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Published: June 16th 2006
A good couple of days in Nha Trang...relaxing on the beach, Mama Linh's Boat Tour, and no humidity! We've attached a map of a journey thus far, both Thailand and Vietnam. (Sorry, no city names)
We survived the long overnight bus ride from Hoi An. Dan found some sleeping pills that literally made his eyelids glue shut...or so he says! I think I may need to indulge in them myself for the ride we'll do tonight to Saigon. Besides the minor mechanical problems early on, the bus was fine. The only thing we couldn't figure out was why the driver kept beeping his horn as he drove down the road at 3am, no other cars or bikes in sight...maybe he was doing it to keep himself awake?
We're staying at the Perfume Grass Hotel, very nice, free internet and breakfast, and just a minute's walk to the beach, which, is beautiful. This town is known as the biggest "resort town" in Vietnam, but it still is not too over the top. Several hotels and restaurants, but on a smaller scale than Phuket or some other famous beach resort. For some reason it reminds me of what Hollywood/Santa Monica would
Beach Bums
I know, my nose is red...no matter how thick the sunscreen, I've been looking like Rudolph. And then there's super tan Dan...have looked like in the early days (1920's maybe?) before it was too built up. So many lighted signs, and a main road runs parallel to the beach, lined with palm trees and a huge sidewalk. It's quite nice. It reminds Dan of Surfer's Paradise (in Queensland, Australia). Tons of Vietnamese are on their summer holidays here.
We spent most of the first day lying on the beach, five hours to be exact. I loved it, and between the sea, reading, and saying "no thank you, I'm not hungry" or "no, I don't smoke" to the little girls with their baskets of goods, Dan managed to keep himself occupied 😊 One little girl would not leave us alone, and I think she quite liked us because she would come up and give me kisses on the cheek!
We heard of a place serving fish and chips with tartar sauce so we indulged for dinner. Of course it didn't serve up to par, but it was good to feed the craving 😊 I also tried the local Dalat white wine...I actually just sent it back because it was so bad! Even Dan, who usually will eat/drink about anything agreed
The fishing village
Homes sat on the river's edge, a few hundred meters in the from the sea. They were made out of scraps of tin and wood and were pretty open to the elements. with me.
Yesterday we did the boat tour. Known to be a "party boat" full of 18 yr olds getting drunk, ours was full of Vietnamese tourists and only a few whities. We boated around to 4 different islands, mostly just swimming stops, plus a big lunch on the boat. The highlight was the floating bar where we got in life preservers and drank local red wine in the water. But out of 30, only about 12 of us actually swam (many locals don't swim). The guys crewing the boat brought out a guitar, tambourine, plastic drums, and a couple sang for our "entertainment". I got pulled up to dance the Twist and sing La Bamba 😊
Last night we found cheap dins on the street (we love the pork sandwiches!), splashed out for one drink at the posh Sailing Club (an Aussie run restaurant bar this is very nice and full of westerners), then walked on the beach where we found a young couples cuddled up about every 20 feet. Since children often live with their parents until they're married and people pretty much live in each other's pockets here, this is the only place to have
some "alone" time. We cracked up, as you could see couples lining the sand the entire length of the beach!
Today was pretty chill. We lounged on the beach for a few hours, then visited the Po Nagar Cham Towers--local Buddist temples where the people come to pray. We walked home along the bridge to get a glimse of the fishing boats ready to go out to sea for the night and the little shacks that are home to the fishmen and families. Kind of hard to believe how some people live.
So we're off to Saigon tonight...this time we're prepared with pills, food, and our headlamps so we can read in the dark! (They are FINALLY coming in handy 😊
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carol
non-member comment
looking like a native
Thanks for all the great photos.More suncream Dan--you are looking like Sitivatu!