Mineral Spas, Dancing boatmen & Mental bus drivers

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Geo: 12.2453, 109.199

Having been on a packed sleeper bus for 12 hours (and when i say packed, i am talking people sitting in the isles as there were not enough beds for the 'added extras'😉 I was half asleep when all hell broke out. The deal was that the bus was to take us to the hotel as there were so many of us, however no one had told the bus driver this, so when some of the lads attempted to load the bags back onto the bus, the driver threw a good few punches, and soon metal bars and knives appeared on the scene too. Of course we all got off the bus as they wanted as soon as this happened, however it was all rather scary for us (let alone the 2 little (under 6) french girls that were also on the bus with their parents) Needless to say we are not travelling with that company again!

As it was early doors (5.30am) when we arrived at the hotel - a min walk from where the bus had dropped us! we were not allowed into our rooms yet, so we all dumped the bags and headed down the road to the beach, where the sun had just made it above the horizon, there was a stunning red glow still in the sky and a million people exercising on the beach and in the water.... it really could have been Miami, esp with all of the high rise hotels along the beach front. After breakfast and a few 'chats', in broken English, with various tour agents, we headed back to the hotel to find our rooms and see if anyone else fancied going on a boat trip or not.

From then on it was all go... that afternoon, we decided to take some peds out from the hotel and go for a blast up the coast to see what we could see, with the hope of finding the mud bath spa, that we had seen advertised in so many places. There were a few wobbles to start off with, however soon the group were off on a road trip that Ewan and Charlie would be proud of! I was official photographer hanging on the back of Bob's! It was great fun, although we did have a few 'topples' along the way and a few sunburnt bits, as the midday sun and the breeze were a deadly mixt ure. After a few friendly locals assistance, we did find the spa, which as soon as we walked into, we were a little out classed.... this was an expensive place! The lonely planet price of the mud baths was sadly exceedingly old, or missing a zero off the end and so the 8 of us decided to go into the mineral baths instead.... like a huge tropical pool, with waterfalls and bubbly tubs as well as a stunning restaurant. Now, as we were all taught at school, that it was not advised to eat before swimming, we decided that lunch was the priority! I had a mouthwatering chefs special baguette, with had cut chips.... granted not very Vietnamese, but bloody tasty! The pools (with food babies!) were well worth the £3, with the largest of the pools being about as hot as i would have a bath at home. The waterfalls were powerful enough to massage/stimulate blood flow.... some people sat underneath them for AGES... more a gluten for punishment than a pleasure i think! We spent a fair few hours here, before jumping back on the peds, back to the hotel for some R&R!

Having managed to just about collect money from the gang, we were booked on a boat trip in the morning. There were 12 of us in total, ready for a Deluxe Tour of the islands, snorkeling, lunch, floating bar and trip to a 5 star island resort. Our tour guide was a smiley, exceedingly friendly chap (who by the end of the day had restored our faith in Vietnamese men!)... Little did we know, that he would come out singing 'hello.... is it me you're looking for' and after a while, he had his shirt off, pretty much pole dancing to a dance remix of Brittney's 'Crazy'! This trip just got interesting!!!!

The snorkeling was lovely, perhaps not to the standard of the Barrier Reef, however i certainly saw plenty of fish, some of which i had never seen before, including one that looked exactly like 'Gil' from Finding Nemo 😊 We managed to stay in the see for about 90 mins, dodging the glass bottomed boats that continuously floated over the swimming area, but still having a whale of a time! We left the waters 5 mins early, for a much needed ice-cream, before boarding the paaarrrtaaay boat again in search of a lunch spot. We moored up next to a fishing platform, where the chairs were dropped and made into tables, and an incredible buffet was brought out from the kitchen.... Tiger Prawns, squid, tuna, veggies, pork, rice and soup, with watermelon for pud.... happy, full bunnies were we! It was then entertainment time, with our crazy skipper joining another 2 boats from the same company, with a full drum kit and guitar set up for a sing along and boogie. After dinner had settled, it was time for a dip in the sea again.... not for a sedate swim, but for a floating bar.... inner tubes were thrown into the see to help us all float and then a gyrating Vietnamese man, jumped on their 'bar' and danced his heart out for 20 mins, serving what looked like windscreen anti freeze, but am assured it was wine -- tasted as bad a what i imagine antifreeze to be! Maybe it was that way, so we didn't drink to much??? Our last stop, was the 5* resort, which we were allowed into, with free use of the facilities... sweet as a nut! We sunbathed on the private beach, swam in the HUGE pool, went down the slide for under 12s (and may have lost my bikini for a second on entry to the pool - oooops!) and then 20 free balls on the golfing driving range.... all i will say to the last... Happy Gilmore i most definitely am!

That evening, we were starving, so myself and Jay went down to the famous 'Sailing Club' for some drinks and dinner. The milkshakes were to die for... poss go as far as saying the best i have ever really tasted in my entire life! That, along with my Mushroom risotto with grilled chicken... i was one happy bunny! Def worth the fame and adulation!

The last day here, was spent as a lazy day, a spot of luncheon, some shopping and then the beach! The beach with the big inflateable, total wipeout esque floats! At least it kept the boys entertained whilst the girls chatted, read and chilled out together on the sands.

It was miss steph's birthday the following day, and so we all got up for sunrise to welcome in her champagne birthday (22 on the 22nd). It was a spectacular scene... again.. a picture says a thousand words (thank got i hear you all scream!) so will shut up now.... off to kite surfers paradise we go... oh after a bowl of minced beef rice porridge for breakfast of course 😊

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