Elephant Springs

as promised here's where we went on to on our motorbike trip. Elephant Springs is a 2-3 hour ride away from Hue. Its on a mountainous region where a natural spring is flowing, due to to natural erosion and whatever stuff you learn in your physical geography about water bodies, many small pools and waterfalls are created along the spring. The place is not known to many tourist but is very popular to the locals who want to cool down and chill out away from busy city life and thats a good thing to know as when your in Hanoi or Saigon all you see are tourist.



this is the only area where i could photograph, i didn't want to risk getting my camera wet after that.

there's a innocent looking waterfall nearby, the water looks and sounds really cool as it splashes down on a few men below. As the girls change, our guide points to me where the pathway to the waterfall is, a set of small stones and some wet rocks, and he gives this thumbs up sign telling me what i can only decipher as "damn shiok". I take his tip and make my way down, stumbling along the slippery algae surfaces, A few local men stumble infront of me too, all grown up men with their wives and children still in their huts looking at their man of the house clumsily negotiating slippery rocks. Its not a domestic pool and nature doesn't provide natural pool tiles, instead huge rocks lay below causing grown men to trip and fall, only to to hear the shrill as their body experiences the coolness of the water. Total strangers, the few of us giving each other helping hands as we walk under the waterfall.

It doesn't feel as innocent as it looks. The water beats down so hard you can't even open your eyes. Its like rocks were being pelted on you and you feel difficulty breathing as the coldness grabs your lungs. Everyone suddenly lets out a scream, the old men with their wives watching can't help but scream for some weird ecstatic reason, i do the same too. Its like we all suddenly became 18 again. Shiokness is an understatement. 15 minutes under it and i had enough, i come out for a breather as people start to come in after hearing our commotion, we slip and fall and laugh out again.



unphotographable
The top of this spring is a 5km trek away where the water is much cooler and cleaner. There's a deep pool there and fun loving locals have tied a rope on top of tall tree for people to swing on and do jump dives. IT IS DAMN FUN! but dangerous if you don't swing far enough to land in deeper water.

A group at teens are lazing on the tallest hut next to the swing. They watch us a we we try to do out first swing-jump-dive, which at first attempt was only a swing and unceremonious drop into the water. We cajole the teens to try it too but they give hand signals that i think said they were scared.

Two attempts and a few tips from our guide later (its all about lifting the legs) I find myself having the time of my life swing-jump-diving into the fresh spring water. Soon after we see some of them (and later all of them) removing their shirts and making their way into the spring water, swimming up to the rock where you jump off, its like the staring platform. Everyone around is having fun doing silly dives and jumping even higher (sorta like the one with the old men but now its real 18 year olds screaming). First its the rock then its the rock above it then its even higher and one guy even jumped off the tree. I should have tried the tree but everyone else wanted to head back....i very gian now, and next time i'll go back and jump of it, with a backflip! (of which i shall practise back home)

and after that we had simple but delicious meal of instant noodles and eggs under our huts where the other guides were resting.


instant noodles in hot water
behind is one of the motorbike guides taking a break. I think he just had two bowls of that.





this are very fresh eggs that go very well with the noodles
how fresh? well 5 metres from where we sat was a caged hen and a kettle of boiling water next to it.

but what about bird flu?
screw bird flu! i love fresh eggs enough to risk it.
Anyway..... it is boiled....partially
Its smaller in size compared to supermarket varieties but its really hard to describe the difference in taste, just that it has much more oomphh.

so the rest of the trip involved biking back and stopping along the way to enjoy the scenery, I ride with my camera strapped over my neck forgetting the travel advise to not do so on a roads. Ian my guide points to me the various views i should take and reminds me to email them back to their hotel, where they keep a collection of them for everyone the enjoy. I so recommend this place to anyone who's planning to a trip to Hue.

US$13 Motorbike guide (abit pricey because we all rode pillion)
2 hour bike ride
the sight of ZERO ang mohs or japanese tourist
the most fun fresh water spring in Hue
$ instant noodles with fresh egg
the best scenery a bike trip can offer

screw the visa card, i travel budget
this is priceless in the way tv marketing refuses to tell you

p.s i just got back home and sifting thru my photos. Thank goodness i brought along 3 CF cards. I now have a severe diarrhoea most likely caused by the funky stuff they served on our 26 hour train ride from Hue to Saigon. Should have followed the locals and tah-powed our own stuff onboard.

p.p.s after two cans of 100-plus (product of Singapore and proud of it!) i think i'm back to normal and rehydrated. Now to get over my post vietnam hangover.