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Published: November 3rd 2006
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Your names Mud !!
The feeling of it filling your ears is a bit strange - Thap Ba Hot Springs, near Nha Trang During our worst bike ride yet, through the unlit backstreets of Nha Trang, the Vietnamese continued to show their hospitality to us by giving us false directions and throwing a flip flop at my head (something they found funnier than us, that is until Matt threw said flip flop into a tree).
Maybe it's just us....we spoke to a local bar tout (with a very good imitated English accent) who told us the North is less friendly than the South but that people have nothing against westerners. In the next breath he told us that he hates the French for stealing the gold of Vietnamese people in the past. Another French hater is the waitress at Red Apple Bar, who at 30 is divorced with a child in Saigon, she had an affair with a holidaying Frẽnch man who neglected to tell her he was married. There was something a little strange about this overfriendly waitress who sat down with us for a long chat, she slipped me her email address and then showed me a photo on her phone of her latest boyfriend (which looks like the sort of picture a stalker may take) and i was relived when
Looking out to Sea
The waves here were a little too strong so Matt didnt go any further a gang of Italians arrived and she moved off to serve them.
I probably sound a little negative towards Vietnam and the people, but Nha Trang has given us some good experiences. Sat at the beach I was approached by a 10 year old girl accompanied by her Dad, she had near perfect English but wanted to practice. After half an hour of chatting I got up to leave and she shook my hand, thanking me for taking the time to talk to her. Meanwhile Matt had sat helping a 26 year old local who is trying to teach himself English so that he could move to Australia with his wife and two children, and is also extremely thankful for the help.
A 9 hour soft seat (at 18$ the cheapest option) train ride transported us from Hoi An to Nha Trang. As we boarded the train it began to move and I panicked, the weight of my bag was dragging me down so much I couldn't get onto the carriage, eventually a man onboard pulled me on but I bashed and bruised my arm in the process....the train eventually departed 15 minutes later - as scheduled!! (my
cynicism tells me the driver saw a westerner struggling to board and thought it would be funny to move the train 10 feet forward)
There are several key sights and activities in Nha Trang and we did them all. Bikes were hired to visit the ancient Po Nagar Cham Towers (just as good as Myson but a sixth of the cost and without the 15$ 5am taxi ride), the Long Son Pagoda, Giant Seated Buddha, Hon Chong Promontory (where huge rocks jut into the South China Sea and huge waves crash 20feet into the air)
At the Buddha we saw signs of the begging that we are beginning to become accustomed to. 3 people sat chatting on the floor noticed us approach and started to chant 'Money...You....Give' whilst one rolled his eyes back as a special effect. Some of the people asking for money (whether begging or selling) clearly need it, amputee war vets sell overpriced postcards and daily newspapers and are hard to ignore and are obviously trying to do something to help themselves though it's impossible to buy from all of them. Many children are selling postcards, Tiger Balm etc and have obviously been to the
Po Nagar Cham Towers
much better at a reasonable hour same sales training course where they are taught to overcome objections - they ask why you won't buy their items before listing the reasons you should! We are starting to make light of it, Matt claims if a child has a haircut they don't really need the money, more likely they have been sent out by a lazy parent seeing tourists as a get rich quick and easy route (and we have seen these parents dropping their kids off on their mopeds!!).
We were taken in by a girl of about 6 at the Buddha who ran over grabbed my hand and then using a concrete post to stand on leapt onto Matt's back before holding her hand out. Feeling guilty but with no small notes we ended up giving her 10,000 dong, this is only about 30p but done often enough she will make as much money as many people make in a day. No sooner had she got the money she ran off to her gang of friends, who ended up surrounding us (though we didn't give any more handouts).
One more place we visted in Nha Trang was the Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre,
Ever get the feeling you're not welcome
Our train ticket from Hoi An to Nha Trang clearly states our status in Vietnam where you can bathe in natural mud, before having high pressure jets of water sprayed over you and relaxing in a hot spring bath, after all of this you can use the hot spring pool. It was lovely and so relaxing, we ended up spending the whole afternoon there....an added plus was there was not a vendor in site!!
Accommodation in Nha Trang was at Phong Lan Orchid (7$) run by a family but mainly the mother who we nicknamed Old Mother Hubbard. OMH put the fear of god into me on arrival by telling us that we shouldn't take bags outside, our watches were a target for thieves (despite mine being from Next and Matt's costing less than a fiver in Thailand), and worse still that someone had broken into our room only a few days ago....we tried to avoid her. On our second from last night disaster almost struck and I had to face OMH...we returned home following a few drinks and as I turned the key to our room it snapped in half leaving half the key in the lock. I have no idea how I managed to keep a straight face as I explained this
Angry Sea
Hon Chong promontory just outside Nha Trang to OMH as I suddenly became aware of feeling quite drunk. The daughter of the family appeared with a toolbox to take the lock apart but it was not budging. Eventually I tried with my nails and somehow succeeded in pulling the broken key out - thank goodness as a new lock would put a dent in even the most frugal travellers budget!!
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Cath & Chris
non-member comment
Hi There!
Hi Matt and Carla, It sounds like you are both having an amazing trip, keep the updates and pics coming. Love Cath and Chris xx