We arrived at 6.30am overnight from Hoi An, Justin and Jules were with us until this point and followed us to Perfume Grass hotel to see if they could catch John and Lisa. Off they went and we couldn’t check into our room so we walked over the road to the beach and found a spot to have some home made brekkie. We walked along the beach for an hour before heading back to claim our free tea and coffee from the hotel. Still no check in so we left the bags, freshened up and decided to rent a moto for the day at 5$ – not too pricey at all.

Our destination was Doc Let beach, one of the top beaches in Vietnam, it was a little cloudy but we thought we’d go on an adventure. We had some directions outlined in the Lonely Planet and a map from the hotel, we knew it would take us a while so off we went. After about half an hour on the high way we checked at a restaurant to make sure we were on the right tracks. Just keep going straight…so we did, passed through some small towns in the direction of going north and then eventually after stopping to get some more fuel we saw a landmark for Honda Port which was mentioned in the LP. After 20 minutes or so of riding along the coastal road we decided to turn around as we got closer to the Honda factory which we knew wasn’t the location of the beach. We decided to turn back on ourselves and ride through a few small villages, getting hungry we pulled into a small lane which ended at the sea. We saw a family cooking some local food for their stall and asked to sit down there and eat, they fed us amazingly and we even got some wonderful fresh spring rolls thrown in. It was very cheap at aroud a pound for us both and they were very welcoming indeed, they also pointed us towards Doc Let beach, so off we went in the hope of finding our destination.

We rode past the sign after about 5 minutes on the bike and more traveling through lovely little villages, further up the road there is a turning for the beach and we had to pay a 10,000 dong entrance fee each as well as 5,000 dong for parking the bike. Once settled we wandered off into the beach resort which has been set up a little like a summer camp, although not a lot was going on as the weather was closing in and the afternoon was a grey one. We still found beauty in the place though, the sand is powder white and the waves are very soft compared to Nha Trang. We stayed for an hour and then made our way back to Nha Trang without stopping it took us 50 minutes, both arriving with a numb bum! Later on we checked in, showered and went to grab some food – Cafe Des Amis - not a great recommendation by the Lonely Planet to say the least!!

Back to hotel, bed.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Got up fairly early and went out for a run along the beach, quite fresh and clear air. Ran for about half an hour and then stopped to stretch on the grassy area near the beach. Helen was doing some yoga and was interrupted by a Swiss yoga teacher – dressed in nothing more than a faded pair of orange shorts and sweatband. Classic! He wanted to talk to us about Ayurvedic Yoga, we’re quite interested in Ayurveda anyway and obviously loving yoga so asking if it was free (which it was) he proceeded to talk to us for about half an hour and we went through some postures. Funny little interruption.

Back to the hotel for a good breakfast – omlette, bread and fruit salad.

We spend most of the day on the beach, Helen had been feeling unwell and we needed some down time. We found a place further up the beach called Louisiane where we were able to hire sun-loungers with umbrella for the day for a pound each including use of the pool. The sea was really rough going out with very few people going into swim so it was an added bonus using the pool.We enjoyed beer and a cocktail and stayed there until about 2.30pm. Afterwards we went for a walk up to the bridge which is around 4 km away heading north on the beach front. Many locals live in shanty town like houses around there so we wanted to head up and see what it was like. The light was quite moody which added a nice rocky feel to the images and the kids were very playful as always.

On our way back we walked via the market and eventually made our way back to Perfume Grass. Later on we went out to Cafe Cyclo – LP recommendation and joined Lisa and John who were already eating there. The food was good and not too pricey either. We went back to the hotel and packed for the following day. We had changed our open bus ticket to go onto Mui Ne as opposed to Dalat as we craved a little more beach time, plus Justin and Jules were there too so we knew we’d have a laugh meeting up with them again. It cost a furhter 100,000 between us to change the ticket which isn’t that much at all.

We finished the night with an ice-cream for Helen , some strange green yoghurt for Dave and an episode of The Peep Show.

