Nha Trang then on to Saigon for New Year

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Nha Trang to Saigon



The Market is housed in a big round lotus like building. Filled of course with so many things that boggle the mind. I am so over shopping and have not done much at all this holiday so if you are expecting a pressie from me this time don’t hold your breath!! You walk around the inside then around the outside. Around and around in concentric rings until you go a little bit crazy. We stopped for a cooling lime and sugar drink outside and watched the life go by. Just love doing that and the interaction by everyone. Something is always going on, someone is always going past trying to sell you some fruit, snacks of various kinds and they are not going past you, you are going past them. The fish – crayfish, prawns and mussels looked tempting but who knows how long they have been sitting outside in the sun???



We did have a crispy pancake filled with bean sprouts and fresh salad along with dipping sauce. I bought some what we would call bokkoms (fish biltong) that was delicious and some lime and chilli sauce that I hope will get past customs. Limes are so expensive in South Africa but are used in everything here. Warren and I thought that our naartjies (mandarins or satsumas) had the taste of some of the limes we have had.







We took a taxi over to the other side of town to the Cham Towers and wandered around the site for awhile. We noticed it was full of Russians. The Cham towers commanded a wonderful view of the river, filled with brightly painted blue and white fishing boats then the city behind that. We noticed the tender used to get to the bigger boats was a traditional round basket boat. You think they are oversized baskets – underneath they are covered in tar and waterproofed. Its amazing to see them paddle out as you could quite easily just go around in circles!!! The Cham towers are built in the style of Ankor Wat but on a very minute scale in comparison. These holy places are always peaceful refuges and lovely to walk around. I really enjoyed the view from here. We walked back to town glimpsing bits of lives belonging to other people. Many shops that lined this road had to do with the fixing of motorbikes. Apparently in Saigon there are 9 million people and 7 million bikes (don’t know the stats for Nha Trang – less people but many bikes!!) The one shop sold fish tanks with topiary underwater plant displays – only in Asia! So original, so beautiful. It was a good walk back to our hotel and we stopped in at a new centre on the beach front with a food court at the top and great big windows looking out onto the beach front. We also noticed that there were a lot of Russian tourists about and then the announcements in the centre came on in Vietnamese, English and you guessed it Russian!!! We then started noticing that signs around the town are in Russian too. Nha Trang has become a huge holiday destination for Russian especially during their cold winter. Can’t say I blame them wanting to escape their awful weather and coming to this lovely place. Even though its winter here its really nice and warm for me!



So nice in fact that I got up early the following morning and looking out over the balcony saw in the dark that the beachfront was heaving with people doing their daily exercises. There were people in the water and that was it for me it was on with my bathing costume and down to the breach. They waves were real dumpers close to the shore and the backwash was strong. These slight Vietnames people in the water were brave man and I was standing on the edge not knowing quite what to do.



I slowly got into the water and got pounded by the waves. One of the swimmers said go under the waves and waved some hand signs to me and then I just copied them. The water was a great temperature just how I love it – warm but not too warm in fact just like the Mediterranean. PERFECT! We had such fun, laughed a lot probably mostly at my inadequacies of this type of swimming. My costume was full of sand but I didn’t care. I had also made friends.



We went to the Big Buddha and climbed the 150 (not so many) steps. The temple was lovely but surroundings were filled with beggars and dirt. Now I really find that Vietnam is clean and tidy. Yes garbage is always thrown onto the floor and street but there is usually someone just around the corner waiting to clean it up. There is always someone sweeping and picking up – except here where you think it would be so. The area was so littered around the sides of the temple it was very off putting. After this experience we took a taxi to the opposite side of town and went to visit the aquarium. I kept on thinking of my birthday twin Tai who is going to study Ichthyology this year at Rhodes University. It was a mixture of some great exhibits and some scabby ones. Some wonderful colourful fish that I would not get the opportunity to see and some huge turtles too. One in particular must be ancient it was so big and I think lucky to be there otherwise by now it would have been eaten!



The highlight of the day was the invitation I received to visit my new friend Hoa’s house. So after dinner of claypot prawns and rice, I took a taxi to her house. It was not far from the hotel and it was a real opportunity to go inside a local persons home which is something that you do not always get the opportunity to do when travelling and staying in hotels. Hoa (which means flower in Vietnamese) is a year older than me, has a son Hoang (means gold) and is a widow. She has two small dogs that are quite old now 15 and 18 and she is a spare time artist – her lovely paintings adorn her walls. She has a friend in Tanzania and could quite possibly come to South Africa. It would be great if she could!



The flight from Nha Trang left at 7.45 am very early and we were up and down before you could read more than a chapter of your book. We eventually checked in to our hotel the Northern and it was like coming home – we got our old room oh it was good to be back!



You could already see the city was filling up during the afternoon and by the time we went out in our party clothes it was heaving. Getting across the road was getting busier by the second. Bikes started driving on the pavements and then parking everywhere. The traffic in fact got slowed down to not moving and walking was faster. We had a drink and saw some live music at a bar and then went to have some dinner at a BBQ restaurant. Terry said he could not see the point in paying for your dinner and then you have to cook it – of course I loved it. In fact Terry thought he had ordered the ready cooked meal for himself (there was this option on the menu) but as it turned out that is not what came out. Lucky for me he chose the restaurant and Oh well, he was lucky he was with me then as of course I cooked it all!!! No sweat man!



It was then back out on the even fuller streets to the pub for a few more songs and drinks and then just before midnight we went back out for some real fun. It was the best New Year’s I have had in ages. I have never been in such a big crown before and they were all so happy not drunk not doing silly things just having such fun and cheer. We danced and partied with the locals. The music was loud but manageable



There were lots of lights, lasers and fireworks – not up in the sky but around the roof and front of the stage. After about an hour they switched off the music and we made our way back home. Everything was gridlocked and peoplelocked. You could not walk on the pavements and the traffic was going nowhere. Yet again everything was orderly and finally we made it.



Happy New Year everyone- Chuck Mung Moi hope you all had a good time and wishing you everything of the best for 2012!!!!!

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Photos

Fishing boats
see the basket tender

From under my umbrella
This is an essential part of my clothing - my umbrella ready for sun or rain!

Menu
Ostrik for dinner!!!