Nha Trang

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7/10- 7/13
Our group of six (Roy, Jill, Alex, Jon, Jaime and me) headed further north from Mui Ne to Nha Trang- and were pleasantly surprised to see a considerably more built up beach town versus rustic Mui Ne. There were several 5-6 story hotels in the area, and multiple busy streets with shopping, restaurants and bars. Another one of Alex and Roy's friends from college, Mitch (side note- Jon and Mitch teach in Taiwan so it is not as random for them to be in SE Asia), met up with us in Nha Trang after a few days, making us 7 New Yorkers traveling around Vietnam.
The actual beach was not so impressive compared to Mui Ne, but the nightlife made up for it. We watched the world cup championship (starting at 1am) on the beach at a local bar, and had a good mix of French and Italian support in the crowd. Our group was mostly rooting for Italy, except Jaime who was outwardly rooting for the "Hurry up so I can go to sleep" Team.
On our first day in Nha Trang, we took a memorable trip with the T&M Brothers boat tour. The boat was an overcrowded ghetto fishing boat converted to a tour ship, which took us to four islands off the Vietnam coast. The Islands were pretty uninteresting and the boat didn't so much stop on them but the water a few hundred meters in front of them. That said, it was still a fun day highlighted by a ghetto swim up bar (man in a life preserver pouring bad wine 25m from the boat) and Jill being forced to dance with a member of the crew while Mitch sang "Hotel California" with the T&M Brothers Band. All day drinks, lunch, fruit, and tour cost $5 per person.
We also took a day trip excursion from Nha Trang to see natural waterfalls about 25 miles away. We rented bikes and hired two guides to take us to the Falls and help us plan our day. Seeing rural Vietnam by bike was a fantastic experience, with unforgettable views of rice paddies, lush mountain side, and several simple villages where indigenous Vietnamese (locally referred to as Minority People) live. It took us close to 1.5 hrs each way on our bikes, including a couple of photo stops. Jaime and I managed to connect in a whole new way by sharing a motorbike for such a long day. Jaime felt comforted to clutch onto my "safety pouch" (located between my chest and waistline). At ease and holding me close for safety, Jaime's inner backseat driver began to emerge, encouraging her to calmly shout "Do you see that bus!" and "Watch out for that! Watch out for that!" repeatedly. It made the excursion most memorable. The waterfalls themselves were an awesome sight to see, and even better to cool off and take an afternoon swim. On the way back we stopped at an Indigenous Village, where we had some good fun playing with the local children, and taking some consenting pictures of the people. Good times were had by all. At the end of the day, the two guides and one of their wives brought our group to a local restaurant for dinner. Alex began to wonder mid-meal, why one of the guides, Thom, and his wife were whispering back and forth and pointing toward him. As we got ready to say our goodbyes, Thom pulled Alex over with a serious matter to discuss. "My daughter, she is quite beautiful and intelligent..." Thom spoke to Alex about his daughter for several minutes, and then wrapped up the conversation by asking Alex if he would marry his daughter and take her to the U.S. Thom was genuinely saddened to learn that Alex is already married. Awkward for Alex but very entertaining for the rest of us.
I should note that the Vietnamese food we have had has been very enjoyable. A lot of soups, noodles, and fresh beef, pork and seafood have made for some delicious meals. Prices have been hard to comprehend for a New Yorker, but we typically ordered a huge feast, and including beers, dinner would work out to be about 4 bucks per person. One of the many reasons to love Asia!

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Photos

World Cup Championship
My View of the game from Behind Roy.

Happy Children
Andrew's Jokes are soo funny, they transcend language barriers.