Of 04.08 (Nha Trang)

 

Early morning, flew back to the Ho.
Was glad to be back in my own bed.

Of 04.07 (Nha Trang)

I had banana pancakes with chocolate sauce for breakfast. Yummy. After donning loads of sunscreen, I headed  to the beach for a bit. After some sun and swim, I met up with K outside of my hotel to go to the Thap Ba Mud Spa. After a few days in the sun, I was excited to give my skin a break. The place was built on a mountainside, and had little baths and to do things scattered along it.

After utter confusion of where to put our clothes, or to wear flip flops, and looking like two volleyball players in comparison to the rest of the guests (K is almost 5’11″), we sat in an empty stone mini pool and laughed as they turned the spout and mud filled the bath. Then again, in a very confusing fashion, after the said twenty minutes in the mud, we were told to follow a little mazed routine. We sat on a sunny rock wall to let the mud dry, and then had to take a hot shower.

The shower, a piped, overhead circular swirl, with countless showerheads, caused too many people to be cleaning off at once. The locals, who have no knowledge of personal space as I, the American covets, just showered as if in the privacy of their own home. Hands jutting aound in all areas, clothing and suits being slightly hiked around for a thorough rinse, I was a bit uncomfortable…mostly because K and I were the only girls in the mix. Imagine if you will, one center metal beam with a very large flat spider web of pipes atop, and a shower head every foot of so…at least a dozen tiny Vietnamese men washing up as if in a middle school locker room, and two tall white girls on the edge of the mountain-side contraption, half in and half out, staring at each other like, um……when in Rome? Yeah, no, this was a far cry from Rome.

Next we were told to go though a little walled path that had jets shooting in all areas. Sort of like a narrow car wash, for people. As if the spider shower wasnt enough, I guess it was important to get the mud off completely.  We then made our way to another large stone tub and sat in it while they pumped in really hot mineral water. This was nice. Though, with a bunch of other people in other tubs all around us on the stepped mountainside, it was a bit of a contradiction. After a couple was told my the water filler people to join us, we tolerated it for a few minutes, and then hopped out.

We were then told to go to the waterfall…so we went…and rinsed off? Again? We walked over to two large pools that were surrounded by lounge chair and some little food huts. There was a wall with tons of steam rising from the othe side. Huh. Anyhow. We went to the smaller pool as it was empty. It was the kids pool. I hoped in first, it was crazy hot. Swimming in a very hot, and very clean pool was oddly fun. It was like a giant bathtub for adults. Kind of a dream come true, I suppose. Haha.

As the sun was going down, we decided to leave. We took a cab all the way down the coast and inland a bit to where K was staying – Diamond Bay Resort. We played some cards on her balcony, then went to dinner – an all inclusive buffet. I could eat a few things, so that was nice. Then we had a few drinks,  I took the 10pm shuttle back to town, and walked to my hotel. Zzzz.

(a muddy picture coming soon as it was on Ks waterproof camera)

Of 04.06 (Nha Trang)

More of the same from yesterday – a nice lazy day at the beach. Oh, one quick story:

 So, like I said earlier, as you near the water, because of its depth near the shore, it creates a big wave right at the edge. Knowing this, but somehow forgetting it this day…I started to come out of the water, and paused for a moment to look around. Wham! It was as if someone took a bat to the back of my knees. A wave knocked me down on all fours and then, basically frat-paddled me so I rammed my knees into the very rocky sand. I got myself up, ignoring all eye contact with anyone who might have seen, and tried to locate my pride, which was probably floating nearby.

Of 04.05 (Nha Trang)

This morning I had breakfast next to some guys who spoke as if they had rocks in their mouth. Aside form the myriad of curse words they said, I couldn’t understand much else aside from “booze cruise” and “randomly distributed.” whatever they were talking about, being slathered with swears at 9am was not how I want to enjoy my morning and breakfast on vacation. The fact that they had no shoes or shirts on, and smelled like stale urine was an added bonus.

