Nha Trang (21 - 24 September 2007)
The overnight train from Hoi An to Nha Trang was quite exhausting, seeing that the seats were uncomfortable and could not recline to a “sleeping position”, the bus smelled really awful, and the road was in a bad condition as well. We did not get any sleep, so on arrival in Nha Trang (about 7:00am), we were sleep-walking through the streets, looking for accommodation. We stopped at a street kitchen and had breakfast: quail eggs on top of a small ‘pancake’ and then dipped into a sweet chilli and spring onion sauce (we later regretted having this meal, but I wont get into too much detail).
A Moto driver approached us (as usual) and tried to convince us into going to a hotel where he will receive commission in the deal. After politely saying “NO” a couple of times, we kind of just ignored the guy (we found this is the best way). But this one just couldn’t let go - he was following us on his moto, kept on saying we should go to this NICE hotel. Eon admired this ones tenacity, and decided to just have a look at the hotel.
It turned out to be a NICE hotel after all, seeing that the hotel’s name is “the NICE Hotel” - but it was also nice in the real sense of the word and at a real nice price. We booked in, took a shower and then fell asleep.
We decided to go to Nha Trang just to relax for a couple of days - kind of get away from the ‘travelling’ for a while! Nha Trang was perfect for this. Nha Trang is famous for its six kilometre beach - white sand, tranquil waters, sun, coconuts filled with juice.
On day one we spent some time on the beach and just walked around town. Day two was very interesting - we found a ‘water park’ with entrance fee 30 000 VND pp (about R15). Besides a family with mom, dad and two kids we were the only other people there. The park had a stream flowing around it, where you can take a tube and juts float around the park. It also had really cool slides, a foofie slide and a fake ocean. Eon and I were like little kids in that park! We went down every slide a million times - screaming and laughing and running about. Aahhh, the small pleasures in life!
On day three, we went scuba diving with Rainbow Diving. We did a 50 minute dive, down to about 16 meters. Although we only saw small fish, the dive was fabulous! There was a diversity of fish, beautiful coral reeves and top to bottom visibility.
On leaving Nha Trang for Da Lat, we felt refreshed and ready for travel-action again!