Easy Rider

19 August - got up from Da Nang feeling a little worse for wear from the night before and wandered down the street to find some food. I bumped into Ahn (the guy I’d organised to take me to Hoi An the previous day) and we had a bit of a chat ... And while we were talking who should turn up but Uyen, the guy i'd politely rejected the day before. Uyen asked me if this guy was taking me to Marble Mountains ... I told him yes and Hoi An and he looked very crestfallen but said that Ahn was a good rider so that was fine. I had a coffee on the street with Ahn and Uyen came and joined us - he started talking to Ahn in Vietnamese and then Ahn asked me - do you not know my name? I didn't. I explained to him that i've met so many people on my journey that all the names blur into one another - if I can't pronounce a name how am I expected to remember it? I don't know why Uyen was telling him that anyway - hope he wasn't beingspiteful.
Eventually we got on Ahn's bike (my massive backpack in front; me on the back) and headed off to Marble Mountains - a collection of pagodas and temples in natural caves - enormous set of steps up to the top and spectacular views from the top. I found the caves a bit much though - thousands of incense sticks burning and not enough ventilation was killing my eyes. After I politely rejected some marble souveneirs we headed to China Beach - I would have liked to have a swim but I wasn't feeling crash hot so we had a beer instead (i had a Fosters, apparently it's very big in Da Nang) before taking the final leg to Hoi An. Got stuck behind some a bus, petrol tanker and a Ford Escape for the majority of the journey over but it wasn't too long before we made town.