weds day 152

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Deciding to move on today the next obvious stop is to Nha Trang. About a 4hr bus journey north east to the coast id heard from previous friends who have travelled through Vietnam that its a bit of a dead end, just passing through kinda place. So, firstly enjoying my lovely breakfast from the hotel, and chatting to an older French man - who happened to be in the process of buying a younger Vietnamese wife!! Not quite the conversation I thought I would have over breakfast but 'everydays a school day!' Learning how much a Vietnamese wife is ( or more to be exact how much you pay her parents!) and the very long winded process of marriage certificates, visas, passports etc was quite interesting. From here I headed off into town to buy some snacks before being picked up at lunchtime with an American couple to be taken to Nha Trang. Only about 20 minutes down the road and the heavens opened! Like yesterday that was good timing. After a very scenic 4hrs through windy mountainous roads past numerous waterfalls we made it down to the coast. Grabbing a Moto rider and after bargaining for a minute I got taken to my hostel. Booking in and being given a room to myself - a very nice receptionist I headed out for some dinner. With the main high street being at the end of the road it was easy to find a restaurant, I had a nice chicken dish with a blue cheese sauce - not really tradional Vietnamese food but couldn't resist! From here i walked to find the train station to book myself a ticket for tomorrow night to take me up to Da Nang. I had heard that the train tickets sell out quickly so to book asap so as not to waste another day. Walking for about 20 minutes I found the station - nothing Art Deco about this one sadly! But managed to book a hard sleeper for roughly £15 for tomorrow night. Feeling a little anxious about what I had just brought, there happened to be a waiting train in the station soon to be heading to Saigon. So hopping across the track I had a sneaky look inside - the train was deserted. A hard sleeper carriage is a tiny room with 6 beds in - 3 either side with a very small gap in the middle, your own door and air conditioning - it didn't seem too bad. Not feeling the need to get a refund just yet! I walked back to the hostel and chilled for the rest of the evening.

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