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My last stop was Hoi An from where I took a nightbus to Nha Trang. I was travelling with two guys and when we made our booking in Hoi An we requested not to get seats right in the back of the sleeper bus. The back of the bus has between 3 and 5 beds next to each other which don't offer a lot of privacy. The lady made a note on our ticket. When we handed our ticket in at the bus stop we made the same request again and the lady said that it won't be a problem because we can choose our seats. We made a plan that someone looks after the bags, ensuring that they get stored away, and the other two run into the bus and reserve seats. Well, this plan would have worked but the bus driver and the friendly lady beat us to it by not letting us on the bus until they moved all the locals around, reserved all the free nice seats and then tried to shove us at the back of the bus. We weren't having any of it and just took any free seats we could find and refused to
leave them. The driver wasn't happy! Tough luck!
Before we left the bus stop, the lady made an announcement to all of us tourists (all in the back of the bus!) to let us know that we should take care of our personal belongings because there are locals on the bus. Basically she was implying that the locals might steal our stuff. We were really shocked that she would say something like that in front of the locals?! Anyways, it goes without saying that you need to look after your stuff on any journey, let alone a nightbus.
We got to Nha Trang at about 5am after a very bumpy ride. It seemed like the whole town was up already doing all kinds of exercise on the beach. It was quite funny to look at. We found a hotel and were shown up to the roof terrace where the guy explained that apparently that's where all the people hang out in the evening and dance (there was no one ever on the roof terrace in the 3 days we had been there). We didn't quite understand why he took us up there - it must be some sort of selling point of the hotel?! We eventually saw the rooms but when I opened the curtains I saw a building site. The guy promised us that the site had been quiet for 2 months and we would not be disturbed. LIAR! At 7am I woke up to drilling and hammering and cranes going up and down the site.
After a not very peaceful sleep we made it to the beach. Nha Trang is a lot bigger than I thought. It's a pretty town but reminded me a bit of Spain. The beach is long, wide and fairly nice, the sea is a bit choppy. We hired sun loungers outside a bar/restaurant where they also had a swimming pool. They charge VND40,000 to use the loungers but you can use the pool too. You are not meant to bring in food or drinks but the place was so expensive (VND40,000 for a large water - it was VND7,000 in our hotel) that we always brought in our own stuff or bought stuff from the vendors that hang around outside the marked area. It's quite funny because they are not allowed to cross the invisible line so you have to go outside the marked area to pick up your stuff. The beer was even cheaper than in the shop.
On the second day we went to Vinpearl. It's a water and amusement park on an island. You can see the big Hollywood style sign from the beach. You take a cable car over there and pay an admisson that lets you use both the water and amusement park. We got there at 10am to make sure we beat the crowds. They do have lockers but the downside is that they are in a kind of cloakroom where you hand in your stuff. You get given the key but you can't access your stuff unless you pay again. Some waterparks have free standing ones which are much better. Also a tip - take your flip flops because the ground gets very hot.
Some of the slides were meant to be open by 10am but we spent most of the first 1.5 hours walking between slides finding that they are still closed. Some of the slides also have time slots, i.e. they open for one our and then shut before re-opening again. The problem was that they didn't really stick to the time tables. It was a bit better later in the day because the park got busier. I can highly recommend the Tsunami slide - great fun! The Kamikaze ones hurt a bit when you go down.
After finishing in the waterpark we went to the amusement park. They have different kinds of rides, carousels, a rollercoaster, a pirate ship, trampolines and an arcade with 4D cinema. This is all included. The best though, by far, is the alpine coaster. It's like tabogging in the summer. You drive your own cart as fast or slow as you like. Brilliant!!! Unfortunately, you sometimes get people who drive theirs in snail's pace in front of you which means you have to stop and wait to ensure there is enough space between you and the one in front of you. The only real let-down of Vinpearl was the food from the fast food chain in there - don't have the burger!
It was a great day!
The nightlife is fairly decent there and there is an area with cheap restaurants and bars and a few backpacker hostels.
Our plan was to go to Dalat afterwards. I went to an agent to book the ticket but she said that I should go and eat something and come back. That was after waiting for 10 minutes for her to finish with some other people. I didn't want to eat and I didn't want to come back so I went to our hotel to book it. They tried to overcharge me twice, once by quoting a more expensive ticket price and then the second time by using the higher USD exchange rate of VND22,000. Cheeky!
The fun with reception continued when I checked out the next morning and they accused me of stealing their bathroom flip flops, seriously????
I made it to Dalat and checked into the Pink House Villa which was recommended to me. It isn't the cheapest place and it's a bit out of the way but it's a very nice guesthouse with really friendly staff. They do a motorbike tour where you can either hire your own bike or go on the back with the guide. The tour is $30 and you start at 7am in the morning. You get taken to the local market, a school, cricket farm (where you sample fried crickets - really yummy), a silk factory, a minority village and a waterfall. You get lunch included and you can sample local fruits. I was the only one on the tour so I rode with my guide, Sun. She was great and I learned a lot about the Vietnamese and their culture and it made me understand them a bit better. The visit to the market was great - apart from the meat and livestock section! The lunch was nice but the best was to sample all the different fruits. I really enjoyed the tour.
I wasn't too impressed with Dalat though and found that two nights, one day is enough. There are some things you can do but my main reason for going there was to go on the above-mentioned tour.
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