Nursing a sore head, I spent the next morning by the pool in my hotel before getting on my first ever night bus. A bizarre concept, but necessary in Vietnam as it is longer than the state of California and covers almost 1000miles of coastline. The night bus reminded me a lot like the one taken in Harry Potter, and the drivers are just as bad. With their hand firmly pressed on the horn, they weave in and out of the traffic at great speed determined to keep us awake. It is, however, a good chance to meet people, as you can all whinge about the cramped beds and crappy driver. Eventually drifiting off I awoke as we entered the city of Nha Trang.
It is a beach resort considered to have one of the best strips of coastline in the whole of Vietnam. It is overpriced and a lot of the natural beauty has been concealed by the towering guest houses and resort complexes. However, like everywhere I have visited, if you delve deeper, there is a great deal to find.
All the people I met in Hoi An recommended I stay in the Backpackers House so I headed down the road at 7am until I found it, set back from the main strip of bars. Paying $7 for my dorm room, I checked in and stored my belongings before heading out again.
Set on the beach just a short walk from my guesthouse is the Louisiane brewery. It is a very fancy bar/restaurant with a pool and loungers. I hired one for the day, chilled by the pool and read my book. Finally having time to relax, my mind started to reflect on the last few weeks. I had managed to achieve so much. Although tiring, it was very rewarding and finally I could take the weight of my feet. Well, so I thought. It suddenly dawned on me that I only had 12 days left to do the rest of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand...Crap! A rethink to my plans was required. Digging through my bag to find my Lonely Plan, I started to realise that I needed to get a move on if I wanted to see everything I had planned on seeing. After scribbling down a brief itinerary, I hired a bike and headed out of town to visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers and Pagoda.
The towers were built in the Champa era, when Cambodia controlled southern Vietnam. The towers are Hindu temples perched on top of a hill, providing great views of the fishing villages and Cai river below. The view is certainly worth the small entrance fee and the air-con museum is a bonus. The towers themselves are quite demur but charming. They each represent a different deity although the predominant theme is that of fertility. Lingas, a phallic symbol for the worship of Shiva, are visible both inside and out of the towers. At one point there was a Linga made of precious metal, housed in the tallest tower of 28m, but apparently pirates ran off with it. Each tower is intricately carved on the exterior with a plain vaulted interior, smelling heavily of incense.
I spent a good hour wondering around the sight but the intense heat was getting a bit much. I decided to cycle back into town to visit the Pagoda, but got horrendously lost. Unfortunately my internal compass and spatial awareness skills have somewhat deteriorated since traveling. I somehow ended in a village, far away from Nha Trang and had to back track for about half an hour until I finally got my bearings. The blazing heat combined with the lack of water put a real strain on my general functioning and it proved to be a real struggle trying to navigate my way back. Somehow I managed to make it, purchased a massive bottle of water and consumed it within a matter of seconds. Finally feeling human, I somehow decided to put my body through more pain by cycling uphill towards the Pagoda.
The Long Son Pagoda is a Buddhist temple built in the 19th century. It is of fairly modest design, with the entrance and roofs adorned with mosaic dragons constructed of glass and ceramic tile. However, if you look skywards, you are taken aback by the monstrous white Buddha, sitting atop of a mountain. One is compelled to climb the steps to take a look but one should be forewarned, it is bloody steep! Again, admist the midday heat, I endured the pain I was self-inflicting on my burnt and tired body to reach the summit. And boy was it worth it. Half way up I was greeted by a reclining Buddha hidden from the view below due to a modest garden bed and only accessible through a little metal gate set away from the main path. It expanded some 25 feet and was beautifully restored and maintained (during the Vietnam war, a lot of the Pagoda and Buddhas had incurred severe structural damage). Ascending a dozen or so more steps, I was greeted by a monk sitting beneath a rather large gong, which was struck every few minutes. I am not quite sure of the symbolism, but the noise that reverberated was peacefully dispersed and left me feeling rather reflective. Finally reaching the top, the gleaming white Buddha towered down from above. A further 30+ steps had to be climbed to see it close up but the heat was too much for me by this point and I admitted defeat. The view from where I stood was sufficient enough. The statue is 24m high and represents Gautama himself. Sat atop of a lotus flower and surrounded by Arhats (a buddhist practitioner who has realized a certain stage of attainment), the deity is the true founder of Buddhism.
Finally returning to my hostel, 5 hours after I had left, I decided to book myself on another overnight bus to Ho Chi Minh. I really wanted to stay but knew I would only get drunk and awake with a hangover yet again. Unfortunately I discovered that all the people I had met in Hoi An were staying in the same room as me. I also met two really nice Aussies who took me out for a drink before I caught the night bus. Working on such a tight time frame is not advisable!
No comments:
Post a Comment