamese government. One of the owners is a Vietnamese national who made his fortune in the Ukraine with an instant noodle factory that supplies Eastern Europe and Russia. Who doesn't like a steaming pot of spicy noodles on a winter evening in Moscow heh?

Following the coastal road out of Nha Trang, all of a sudden the town fades away eventually disappearing. It then turns into a kind of industrial estate where development, once again, is the only thing on the agenda. Vast areas are already cleared, prehaps for a VPL HQ, but one imagines that they already have one deep inside a 'hollowed out volcano' (AP) somewhere in the South Pacific. As the earth moving equipement noisly shifted gears on the land above me, I felt like I shouldn't be in sight and needed to hide behind a conveniently placed advertising board. Had I come across something I wasn't meant to be seeing?

It seemed that half the province is ready for whatever is planned for this area.

As I found the entrance to VPL Mainland Water Docking Station, or whatever they call it, things got more interesting. Currently in construction is the world's longest cable car over water. In this picture, you can see the navy hanging around the pylons erected on concrete platforms -- that kind of protection doesn't come cheap.

Here, the route of the cable car is clear, and you may be able to make out the Hollywood sign in the hills on 'Bamboo Island'.

Let's play 'spot the safety harness'.

Bizarrely, there was no place to park my bike at the ferry terminal, and I had to leave the Yamaha in the staff parking area. I felt bad for being so poor, and not arriving in a shiny gray beamer. I made sure that the poisned dart in my new wrist watch (a gift from Q) was on 'kill', and stepped into the lobby. The place was frequented by slavic looking gentlemen in white sailors hats. Obviously, with Russia having so much coastline they have a lot of sailors......

Since the cable cars weren't ready, we had to take the boat. Journey time, about two minutes, running 24 hours a day every 30 minutes. On the 'other side', the Disney experience truly began. Passengers were sheperded into large golf carts, which took us up a winding road to the other side of the island. Unfortunately, the visitors badge they gave me meant I couldn't pretend to be staying there. The hotel itself is of course damn good. It has over 200 rooms and also this, a kilometre of private beach with perfect surf. When we say private, we don't mean someone from the hotel has hammered a crude wooden sign into the sand, we mean that nobody else is on the island except the hotel guests and its visitors (by the way, it's $20 to visit...but you do get a free hat & pen, and a welcome drink).

If you could find a good reason to leave the island, please let me know. They have a quality Spa:

They have a 5700, thats right, 5700 square meter swimming pool.

The golf course is nearly finished by the way. The driving range already is. You can also go diving, parascending, hire a jet ski, play water polo, do some aerobics, join the stretch class or the beach volleyball game, or just chill out at one of the bars...

and enjoy the view....

And if you're bored of that, why try one of the nightly musical performances over at the enterainment complex -- the huge purpose built theatre recently hosted Miss Vietnam 2006.