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Published: July 26th 2011
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View at breakfast
Hotel Angella still has a bit of a view. For our last full day in this coastal area of Vietnam, we traveled outside Nha Trang to another beach and “resort.” Now, “resort” in this country has a much different meaning than what we are used to. In fact, I would call the “resort” that we went to today just a beach. Perhaps more of a Florida or California beach than something in the Pacific Northwest, but a beach nonetheless. Visitors pay for large beach umbrellas (something I first discovered in Florida), there are vendors selling fresh seafood (which you can choose and buy and then they will prepare it for you), there are placed to buy overpriced drinks, and there’s a restaurant nearby. Beach, right?
Thu was sick the night before, most likely from heat stroke, and all of us had tender shoulders and faces, so we didn’t want to be out in the direct sunlight for too long. It is also rather hot here. We walked into the ocean, which was very shallow and warm and relatively calm, and chatted for a bit underneath the morning sun. Suddenly, Micah said “Owww! Something stung me!” This was rather unexpected – the water was clear and except for the occasional
bit of trash or discarded fruit we hadn’t really seen anything else in this 2.5’ of water. Micah pulled up his knee, and sure enough there was the beginning of a rash of some sort. It was mild, but he said it was itchy. We wondered if he had scratch that the water somehow irritated.
At least we wondered that for about five more minutes, at which time Micah said “That’s a pretty rock! Oh, wait, I think that’s a jellyfish.” Sure enough, there was a bright blue jellyfish floating just a few feet away. “A jellyfish? Are you sure? Don’t let Thu poke it with a stick!” As we were conversing, Chu Nga came over and confirmed that yes, this was a jellyfish and we were lucky that it wasn’t a red one, which apparently is a “fire jellyfish” and would really hurt. Thu’s uncle decided to get a basket and catch it. (Guess this fascination runs in the family.) We stayed out of the way, but as he was catching the jellyfish we noticed more in the water: a good signal to leave.
Jellyfish of this sort deflate very quickly when out of the water. They
are also edible. We did not eat this jellyfish, but later this evening when we had fish soup, we discovered jellyfish was part of the meal. We all tried it, but it is crunchy and gelatinus – I have no idea how that’s possible – and wasn’t very good. (The rest of the fish soup, however, was delicious – and we finally had a dinner of street(ish) food, which was very satisfying.)
On the way back from this coast excursion, we went to the Buddha monument in Nha Trang. It’s visible from the Hotel Angella restaurant balcony on the eighth floor because it’s such a large statue – 150 steps to reach its base, and it’s 77’ high.
Tonight as I listen to the monsoon rains I am very thankful that we are not outside. Walking in the rain is fun, but it’s also nice to be dry and inside, especially when one’s clothes are limited. Instead of venturing out, Micah is going to draw, Matthew will read, everyone will pack and be ready to leave at 6AM, and Thu and I are going to the hotel spa for massages. A sixty minute massage is 300,000 dong --
$15.
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