I went to the beach for the day and swam like a little fish. The water, now a pretty green, was amazing. Where the sand met the ocean, there was a but of a drop. The sand so high, when you walked down into the water, the first step was ankle deep, then mid-thigh, then almost shoulder deep. It was a perfect cool temperature, and clean. Again, I wished I were a mermaid and never had to get out.

People were parasailing, windsurfing, and riding on catamarans. Down the beach a bit, some people were playing on those huge bouncy floaties and blow up slides. You know, the kind that look like a triangle, where you climb up one side, then slide down the other, into the water.

I just slept in the sun with my tunes. The sun was super hot, however, so I couldn’t stay in the sun as Long as I usually like to, so I opted to sit under a palm tree for a bit, reading and people watching. Very relaxing.

Of 04.04 (Nha Trang)

I woke up at 5:45, again…and unsuccessfully tried to force myself to go back to sleep, again. After breakfast and catching up on a few emails, I met up with my friend, K, and her friend M, who were staying a little outside of town. We decided to spend the morning at Vinpearl Land. Fully aware that it was a place for kids, we were still a bit excited.

 I drove to meet them at the southern end of town and we took the world longest cable car to the man-made (sort of) island belonging to the Vinpearl resort. Sadly, only half of the rides were working that day. We rode the rollercoaster ride first, laughing and screaming the whole time. We were just too tall for the rides. I felt like my knees were at my chin as the attendant asked me to help him push down my safety bar. We walked around a but and then went to the indoor arcade. As the park is all inclusive, lo and behold, all of the rides/games were free. I felt like a kid in a dream. Everything was free…the shooting games, the driving games, even riding a mechanical bull or driving a tank, was free. I’m going to admit it, I could have spent a lot of time in there.

 After the arcade we headed to a small aquarium. I love aquariums. This one was nice and clean, and well taken care of. When we were in the underwater walkthrough a MASSIVE sting ray swam to us and right overhead…its was awesome! He looked like he was coming to get us, but then decided to just pass us by. Later some fish followed suit and a shark.

Eventually, we made our way to the water park, ditched our things in a locker, and hit a couple of slides and rides. One of the rides was a six-lane slide that you had to use a mat to slide down on. Oddly, the mat, which curved up at the end like a wooden sled, also had some sort of a bar in that curl, made of really hard plastic. That didnt seem safe. Water park accessories should be air and foam. Anyhow. I went down, on my belly as I was told, water got in my eyes, and then the next thing I knew, I was jostled and choking on water. Someone had left a mat in the bottom of my lane and I ran over it. As the mats are not innocent in their foam-only construction, it was a serious hit. Upon standing up, a bit water logged, I looked over at K. She was upset. Her plastic bar-thing had popped up and hit her on her shoulders and across her neck. Not cool. Safety first? Not in Vietnam.

A few rides later, I was about to go down a curly slide that dumped you out into a funnel before you fell into a pool,  I was told by the attendant, in broken English, to “take off your clothes.” Um, what? I had a bikini and tight cotton tank top on top of that.  I wasn’t in the mood for people staring at the half-dressed tall white girl, that day. I said, no, to the attendant.smile aid it again. Um, yeah, like I said, no. I went down the slide a bit annoyed. However,mafter falling out of a funnel into a yellow tank, I was in better spirits.

Lastly, we snuck on the extremely white sand beach of the resort, played in the water, and then headed back to the cable car. K had a bruise on each shoulder forming and some serious pain across her trachea. So, we said goodbye. I went my way, K and M, theirs. I showered, had an early dinner, and spent the rest of the night reading.

Of 04.03 (Nha Trang)

 I was woken up at 5:45am to a man banging on the door opposite my room. He was screaming that he needed to use the bathroom. The lady inside, Australian, screamed back to him in astonishment that he hadn’t gone upstairs. This was one of the many families staying at the hotel, split between rooms and floors, who seemed not to take note that there were other people in the small hotel. Not my ideal way to wake up. Gross, really.

I contemplated staying awake and going for a run, but decided to go back to sleep. I woke up almost every half hour until 830. My teaching schedule just didn’t want to leave me alone, and I felt like a bit of a lush making myself sleep “late” anyhow.

