Advertisement
Published: September 20th 2010
Edit Blog Post
This entry is more about Tiffany than it is about Nha Trang. So I will first write few words on Nha Trang for those who have in interest in the place, and than on my lovely Tiffany.
I have lived in Saigon from 1996 to 2000 and since than, I'm in Vietnam at least few days nearly every month. I have stopped to count how many times I came to Nha Trang, but it is easily over 10 times. For years, Vietnam have spoken of transforming this place into the new Phuket...trust me, they are still very far away. It is still mainly a nice stop on the backpacker road from Saigon to Hanoi...and this is fine with me.
I do not know where they found it, but they do qualify the Bay of Nha Trang as one of the nicest bay in Asia. Well, it is very nice if you take out the city of Nha Trang...and you take out all the sewage and garbages left in the sea. A lot of work to do...for years...but seems nothing is really moving.
I still remember the opening of the Ana Mandara, the first "luxury resort in Vietnam"...today
the place is a little "older". If you have the time, and a medium budget, there is the "Whale Island", around an hour North of Nha Trang. We stay there few years ago, Leslie, Tiffany, my parents and me. Lovely place, but not Nha Trang anymore. Than came the Evason...another nice resort, but also a good 40 minutes outside of town...and this one will hurt your wallet solid!
Lately in town, and one the beach...but with a huge (uncrowded) street to cross to reach the beach...there has been two new additions....the Novotel and finally the Sheraton. We stay at the Sheraton. Very low occupancy even for a week-end, and not so steep room rates. I will not complain, we had the place for ourselves and a very nice little suite.
The beach is a true disgrace. Yes the sand is not that bad...the water is still nice to look at...but hey, can somebody clean all these garbages. For me, it was out of the question to let Tiffany and Leslie swim in such a trash! Good news, the Sheraton have a beautiful swimming pool, with very nice views to match!
To reach Nha Trang...well...before was better than
today. The airport used to be in town, now it is a good 45 minutes south of town...and I don't like to spend 45 minutes in a taxi! The kids love trains, specially night trains, and the higher class in Vietnam is cheap, clean (yes!), and pretty safe. Better even, the train station is right in the middle of the city! So on the night train we went! They have 4 beds cabins, which is ideal for us! Leaving Saigon just before 8pm and reaching Nha Trang just before 5am. This is where it is nice to have the right card in the right hotel, to be allowed to jump straight in a good bed at 5am to finish a short night! On our way back we took the plane, as at the end of the day, this is just a week-end. Well, Vietnam Airlines was late...but we got our connection just on time back to Bangkok.
So let's come back to the main and only really important part of the blog...Tiffany. Those who follow us for months...or even the last 3 years will know that Tiffany is living with her Mum in Vietnam. We were very close to
have her back in June...but hey...do you know where Vietnam is standing on the world list for corruption...yes...in the lower 25%...and I was not going to buy my daughter! So Tiffany is today stuck in Vietnam. Her Mum would not let her join her brother for this summer holidays...and we haven't been able to see her properly for a good 13 months now.
So this week-end is big for Ma'ri, for me...and even more for Tiffany and Leslie. It's sad to see the current situation, but we do the best with what we have. And what we have for the moment, is the ability to give to Tiffany as much joy and love as we can for the time we are with her. So this was a week-end of love, joy and even more cuddles.
Hopefully another of these week-end is coming end of October, but we are always waiting to be there...to make sure we do not have "bad suprises". So for those who have followed us over the years, thanks for all your lovely messages and support. Don't worry too much, plan A did not work, but we still have a plan B and a plan
C...at the end of the day, it's all a question of time...and for us to give as much love as we can till the big day.
Love is what make us happy human being. Family is what make us truly part of this world. I have both, even if the puzzle is far away from being perfect...or even completed...but we work everyday for more love and more family, and for this I'm so blessed to have Leslie....and for the last 30 months...Leslie and I are so happy, because we found in Ma'ri the missing part of our family. Some time...you just have to be patient...but don't forget...love is a lot of work, it's not easy...it's exactly like gardening...a daily joy of making our life better! Because at the end of the day, we all have what we work for!
With Love from four of us...and yes I wish Tiffany would appear much more on TB!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.172s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 18; qc: 36; dbt: 0.1134s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Jo Trouble
Jo McCarthy
:-)
Very pleased to see this one Peter. You all look so happy :-) Best wishes to you all!