Nha Trang

We pulled into Nha Trang at about 6am after another brutal overland trip from Hoi An. The 4 of us girls were crammed into a sleeping berth 5 people wide (though only the size of maybe a King Size mattress) and I was lucky enough to be between the girls and a very smelly Scandinavian dude who kept the window closed beside him, trapping his lovely body odour in our confined bunk. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep and was once again extremely gracious that my iPod held up for the entire journey. Is it possible for the battery life on those things to improve? I didn't think so, but that iPod has done wonders for me this trip. Because we had arrived so early, all the rooms were still full and restaurants closed, so we laid on the beach watching the sun come up until shops opened and rooms emptied.

I had a quick nap to catch up on sleep in the morning at our new hotel before heading down to the beach to kick back under a little hut and listen to the waves crash on the beach. Nha Trang reminded me very much of sub-par Waikiki. The main strip resembled a boulevard with gardens and kitschy statues between the road and the beach. Mountains framed the seascape towards the left of the ocean, and new hotels under construction sprawled down the coast to the right. But instead of Versace and ABC shops, women in conical hats sold fresh fruit and old men with child-size plastic furniture sold coffee and cigarettes. Waves crashed rhythmically on the long sandy beach, though they dumped plastic bags, garbage and broken coconuts in their wake, and the water was a little too brown to entice me into swimming in it. I was content to sit on the beach and buy fresh pineapple from local ladies passing through selling fruit and rice cakes. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

On my second day in Nha Trang I climbed aboard a dive boat with a couple of dive masters from Alberta, Canada and checked out a couple reefs on the islands surrounding Nha Trang. The dives were okay, but the visibility of the water and the lack of fish buzzing around the reef made it apparent that pollution and overfishing are major issues in this still-developing and hungry country. Regardless, it was still great to be underwater again and hang out on a boat chatting with other divers (even though the Brits made fun of all us Canucks for saying "Aboot" and "eh"). Diving in Nha Trang was super cheap too - $30 for 2 dives including lunch, equipment and everything, so I had no problem spending a bit of money to have a great morning. I splurged on a somewhat painful (deep tissue? Vietnamese?) massage in the afternoon then met up with the diving crew at a local Bar for some Bellinis in the evening. Apparently the owners of the bar, "Guava," are from Nanaimo, BC - and I was extremely happy to have a meal and drinks resembling something from a Milestones or similar restaurant back home. I also met a pair of British lads, both named "Tom" and played a round of pool with the whole gang before calling it a night. I had booked an "Easy Riders" trip for the following 3 days and knew I was getting up early the next morning, so I didn't stay late and headed back to the hotel to pack up before hitting the road for an epic motorbike tour of the Central Highlands...