I had breakfast upstairs, and then I planned my day. Choosing accomodations that include a good inclusive breakfast are a must. Especially when there are western breakfast options. A pork or fish soup is not how I want to start my day, ever. Anyhow. Loaded up with sunscreen, I grabbed a map, wrote a few main roads on my hand, rented a bike, filled it up with petrol, and was on my. Walking was fun, but driving is so much more exciting.

 My first stop was the Hong Chong Promontory. There is a huge handprint indented into a boulder, said to be from a giant male fairy spying on a water fairy. The place was swarming with kids, so I opted out and took a picture from afar.

So, I just drove north and followed the coast. I went as far as I could until I hit, what looked like, an actual end of the road. There was blasting equipment, big rigs, and literally, no more road to be seen. As not to intrude on the site, (though I contemplated doing it and playing “stupid tourist”), I made a u-turn a few hundred meters beforehand.

 On the way to the eventual dead end, I took a right down a closed off, odd looking, beaten path. It led to a really eerie, run down, thatched-roof resort. I kept driving parallel to try to get in, but the 12 foot wall seemed to have no break. When I finally came to one, it was loaded with signs and wooden fences and barbed wire. Not wanting to give up, I saw another, less wretched, opening.

When I stopped my bike, three beautiful little kids came out of no where. The little girl grabbed my hand and showed me how to sneak in. They said “money” a few times, but were polite and totally adorbs and smiley. They walked around with me a bit, but stopped when I went further then they wanted to go. They really were cuties. The youngest boy was wearing a Santa suit. No big deal.

The vacant resort? was so odd. My pictures don’t do it justice. I was kind of scared, even in broad daylight. The structures were really really tall, and some of them that seemed ground level, when looked into, were in fact built into the cliff edge, and careened downward on the other side. It felt like an evacuated Ewok village. So desolate, so overgrown, so massive…I felt so small. I snapped a few pictures, got creeped out (which rarely happens), gave the cutie pies a little money, waved to their parents, and scooted away.

Next, I drove to Pongar Cham Towers, a Champa temple ground founded around 781 A.D. and now resting near the Cai River. It is fairly well renovated, except for the golden dome, which was stolen by pirates. I went in all of the mini shrines, took in the great view of a fishing port, and then, eventually, went out of bounds. Rather than take the front stairs back to ground level, I decided to shimmy down the steep, grassy, muddy incline in the back of the grounds. I nearly slid down the hill into the river. Seriously, thank goodness there was a fence. The gardener saw me slip, I just smiled and laughed a little nervous laugh as I gathered myself.

I then drove to Long Son Pagoda. I walked around where I was allowed, and of course, also where I perhaps wasn’t. The pagoda is a large complex that has a very big sleeping buddah, and an even larger sitting buddah. I didn’t have anything with me to show against them for size, but, you can see some people in one of the photos and assume the rest. The site is to commemorate the monks and nuns who died demonstrating against the Diem government.

Upon leaving the Pagoda, I chatted with the people looking after my bike. They were nice. They asked me if I was from Vietam. I said, yes. They replied, “you look Vietnam.” Huh, that was new.

I drove and drove and drove, until I was really hungry. Looking at my clock, it was nearly 2:30…oops, time to eat. I had fried tofu and pineapple at Mecca Lemongrass, and then went back to my hotel for a shower and little nap.

I walked around at night, didn’t really end up having dinner, and went to bed early. I was tired.

Of  04.02 (Nha Trang)

 Typhoon Pakhar tore through Ho Chi Minh last night. The wind and rain were so strong. It was intense. I had visions that all of the glass in my apartment was going to break. The noise of the tin roofs below me were so loud and scary. As a lot of the power was out in the hood below me, it was difficult to see, but there were roofs being torn off and large water tanks breaking off buildings and being hurled all over the place. All to say, not a good night of sleep, nor a peaceful thought as I was to travel early the next morning.

Yawn. I work up early and took a cab to the airport. As we drove through town, there were so many trees down and the mess of things, in general, was evident. Surprisingly though, even at 630am, there were already crews of people sweeping up piles of nature, and large trees that had fallen were already sawed and neatly sorted.

