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Published: April 22nd 2015
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Time to write the last blog of this little two weeks trip. Our next stop is in Saigon...kids will be for three days with their Mum....I'll be 36 hours in Saigon...little business...little shopping....and drinks with friends! And yes, it will be time to go home! Therefore, no blog about Saigon....sorry!
So last entry of a trip I should never have done! Let say it was a pretty good one....if only for the amount of fresh spring roll I shared with Leslie. Sad to have to admit it...these two have seriously lost most of their Vietnamese skills. Don't ask me why, I never grasped much of this tough language....they say...if you don't practice, you lose it....sad to see how fast Tiffany has lost a language in which she was fully immersed for a good 9 years!
After the nature, after the history, after the culture....we make our way to Nha Trang. Back in 1997 this place was amazing...you would wlak from the airport to the Sailing Club....in less than 5 minutes...I still remember those lobsters.....800gr, that you would eat with just a pinch of lime, salt and pepper...22usd a piece...all this seated on a plastic chair!
I didn't even try them this time!
The Vietnamese back in 1997 claimed that Nha Trang was one of the top 10 Bays in the world...at the time they were serious...at the time it was already polluted...but it was accessible...and cheap! We would stay in a mini-hotel....and spend our days....at the Sailing Club and Louisiane...and our evening and big part of the nights at the Sailing Club. At the time, the Ana Mandara just opened, it was "the" luxury resort of Vietnam...the only one....that was back in 1997....shall I say I was young!
The new airport is now a good 45 minutes from downtown...no thanks! Good the railway station is still bang into town. Few years ago the Evason Ninh Van Bay opened few miles away from town. Gorgeous place...good enough for British Royalty...so good enough too for Leslie and tiffany....we stay there few years ago. A little further north you still have Whale Island, a gorgeous resort run by nice French people....basic....very nice!
Today, you still have the Ana Mandara....we gave a one night try to the basic Novotel, you also have a new Intercontinental....but our suite at the Sheraton
is still the best deal I can find. Nha Trang has changed...a lot....or not? The beach is still not nice...don't know which idiot ever declared that this beach was fabulous, it's not! The Sailing Club is still there....gorgeous, renovated...and well, not really backpackers anymore. This time, I didn't venture there past 10pm, so I cannot comment on all the working girls....yes...you know!
What was new...and is now nearly old story...are the Russians! I first moved to live in Vietnam at the end of 1996. At the time, the Russians were in Vung Tau. They were not tourists....they were just oil employees...stucked there...after the changes of 1989....and most of them would rather be poor in Vietnam, than poor anywhere in cold Russia....it was than! Few years ago, the Russians invaded Muine and Nha Trang. They even added direct fly from Russia to Nha Trang. And yes, it is easier to find Vodka than Wine in Nha Trang!
Well, today it's a little different...the crisis is there...way less Russians....so a big problem for Nha Trang! Hotels are empty. They still make most of the Westerners you would encounter around. We love pelmenis...so in Nha trang...we first
went for pelmenis! I'm not kidding. No Russians in the lounge of the Sheraton....only Aussies....slightly different...and some good times in the evenings!
We went to dive in Nha Trang. The kids are somewhere a little from Vietnam....I had to bring them diving here, even if only for one day! So we dived one day with Rainbow divers...the old school in Vietnam! As we had only our masks and computers with us...I let Leslie do the packing. Why there are no pictures of diving on this blog...well, Leslie did the packing....he loves his computer....and as a teenagers...know obviously everything....even how not to take the waterproof camera! Well done young man! So you a missing the picture of a cute frog fish...of a very cute nudibranch...and well....let me think, well, those are the two pictures that would have been pretty cool! Beside this, we had few fishes, few nudis, few razor fishes, lion fishes, some shrimps, one or two crabs...and a nice 15 meters visibility in a 26 degrees water! 52nd dive for Tiffany...99th for Leslie!
Next day, we went to Vinapearl. This a Vietnamese amusement park slash water park...run by Vietnamese. Well, good news, at
22usd an entry, it cannot be that wrong. Guests are mainly Russians, Koreans, Vietnamese....yeap, that's a mix! I was not expecting much, I had a truly fun day.
They have a new Alpine Coaster...you find those in many ski resorts in the summer...they are fun, they are often pretty expensive....here, we just had to queue....to enjoy fun rides...and we did...way more than one! The old style amusement park is...old...but after the Alpine Coaster that was ok. There is also a dolphin show...I seems to have grown older and hating does since we have started to dive. Well, let say it was very Russian...run...not my style.
The water park was actually pretty well run, and still pretty clean. I had prior experiences in Saigon. Back in 1998, the Australians opened an amazing water park...till 6 months later you had the feeling....well....how to write it....yes, people should not be defecated in a pool! When it opened it was amazing....a year later it was something else....few years later, it was closed! Sad!
So in Nha Trang, we had great food, pretty decent dives...and a day in a fun theme park....this is Nha Trang. Do
not fly 8 hours to get here, but if it's on your way, and that you fancy some nice Russian food...it worth a night or two....
Next big adventure is in July...for a seriously big adventure...one were I will share places I love with Leslie and Tiffany...adventure....at full speed!
Next entry is in....something like 10 days. International schooling in Bangkok is pretty amazing....if it's just for the amount of holidays the kids have. So in 10 days....more fun...to come soon!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Slide
Looks fun.