Nha Trang...

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So we left historical Hoi An and arrived in sunny Nha Trang later that afternoon. Unfortunately our arrival also saw the arrival of some bad weather and we spent our three days there watching the rain pour down on the golden stretch of beach.

This didn't completely ruin our time here though, as the bad weather gave us ample opportunity to frequent the local bars and restaurants, of which there are many!

We also decided to brave the waves and do a couple a scuba dives as we had planned and, with the wind and rain above the water I think the best place to be was under it! Of course the visability wasn't as good as it would have been minus the storm but we were diving at a Protected Coral Reef and even with the low viz the coral was amazing. We saw the usual array of reef fish and some beautiful purple urchins and bright blue starfish. I had forgotten how great it felt to be under the water like that but now we're both really excited about our next dive, hopefully in Cambodia.

Nha Trang was a huge city and very much the 'costa del sol' of Vietnam but despite the concrete shoreline and abundance of resorts, it was a very nice place to spend a few days. There are a number of semi-inhabited islands off shore that make for gorgeous views and day trips, a number of interesting sights on the mainland... oh, and there was an amazing spa just outside of town that provided respite from the rain.

We rented a scooter for a few days and drove out to the spa (through rivers of rain water, mud and flooded sewers!). The spa is situated beside a hot spring and we got our own private hot mud baths, followed by huge private jacuzzis of hot mineral water, followed by unlimited access to both a swimming pool filled with water from the hot spring and a regular, slightly cooler, swimming pool. From the mud baths we had a view of the mist shrouded mountains in the distance and the spa itself is situated in a gorgeous garden.
It was amazing and the best $4 you could hope to spend!!!

Nha Trang was great craic but with the weather only getting worse (and with us only having the clothes for hot, dry climates!) we decided to head north to the mountains and check out the highlands.

So, next stop: Da Lat- 220kms north west and 1500m above sea level.

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