Today was our beach day and, more depressingly, the official halfway point of our trip. It's hard to imagine we've already spent a week here. I know it's cliche, but it seems like forever.
We got up nice and early (7am) to head to the beach. The bus ride was a couple hours, but there was a lot to see outside. We drove through more rural area to get to the coast, and it was really cool to see a side of the country that we hadn't had a chance to see in the city. I had woken up late and hadn't had a chance to eat breakfast, so I was pretty hungry, and it seemed like every building we passed had a stand out front selling steamed buns. We must have passed +30 stands selling these buns, and I couldn't stop at a single one. It was terrible.
Once we got to the coast, we didn't go to the beach right away. On the biggest hill over the town we were visiting, there's a big statue of Jesus, similar to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio but a whole lot smaller. The bus dropped us off at the base of this hill, and we got to hike up. We've been walking around all week, but after the long bus ride (where many of us napped), I don't think any of us were fully prepared for the stairs. There must have been at least a couple hundred stairs up to the top, all crowded with other tourists (mostly Vietnamese) stopping at the various statues and monuments that lined the way to the top. I passed a few food stands and rest stops on the way, but I was determined to get to the top and so didn't get a chance to stop for food. I managed to be the first to make it up, and the climb was definitely worth it. The view from the top was great, but the real prize was the statue. It wasn't very big, but you could go inside and climb up to the arms of Jesus. The wait took forever, but finally we made it to the viewpoint on Jesus's arms. That view was infinitely better than the view from the hill. You could see almost 360 degrees around the hill, to the town below and the water farther out. The sea air was blowing in, and the view was breathtaking. I think I could have stayed there for hours if the rest of the line hadn't been pushing for a turn.
We hung out on top of the hill for a while. A big group of Vietnamese students and staff had come with us, and the adults insisted that we take a bunch of pictures. Everywhere they go, we always have to take pictures. I'm used to it, since my parents both do the exact same thing, but I think its starting to wear down some people's patience. I understand their logic, though; it'll be nice to have the record of everywhere we go.
On the way down from the hill, I remembered that we had passed a banh mi stand on the way up. Banh mi are Vietnamese sandwiches made with French baguettes and Vietnamese filling, and its one of the dishes that I was most excited about having in Vietnam but that I hadn't had a chance to try yet. At this point, it was hours after the breakfast that I had skipped, and I was absolutely starving. I ran on ahead of the group and bought one before we got back on the bus. It was amazing. Probably one of the best things I've eaten so far, and that's really saying something.
The beach we went to was behind a hotel that I guess we had paid to let us visit for the day. They had a pool and a whole bunch of beach chairs that we could put our stuff on. It was a hot day and the ocean water was pretty warm, but it still felt good after our morning hike. The water was kind of dirty, with some trash floating around, but we still had a good time messing around. I was only out for around an hour and I still managed to get sunburnt.
The hotel provided lunch for us, and it was one of the best we've had yet. They had a whole bunch of good seafood. Fresh cockles, fried squid rings, fried chicken wings, teriyaki fish, giant prawn, and seafood hot pot. I also had some sort of anise soda that I thought would be weird but that actually tasted pretty good.
After lunch, we all headed back to the beach. We hung out on the chairs under the umbrellas for a while. I continued my streak of sleeping on every beach I ever go to and proceeded to take an hour-long nap. Pretty soon after I woke up, we had to leave. I collected some sand on the beach before we left, though.
On our way home, we made a pit stop at this roadside market. I think we stopped mainly so people could go to the bathroom, but I resolved to explore the market and, once I realized there were food stands, try all the food. First, a stand with a lady churning out dozens of tiny pancakes. They tasted just like pancakes at home, but they were still good. Next, a guy with a big display container of the same steamed buns I had craved all morning. They were filled with some type of savory meat, which went really well with the slightly-sweet bun and tasted amazing. After that, I tried some type of sweet-tasting milk drink, another version of a banh mi (this one with different filling from my first), and rice paper and cashew candies. It was all really good, and super cheap. While I ate, I wandered around the market and looked at all the other stands selling fruits and vegetables, meats and sausages, and other raw ingredients. A few people even tried to sell me some when they saw my interest. Back on the bus, everyone passed around a whole bunch of different candies and treats they had bought at the market. It was definitely a worthwhile stop.
Back at the hotel, a bunch of people decided that they were craving American food and went off looking for some fancy burger place they found online. The few of us who stayed back and who had enough energy to go out went looking for more Vietnamese food. We walked a mile or two down the street from our hotel. The direction we walked took us out of the touristy area (which our hotel borders) and put us firmly into the local part of the city. We stopped seeing tourists, started seeing more locals, and the whole area took on a more foreign and exotic feel. Luckily, one of our Vietnamese friends was with us, and she took us to one of the many small restaurants that specialize in one dish. This one made a noodle soup dish called bun bo Hue. It was similar to pho, but with different noodles and broth. It was absolutely incredible, almost better than the pho we had earlier in the week. It was just spicy enough, and I liked the different noodles. Unfortunately, between our lazy afternoon on the beach and the food we ate at the roadside market, I was too full to each much. It was a shame, though, because that soup was amazing.
Today was the last of our two "fun days". I'm finishing every day exhausted, but somehow I don't mind. Everything we experience here is so incredible, it just leaves me wanting more. I can't wait to see what our second week here is like.
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