Day 44-45: Hoi An to Nha Trang, Vietnam

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Wednesday, March 11th

We didn't sleep much last night. Our sun-scorched bodies and the mosquitoes didn't allow for more than a few hours of rest. After an hour long early morning (1am) mosquito hunt we finally got some sleep.

We spent the morning packing and watched a movie in bed. We were like zombies all day and after lunch we laid by the pool waiting for our bus at 6pm.

While Ferdi went in search of an ATM, Talita went for (what she thought was) a bikini wax. There was no "wax" involved. The beautician used one long piece thread that she doubled up, then twisted into a spiral. She would then roll the thread over the area to be "waxed", thereby snagging a few hairs in between the spirals and then pull them out! Ouch! It was a long and painful procedure!

We read in the Vietnamese papers that Zimbabwe's Prime Minister was in a suspicious car accident that killed his wife, Australia was hit by a cyclone, South Africa wants to give Zimbabwe credit (as if our country can afford it!), Zim's inflation was last pegged at 231,000,000%!i(MISSING)n 2008 and women in Vietnam earn between 1 to 1.5 million Vietnamese Dong per month (about R500 to R750). The world is a crazy place! And we are very fortunate and have a lot to be thankful for.

We got some rice take-away from the family restaurant next to our hotel. We've made friends with them. We rented their bicycles and have eaten there a lot. While we waited Talita asked to see their home and was taken on a 'guided tour' of the house. When Ferdi next saw her she had a little Vietnamese baby in her arms and looking rather pleased!

We got on the bus (minus the baby of course) and as usual we were last because unlike other people we wait in line and consider it rude to push in front of others. Since we were last we got the "sardine can" at the back. Luckily it wasn't full so we had some space to move.

Today's highlights:
1. Finally getting some sleep at 2am.
2. Out "tans" are feeling better.
3. Even though we slept badly we still stuck to our new routine.
4. Talita's wax-less "wax".

Thought for the day:
Watching the eastern people live and interact we realize that we westerners have no clue what true community is, and we're much poorer for it. We are missing out on something tremendous!

Thursday, March 12

We arrived in Nha Trang just after 6am. It was an insane bus ride with a lot of swerving, hooting and hard braking, but we made here alive and even managed to sleep in the chaos!

We took a taxi (that didn't rip us off) to a hotel very close to the beach. We checked in and went for our morning exercise to explore Nha Trang and see some alternative hotels (just in case there's a nicer one just around the corner). We couldn't find better value so we walked next to the beach.

Nha Trang is amazing. We both instant liked the place and felt like moving here! It's bigger than Hoi An (about the size of Hué, we guess) with tons of activities including kayaking, diving, snorkeling, sailing, wake-boarding, wind surfing, para-sailing... The list goes on and on and on. The beach front is 6km long with a few restaurants right on the beach.

After breakfast we scouted some of the dive operators and found a shop that is PADI 5 Star certified, which means they are exceptionally good and promote eco-conscious diving. We like! What's best is that they offer Open Water One on a special US$250 instead of US$325 (about US$50 cheaper than any other operator here). They also have one instructor per two clients so it perfect for us! We feel good about it but we'll think and pray some more and decide later.

When we checked our email we were very very happy to find that Absa had given us the money back that we didn't get from the ATM in Hanoi! Yippeeee! It was so easy. We just emailed them with our complaint and they sorted it all out! Good job!

We took a nap to try and catch up on the sleep lost over the last two days, went for lunch, walked on the beach, found that all the tons of activities here cost waaaay too much and had spectacular home-made Italian ice-cream. We went to a Silk hand embroidery gallery and workshop near our hotel. They make the most unbelievable works of art with needle and thread! Some of the larger works (some as big as 2m x 2m!) we saw took 1550 days to complete! You can own one of these big works of art for a mere US$ 25,000... A little more than we could afford.

Yesterday afternoon, while Talita was visiting the family's home in Hoi An, one of the ladies had given her a green beaded bracelet for good luck. Neither of us felt very comfortable with it because it had images of Buddha and Chinese writing on the beads, but Talita wore it anyway. She slept badly and in the morning her throat hurt and got worse during the day. Back in the room for a shower before dinner, Talita's throat became really sore. She felt she had to take off the bracelet and the moment she did her sore throat was gone! How seemingly insignificant things can open a door for our enemy to work!

We have received a hateful response to this part of our blog. Our intention wasn't to offend but merely to tell what happened to us. We publish the blog for our friends and family and not to make religious or political statement, but because we are Christians our faith do have a big influence on our lives and experiences.

Today's highlights:
1. Made it to Nha Trang alive.
2. Got our money back.
3. Found a Scuba place with a special running.
4. Talita's healed throat.

Thought for the day:
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

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Photos

Italian ice-cream
Yummy!!!

Silk hand embroidery
Amazing!