Wednesday, December 13, 2006
4 December, 2006
We woke up to the sound of the waves and we had a lovely morning relaxing in the sun on the beach. It was all going well until the manager at the hotel told us we should move our loungers to the pool because the tide would be coming up soon and there will be a terrible storm by this evening. We were supposed to be going on a tour in the afternoon and we were now considering cancelling. We made the necessary phone calls and before trying to be shipped off back to Saigon, we realized that it was still fine to continue with our tour plans and we would worry about the evening once we return. We got picked up by jeep and started in the fairy stream. It was a water stream in the middle of clay/red sand dunes with interesting rock formations and we eventually reached a tiny waterfall. It was so relaxing swishing our feet through the warm water, listening to the birds and soaking up the clouds that were progressively building up slowly but surely. We then went sand-sledding on the white sand dunes and it was fun, but exhausting because what goes down must come up! After that we walked through a Red Canyon, basically a narrow path in between red clay sand which was very unique and pretty. We then headed to the Golden sand dunes but the sunset wasn’t great because it was too cloudy. However, it was so quiet and peaceful and there was a gorgeous rainbow too. We arrived back at our hotel and they told us we should evacuate because of the typhoon (Typhoon Durian) that was heading our way from the Philippines. We checked out our hotel and checked in to another hotel for half the price ($15). They were expecting the storm to arrive at about 1am and so were trying to take the necessary precautions. Had shrimps for dinner in a coconut sauce, really delicious, and got to bed. At about 12am they woke us up and told us we should leave the room because the storm was getting worse and the winds were picking up along with the tide, and by this stage all the electricity had gone out. We slept in the reception area on some bed in the middle of nowhere and then got woken up again at about 2am to be told that it was safe to go back to the room. The staff swept and wiped all night trying to clean up the mess that had been left by the storm but there wasn’t too much destruction.
We woke up to the sound of the waves and we had a lovely morning relaxing in the sun on the beach. It was all going well until the manager at the hotel told us we should move our loungers to the pool because the tide would be coming up soon and there will be a terrible storm by this evening. We were supposed to be going on a tour in the afternoon and we were now considering cancelling. We made the necessary phone calls and before trying to be shipped off back to Saigon, we realized that it was still fine to continue with our tour plans and we would worry about the evening once we return. We got picked up by jeep and started in the fairy stream. It was a water stream in the middle of clay/red sand dunes with interesting rock formations and we eventually reached a tiny waterfall. It was so relaxing swishing our feet through the warm water, listening to the birds and soaking up the clouds that were progressively building up slowly but surely. We then went sand-sledding on the white sand dunes and it was fun, but exhausting because what goes down must come up! After that we walked through a Red Canyon, basically a narrow path in between red clay sand which was very unique and pretty. We then headed to the Golden sand dunes but the sunset wasn’t great because it was too cloudy. However, it was so quiet and peaceful and there was a gorgeous rainbow too. We arrived back at our hotel and they told us we should evacuate because of the typhoon (Typhoon Durian) that was heading our way from the Philippines. We checked out our hotel and checked in to another hotel for half the price ($15). They were expecting the storm to arrive at about 1am and so were trying to take the necessary precautions. Had shrimps for dinner in a coconut sauce, really delicious, and got to bed. At about 12am they woke us up and told us we should leave the room because the storm was getting worse and the winds were picking up along with the tide, and by this stage all the electricity had gone out. We slept in the reception area on some bed in the middle of nowhere and then got woken up again at about 2am to be told that it was safe to go back to the room. The staff swept and wiped all night trying to clean up the mess that had been left by the storm but there wasn’t too much destruction.
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 7:54 AM 
