Good afternoon,
I did go hike that mountain on my day off ! It was fantastic, the hike up was long enough to be called an exercise, it also circles around the mountain so you will be able to see all sides on your way up. I decided to leave home at half past four so that I would be able to reach the top in time to see the sunset from there. It was still quite hot when I started climbing, the path to the stairs runs through a private garden so the residents charge 5000 dong for the entry. This equals to 20 sents. I was quite lucky; the path has just been cleaned when I arrived. Apparently, climbers dumb all their trash up the mountain because it is hard to come down carrying a lot of things so the path gets quite messy.
It took me 40 mins to climb up, I believe the walk would normally take half of the time but it was still very hot, and I did stop for photos quite a lot. The view already on the way up was beautiful ! You will be able to see far on the Halong Bay as well as have a great overlook of the City. The stairs go through a thick bush, and are quite uneven for most parts. I heard that they herd sheep up the mountain (cannot say if this is actually true), there is a cottage half way up that smells of animals quite strongly.
I made it to the top nicely before the sunset. The view was stunning, they have a huge Vietnamese flag at the top and you can see 360 degrees of perfection. The city seems so calm from the top, lights slowing emerging from houses as the evening gets darker. I sat at the top enjoying the peaceful alone time until the sun was down.
Way down is a little bit more challenging than up, the dark being a big factor as well as the stairs not being as visible viewed from above. I started thinking about snakes and other nice animals that might live in the bushes so I can definitely say that the walk down wasn't as pleasant as it was going up. I would recommend going with another person, or at least letting people know when you are going, just to be safe.
On Friday I met up with a few of my colleagues for lunch and then we did some driving around the city. I got to know Bai Chay side better, I had only been there for work before. A friend of mine showed me around her area and her apartment so now I am moving there too next week ! Our flat costs 170 dollars a month and includes two pools, a gym and a restaurant. It goes without saying that I am very excited to move. In the evening we went to the Marine Plaza, an area with a movie theatre, art galleries, a night market and some restaurants. I bough a handmade backpack and some dried mango, yummy !
Weekend went mostly at work. I met some friends up for drinks and food on Saturday night, I even tried some local apple wine. I would recommend against drinking the apple wine, the taste is foul and the outcome might be unpredictable as it is usually homemade.
This week has started well. We went to a Korean lunch buffet on Monday and had some coffee in another rooftop restaurant. I was teaching my adult class in the evening and it went so well ! I finally got myself to play a game with them at the start. I have been avoiding games etc activities a little bit because I feel like they might already consider me as such a child. Fortunately, the game went very well and the rest of the class followed. We finally bonded well and I got them talking! Very happy with this result and looking forward to continuing from here,
This and next week we are all doing some Halloween preparation, next week weekend we have a huge, 100 people, Halloween party coming up ! I am happy about this because now I can make Halloween masks all weekend with my young learners. This Friday I have been invited to Paradise Resort for a day out and BBQ with the friends. The Resort is a huge estate on an island just outside Bai Chay. The day should be very relaxed and nice.
I hope you all have a nice, sunny week !
All the best,
Mira
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