Bumming around Nha Trang

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Nha Trang is a beach town just south of Hoi An, we had to go there as a stop over before Da Lat, so we decided to stay a few days. Unforunately, Sinead came down with the runs during middle of our second night, so if you're interested she can give you a detailed description of the guesthouse bathroom and room we stayed in!

For the first few minutes, Nha Trang was a nightmare! After getting off the worst 12 hr overnight bus ride of our lives, we were bombarded with hagglers. I sat down for a second after getting off the bus to look at my map, and literally 10 people surrounded me asking me all sorts of questions and calling out to me. “Where you going? Let me show you good hotel! Come see our very nice cheap, cheap room!" Aaaaaghhhhhh! I felt so claustrophobic! I stood up and said, "I just got here! Please leave me alone!" I practically had to shew them away with my hands! "Go! Go!" I said. At least they had a good sense of humor. They started laughing and finally left me alone.

We found a hotel called the Perfume Grass Inn. It was a beautiful, quiet little place with free internet and breakfast. There was also a guitar in the front lounge that people could pick up and play any time. The sound of the guitar reminded us the jammin' sessions of home. The staff were also fantastic.

For our first day, Sinead and I pampered ourselves. I was nicely surprised to get a head massage with my haircut! Canadian hairstylists need to learn a thing or too about Vietnamese hairdressing! We also read in a brochure about a spa in Nha Trang that offered hot mineral mud baths and pools. According to the brochere, the mud was "rich in sodium silicate carbonate and other micro-elements which would stimulate our nerves and skin, which would create a reaction through our cerebral center and cortex and into our whole body" (word for word) . This very special mud would also bring about “relief and extreme relaxation and cause our skin smoother and oliver.” Yes! This was actually what we needed! But, since Sinead's sunburn developed a few blisters, we decided to get massages instead. It was a great choice and much better than the massage I had in Sapa. After massages I went for a steam bath and a hot mineral swim. Upon returning to the hotel, we went to Crazy Kim's Spa and Salon for pedicures. Ooh, Yes! It was a hard day for us traveller's!

Nha Trang is a beach town, but it also claims to have the best snorkelling and dive sites in Vietnam.with cheapest places in the world to get certified for diving. John, our Irish friend, did the five day dive course. While I could have signed up for the 1 day 'try dive' for less than $30, John and others told me that Nha Trang is not really the diving spot it makes itself out to be and that snorkelling would give you just a good an experience. Poor Sinead just got sick, so I did the snorkelling trip solo. Supplied with good (and safe, Mom!) equipment, I snorkelled at two different islands. Me and two other guys were the only snorkellers around! They were leaving that day to go back to Hong Kong, and explained that Nha Trang had been a little too good to them, i.e. they both had massive hangovers! Only one of them decided to join me. Sadly, most of the coral was dead where they dropped us. Soon enough I learned why...A boat of about 40 people showed up and everyone was splashing around on the coral reef as if it were a swimming pool! No real surprise the coral reef isn't thriving. Our snorkelling instructor told us we could find some living coral if we swam around the cove. His words rang true! The reef was beautiful and I saw clown fish, angel fish, long and flat like paper fish, and many other very colourful cutties I can’t even name! I saw one fish that looked like a Zebra, which I followed me around. I later found out from watching the discovery channel that it was poisons to touch! I loved swimming in schools of little blue fish - I even tried to catch one! My swimming partner laughed at me and said I wasn’t even close...Those little suckers were fast! I guess with me trying to catch them they’d have to be! (This is what you were thinking, right Pete?!)

We found another cove to swim in and found 20-25 of those paper thin fish just hanging out. Then some other tourists started calling us over towards some rocks. On the other side of the rocks was a soft beach with loads of shells. So we decided to rest here. Soon bored of resting, we decided to climb a cliff for a great view of the area. There were also cute little huts built here. We couldn’t figure out if people actually lived here or if the huts were for fishing. Either way they looked very flimsy and would probably never stand up to huge storms. The boat ride there and back, and the snorkelling was everything I had hoped for.

Nha Trang was one of those places that grew on me. The Nha Trang Sailing Club and the Louisiane Beach Club were the perfect places to hang out. The sailing club was an outdoor/indoor club and restaurant. On the beach they had the sunbathing, tables to sit, a bar with two swings, and a fire pit for the night parties. The food was also fantastic, if a little expensive.

We later found a fantastic (and cheap) restuarant called Andy’s which had great wine for $1! Good wine is hard to find in Vietnam, causing both Sinead and I develop a thirsty mouth for it! Perhaps Sinead's sickness was really good wine withdrawl:p

We were really happy to finally meet up with our friends, John and Rachael, who were great company for me while Sinead was recovering. I spent the last few afternoons just relaxing on the beach. Unfortunately, jet skiing, windsurfing, and waterskiing were so expensive I couldn’t have possibly afforded them. I guess I could have, but it would cause havoc to the budget, which I already did in Hoi An! The lounge chair and cocktails were cheap and did me just fine! And ice cream was only 25 cents! More water sports will have to wait for Thailand!

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