Moving our way up Vietnam. Nah Trang and Hoi An

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So it's been a few days since I wrote last. We've made our way up to central Vietnam. This is one heck of a big country and requires tons of travelling. We took a good 5 hr bus ride from Dalat to get to Nah Trang.

Nah Trang is a small city right on the South China Sea with beautiful beaches. Apparently its the best place to scuba dive in Vietnam but since the Vietnamese eat everything they catch, theres really no fish to see so we bailed on the diving. One night when we went out for dinner, we saw both turtle and shark on the menu. Not exactly western standards.

We got ourselves a nice hotel room right by the beach with our own balcony/loft area. We splurged and payed a big 10$. It was a good idea because for the 4 days we spent there, it rained for 3 of them. Still, we managed to get in a couple mornings on the beach before it rained.

One day, we got on this tour boat that brought us around to 3 islands near Nah Trang. From there, we TRIED to snorkle (the water was WAY too foggy and dirty) and swam and had a few drinks. The highlight of the day was our guide. This guy was about 6 pints deep by 10am. By lunch time , he was up singing and dancing. He provided some great laughs.

From Nah Trang we took a night bus up to Hoi An. This was about a good 11hr bus ride but the bus we took was a sleeper bus with half decent beds so it made the trip much easier. I obviously didn't fit in it but somehow I actually managed to sleep.

Once again we found another great hotel in Hoi An. This is a gorgeous little city. It has a very old section of the town with a very French architextural influence. The other part of the city is dominated by tailor shops. I think we lasted about 5 minutes before we were picking out what we wanted to get made. Here you can get ANYTHING made for super cheap. In the end, we all got a couple dress suits and outfits made and shipped them back home.

Our 2nd day here, we all jumped on the back of 3 motor bikes and headed to the beach. This was by far the most beautiful beach we've seen to date. Miles and miles long of white sand, so long that it looks like it goes on forever. In the afternoon, I went for about a good hour long walk with the eyepod on and didn't come across one person for 30 minutes. Just fantastic. We also splurged and ate some fantastic seafood right on the beach.

On our third day in Hoi An, we headed off to these temples called My Son. They are supposed to be similiar to the ones in Angkor but they looked like a bunch of rocks piled together. Apparently there were a few bombs dropped on this place during the war and they forgot to tell us before we went there.

On our final night in Hoi An, it happened to be the Buddahs birthday. Apparently its a once a year event where the city shuts down at night and everyone piles onto the streets and by the riverfront. We ended up taking a boat ride down the river where everyone puts a floating candle in the water and makes a wish. At some point there had to be hundreds of different colored candles floating past us as we were in the boat. It was quite the scene and made for a great last night in Hoi An.

We spent a good 4 days here because the three of us loved it so much. Didn't hurt that the girls could shop like crazy but the city had a great feel to it.

We just arrived today in a city called Hue. We are going to spend a few days here then head up to Northern Vietnam again by nightbus.
Until then,

Cheers!

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