nha trang and hoi an

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it is unfortunate that my blogs happen so infrequently, since i know i forget a lot of things that i'd like to post here. i'll have to make more of an effort to get to internet more often.

so we made it to nha trang on a day bus, about 10 hours. i forgot to mention that our friend, tamsyn, has joined us for this vietnam leg of our journey, since she is on vacation from her job in korea.

nha trang was meant to be this beautiful beach area, a bit touristy, but well worth the journey. i was surprised, because, though it was on the beach, i felt the town was not very beach-oriented at all. a bit like haeundae, actually. but with a much smaller town.

nevertheless, we made the best of the area, walked around and relaxed on the beach. i am getting thoroughly tired of people asking me to buy a book, buy fruit, buy sunglasses and cigarette lighters. it is not enough that you are sitting on the beach WEARING sunglasses, they will stand in front of you, blocking your view of the ocean, and try to sell you an IDENTICAL PAIR.

the next day (yesterday) we took a boat tour of some small nearby islands. it was a bit touristy as well, but worth it. we went snorkelling (there was sand. i am not trying to be a snob about snorkelling here, but there was literally NOTHING to see.) and i worked up the nerve to jump off the second floor of the boat into the ocean. we met some really cool people, from china and from australia, and we actually hope to meet up with them here in hoi an. we saw a fishing area, went onto a small island (we were frustrated because we had to PAY to walk onto the island. i HATE hidden costs.) and were fed some fruit and seafood. all in all, a decent trip.

after some dinner we took the night bus, a sleeper bus, here to hoi an. never again. it was a terribly uncomfortable experience. the "beds" were tiny, hard, half reclined, too short, and the road was full of potholes. and the driver drove like he couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of him, and he met every curve in the road with utter surprise.

hoi an has been pretty cool so far, though it was very hot and we were sunburned and exhausted, so we slept for the hot part of the day.

we are supposed to meet one of the people from the boat trip tonight, so i'll update more later.

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