The bus met us outside the hostel in Tunxi at 7am and we found a couple of seats at the back of the smallish bus. Sitting at the back on these things is never a good idea when you’re in the more rural areas; not a lot of space and its a bumpy ride! It was a local bus with most people making their way to work. It took us about an hour to reach Tangkou which is the closest village with transport links directly to the start of the paths of Huangshan Mountains. You will always find your way around by pointing to a map or just looking for where most people are heading! Here there is a bus station with coaches upon coaches lined up ready to take you to either the west or the eastern paths to the summit. It’s a little like a theme park, it doesn’t really seem reflect any other mountaineering experience we’ve had before, except for the alpine ski resort feel. Anyway you choose which way you want to go and then get the bus to that entrance point.

The bus costs around 15 yuan per person and most people tend to head to the eastern steps or they get the cable car! We had read in the Lonely Planet and on some other travel blogs about the best routes and views etc also so we had an idea of what to expect. Once you arrive at the entrance point to the mountain there are of course more entrance fees to get in. With it being off season we paid around about 100yuan to access the routes which start with steps, leading to more steps and so on. We started pretty early at 8.30am and passed the local marathon club who seem to team up together for big adventures, yodelling into the cliff tops…we sped past them early on so as not to get too caught up in their crazy ways. It is perhaps the one mountain that everyone in China wants to climb. The scenery is beautiful there is no doubt about it, but it’s annoying for us that they have built a path all the way from start to finish. Why can’t there be any nice trails to hike up, something like Snowdon or Mt Blanc would offer way better options for hiking without trying to make it all into one bit tourist trap. We’re just glad we went off season as witnessing the video footage on our way up showed thousands of people in the summer season making their way up and down the mountain. Some of the paths are also pretty narrow and close to the edge so it wouldn’t be pleasant at all to be there amongst the masses.

It took us around 3 hours to reach the first station which is where the cable car goes to, from here there are many paths that lead towards other higher points on the mountain, one place that had outstanding views but with a ridiculous name was Beginning to Believe Peak, on the sign on the way up was something like ‘seeing is believing, you’ll only believe it when you reach the heaven peak’…or something just as cheesy! Other peaks were climbed and at times we were the only ones there, very refreshing in the circumstances. We found our way to Bright Summit Peak where everyone crowds to when the sunsets and rises, there were already lots of people there waiting in anticipation. From here we walked to find our accommodation for the night. This was situated behind one of the hotels past the Bright Summit Peak.

We went for the cheap option on accommodation front, but it really was pretty poor and perhaps paying the extra 20 yuan for the night in one of the better budget hotels would have been a more pleasant experience (we paid 100yuan for a dorm). Dave and I were split up into single sex dorms and they were in a cold, damp basement. Further down the hallway were old, mouldy looking mattresses that didn’t fill us with any confidence! The good thing was we got there before anyone else so we managed to enjoy clean, hot showers before setting out to enjoy the sunset.

We found a spot away from the busy areas for the sunset along with a few others and took in the views. Putting all of the steps behind us and hotels on the top of the peaks, we managed to find a peaceful spot with a stunning landscape and sunset to fit. It was really peaceful.

The food isn’t good on the mountain too so be prepared to take snacks and fruit with you. We did have some vegetarian food which just about did the job and then we went back to our room to play cards. Later on we were both bombarded by the other guests staying in the rooms. We then had to separate for our first night in two months!! Lost we were!! ha ha!

It didn’t matter too much having damp rooms as we didn’t stay in them for very long as we were up at 5.30am the next morning for the sunrise. This doesn’t occur until around 6.30-7am but we got a good spot and again it was nice and quiet. The photos speak for themselves. Straight after we made our way down on the western steps. This route is tough and a lot steeper than the eastern steps, less people choose this route and as we left so early it was a long time before we passed anyone. This was great as the views once again across the mountains were breathtaking. One problem with all the steps is that it’s not very good for your knees and calves, too much concrete! We were passed on walking sticks from some kind walkers the previous day so we said we would find some people to pass ours onto too on our way down.

It took longer than we anticipated to reach the bottom, we both found people to pass our walking sticks onto and we had a little cheer at the bottom before waiting for the bus to take us back to the bus station.

Two buses later and we were back in Tunxi ready for some good food and rest before our hardsleepers booked for that evening.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)