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Published: December 7th 2010
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Rain Rain go away, come again another day!! That pretty much summed up our time in Nha Trang! We arrived in a downpour and left in torrential rain 48 hours later. In that time we did manage to have a delicious Indian Curry, just like back home, a stroll around the centre and the most hilarious bike ride.
One afternoon the rain subsided for half an hour and looked to be clearing. How wrong we were! We decided to rent some bicycles to see a bit more of the city and its attractions. We headed towards the Pagoda statue which was also meant to have a great view over the city. However, no more than half an hour after we'd jumped on our bikes, the heavens opened, thank god we took our waterproof ponchos with us. Despite the weather we decided to persevere to the Pagoda, weaving past all the obstacles including cyclists and motorbikes driving towards us on the wrong side of the road (This is normal road etiquette in Vietnam) on the main road and trying not to lose our concentration as trucks and buses sped past, continuously beeping their horns. The rain got worse and worse and
pretty soon it was torrential. Waterproof poncho or not, we were completely drenched. It dawned on us that it was 3:30pm and we still hadn't eaten a thing all day. We decided to get some shelter from the storm and find a bite to eat. Easier said than done though. We rode for a couple of miles and there was no sign of anywhere that catered for tourists so we made do with a shed like local café with child size tables and chairs. We sat down and requested some water but it was clear the lady didn't speak any English so we just settled for what she gave us, some Sprite. They didn't do menus, you had to just choose from a selection of food they had cooking on the street. Not the most appetising, meat porridge, whole chickens including feet, fly infested salad and we we're not really sure what the rest was! Suddenly we weren't very hungry any more, so just stuck to our Sprite.
However we were soon treated to a free feed from four very drunk and friendly Vietnamese locals. The four middle aged men looked like they had been drinking all day and
in their intoxicated state were keen to try and chat to us using their very limited English. They wanted to raise their glasses and toast us but Jay's glass was empty so one of them grabbed it and filled it with his beer and convinced Jay to compete against him by downing it. They were easily won over and kept telling us they were our friends and that they were eating the number one food in Vietnam and we must try it (well that's what we guessed they meant anyway). They all had a bowlful of what looked like congealed blood and some kind of animal flesh (our guess was snake), mixed with peanuts, herbs and lime juice. They showed us how to eat it by breaking bits of a big rice cracker which looked like a big Dorito on top. They wouldn't take no for an answer and literally spoon fed us with it, so we both had a bite each so we didn't offend them. Jay thought it was actually ok, Jo's verdict = absolutely rank and as bad as it sounds!
After making our excuses and leaving, they all shook our hands and gave us a
friendly farewell, we got back on our bikes and headed back into the rain. The weather was even worse and it was pretty hard to see. So we stopped off again to dry off and try our luck once more at a local restaurant. No menus again, and before we could request what we wanted, two bowls of steaming fish soup were placed in front of us with a fresh baguette. Jay is not the biggest fish lover, but actually enjoyed it. Jo once again wasn't feeling the local cuisine but made the most of it. The local guy sitting with us even offered us shots of an extremely strong spirit. Jay had a sip and it tasted like pure alcohol so declined anymore! After that we asked for directions from another local to the Pagoda and discovered we missed the turning... Doh! By now the roads were semi flooded and it would be getting dark soon, plus we had no idea how to get back to our hotel. We turned around and eventually found our way back, after getting a bit lost in the dark. Our clothes and shoes were sopping wet, so we rinsed them out and went
to dry off.
The rain kept coming and damped our spirits so we booked the next bus out of Nha Trang to Hoi An in the hope that the weather would be better, even though the forecast didn't look too promising.
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carole hartley
non-member comment
lost weight?
Jo, you look like you have lost a lot of weight - presume it's due to horrible sounding food? Hope you are both ok.and have dried out now. P.S. Your blog dates are wrong - I think you mean November, as we haven't reached 14 December yet. Love mum on 10 December.