Nha Trang

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After four days in Hoi an my clothes winging their way home I could leave for Nha Trang. Nha Trang is a beach town that was popular with the American G.I’s during the war, at least the ones that weren’t having the time of their lives in the POW camps soaking up all the excellent treatment and services their hosts could bestow. I went to Nha Trang for two reasons, 1) it broke up the bus trip between Hoi an and Dalat and they have the best diving in the country there. My night bus arrived at 6am after a 12 hour run. I knew someone staying there so I went to the same hostel. Dropped my bags, went in search of Pho for breakfast and then searched out diving schools. I ended up going with the first one I found which offered a great price for 2 dives. I knew this as id priced a few of them on the net before arriving. Half an hour later I was on the bus heading for the boat. I had worried a little bit about getting back in the water without any recap of the skills; after all it had been 3 years since id done any diving. As it turns out it’s like riding a bike. I panicked when I started to descend but a couple of deep breaths and I was at peace. It was a small dive group, only myself and 2 others plus a dive master. The diving sites (Moray beach and Madonna rock, two of the better sites) were fantastic, crystal clear water, colourful marine life; we even went through a couple of small caves. When we finished we had a smorgasbord lunch on the boat and then headed back for land. Once again I rented a scooter and pelted up and down parts of the coast, I also visited the Cham Towers there. In the evening I wanted to have an early night as I was exhausted, I found a place close to the hostel, an Irish bar as it turns out was owned by a Scot, he was from Bellshill which is only 10 minutes from where I live so he was happy to have a chat. I ordered as a steak pie with chips and a beer. The owner sat with me while I ate and bought me a beer. When I left I was fully intent on going to bed, it didn’t quite happen that way. I met a couple of guys I knew, the ones who’d recommended the hostel to begin with and at the bar i noticed a woman id spoken to when I first checked in, she was from Dundee and i wanted to chat to her for a bit. We got talking about diving and while she doesn’t have any certificates she’s done a few fun dives, at this we went along to the dive school id used earlier where we got talking and I managed to get her $5 discount which pays for another nights’ accommodation. Next we went back to the Scots bar where we had a drink and i gave her some pointers for her trip up to North Vietnam and Hong Kong bdfore going back to the hostel where I showed her some photos id taken and things to look for. We both had big days ahead of us but agreed to meet for breakfast at 6. As soon as breakfast was finished i had to run to catch the bus and get to Dalat.

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