Advertisement
Published: September 9th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Madonna Rock
Our dive site...that would be Madonna the "Material Girl", not the holy mother. Can you guess why? ;) I am back on the beach and enjoying every minute of sun and sand and I can get. Only...it's been raining on and off ever since we arrived in Nah Trang and the beach is a bit of a disappointment. Our little group of four has temporally increased to seven. We met three lone travelers on the bus on the trip from Saigon and have been together ever since. Between all the people we've met at restaurants and pubs around town, it's hard to walk down the street without running into a familiar face. I suppose that's why we've been having such a difficult time pinning down a date to leave here. I am sharing a room with the Irish gals, once again, and this time we were pleasantly surprised to find Star Movies and the CNN channel on our little TV. It's such a relief to be up to date with all of the hurricane news. Before we got here the only news I had about home were the little bits and pieces of information I was hearing from other travelers and hurried glances at Yahoo News on the internet. I must say, I am quite shocked at the complete
destruction of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. It's much worse than I had imagined.
The longer I am in Vietnam the more it grows on me. Both the cities and the people are incredibly relaxed. And I have never had an instance where I've smiled at someone and they haven't smiled back. The tourists here are a different breed, as well. Most travelers here seem older and more mature. Most people I've met are traveling for at least a month and a little bit more serious. It's a completely different atmosphere from say, Thailand. Where many backpackers are young kids on a lark (in my opinion.) At any rate, I am starting to feel overwhelmed at the amount of things there are to do here. I think I could stay in Vietnam for a few months, easily. Too bad I'm on such a tight schedule. I'll have to leave here soon if I am to get on the Trans-Siberian before mid-October.
I put my Open Water Diver status to use yesterday and went on a few dives off the coast. The diving business seems to be in a slump here - making the diving cheap, cheap CHEAP and the
customers few and far between. Our boat took out only 5 divers and 5 instructors - out of which I was the youngest by a long shot. But it was a relaxing, beautiful day and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the boat and exploring the blue water beneath. There weren't half the number of fish as were in the Perhentian, but the fish and coral I did see were fantastic! The highlight were the lion fish with their fancy fins and spines and the bright pink Spanish Dancer eggs that looked EXACTLY like a girls hair scrunchy. I almost tried to pick one up! But, the most exciting part of the dives were the cave swim-throughs we got to do around Madonna Rock. Normally I would be a little nervous doing something like that but you could see to the other side and I was so relaxed that I conquered my fears with ease and saw lots of neat little fishes hiding in the crevices as I swim through.
My only concern was the way my guide kept handling the coral and pulling starfish and sponges off the rocks. My stellar instructor in Malaysia, Madeline, was always really careful about
Dinner at Cyclo
Our favorite restaurant in Nha Trang City. Long live the flaming coconut curry! what she touched. She taught her students NOT to pick up or mess with any of the underwater wildlife. I was shocked to see my guy yesterday trying to taunt a moray eel out his hole with a stick. And back on board the other instructors were laughingly telling us how they spotted a large octopus and yanked it out of it's hole just so they could see it turn color. I was not impressed.
The days here are passing ever so quickly and I have been trying to soak up the wonders of NahTrang and re-group as much as possible. I fear when I leave Vietnam my summer will be over and I will have to buy winter clothes and warm sleeping gear as soon as I make it to Beijing. I am taking it easy for the next few days. Our group has a boat trip around the islands booked for tomorrow and I have all afternoon to get caught up in my journal (R, you would be so proud 😉 ).
For all of you folks reading this back at home, none of you stray far from my thoughts. And I am trying my best to stave
off these few twinges of homesickness I'm feeling...Especially since I have met only 3 Americans since I started my journey. (This of course, could be a good thing).
I'll be posting more back-blogs and pictures throughout the week so check back here often.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.163s; Tpl: 0.035s; cc: 9; qc: 56; dbt: 0.1017s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
uncle jeff
non-member comment
Diving Partner
So maybe I've found a new diving partner?