The domestic airport. It was, um…basic? I did not need to take off my shoes, sweatshirt, jewelry, sunglasses, etc at security. The guards were busy loitering so I just walked though the scanner unnoticed. I mean, I’m pretty sure that I could have smuggled some animals under my clothes and drugs in my bags, no problem.

As usual, locals deathly afraid of quiet, the airport, though small, was largely, and loudly, supportive of ADHD. For having only ten gates, divided into two small wings, it was a bit much. The intercom was incessant and spoke as follows:

Air Asia’s flight 1234 to Hanoi is now boarding…
Flight 1234 for Hanoi is now boarding….
Flight 1234 for Hanoi is now boarding…
Vietnam Air’s flight 4321 to Hue is now boarding…
Flight 1234 to Hanoi is now boarding…
Flight 4321 to Hue is now boarding…
Final call for Flight 1234 to Hanoi….
Flight 4321 to Hue is now boarding…
Final call for Flight 1234 to Hanoi….
Flight 4321 to Hue is now boarding…
Final call for Flight 1234 to Hanoi….
Final call for Flight 4321 to Hue….
Final call for Flight 1234 to Hanoi….
Final call for Flight 4321 to Hue….
Air Asia flight 1234 to Hanoi is now leaving, final call…
Final call for Flight 4321 to Hue….
Air Asia flight 1234 to Hanoi is now leaving, final call…
Final call for Flight 4321 to Hue….
Air Asia flight 1234 to Hanoi is now leaving, final call…
Final call for Flight 4321 to Hue….
Vietnam Air flight 4321 to Hue is now leaving, final call…
Vietnam Air flight 4321 to Hue is now leaving, final call…
Vietnam Air flight 4321 to Hue is now leaving, final call…

And then, after one flight left, the corralling pattern began again with a new flight. Did I mention there were only ten terminals, all in a small V-shape, and that it was only 745 in the morning? On top of all of this, on large tvs, Phineus and Ferb was playing at a loud volume, people were screaming at each other, over the noises, and kids were running around like they owned the place while there parents looked the other way, literally.

The flight was full of children who had no volume control, accompanied by parents who were more interested in reading their magazines than noticing their kids. I was glad it was a 45 minute flight.

 Upon landing, I met my hotel cab and prepared for a relaxing 45-minute drive on a coastal cliff highway. Nope. The driver drove over 50mph on the s-curve highway…with mountains to the left and a steep drop off into the ocean to the right. I was tossed from the left to the right side of the suv, but, oh well. The scenery was gorgeous. I was elated to be near water.

Arriving at my hotel around 915am, I was too early to check in, so I ditched my big bag and decided to walk around for a few hours. No biggie, this is what I like to do in a new place to get my bearings, anyhow. So, I wlked around and grabbed a late breakfast. Sadly though, due to Pakhar, the usually green water was an ovaltine brown. Boo, that had better clear up asap.

After I had walked for 3.5 hours, I checked in with the hotel. Nope, my room was still not ready as the previous guests checked out later then required. Sigh, I had to walk around for another hour. Err, I felt a bit grumbly as it was so hot out and I was tired….but, I made it fun by taking some pictures. I jumped a turnstile and walked around a small, old, amusement park. It was empty save a cleaner, and he didn’t seem to care that I was poking around every nook and cranny.

After having walked for over four hours, I finally checked in, showered, and took a nap. I woke up with a mild backpack-tank-top sunburn. Gah, that’s gonna leave a mark. Oh well. Time to eat.

I had dinner at Omars Indian restaurant. It was nice, but I ended up not being hungry, so…it was a nice snack vs. a dinner.  I was asked if I was from California. This happens a lot. And, it’s always California. When i ask the people why they guessed that part of the US, they just tell me “ you look California.”  I think it’s because that’s one of the only states they know.  I used to play around and say Boston, New York, Chicago…but I always got a glazed-over look. So, when they ask, California? I just go along with it. I pick a different city to be from each time.

After my little makhani snack, I decided to walk some more. Now that it was evening, the air was cooler, and the lights of the small sea-side city were energizing. I went back to the amusement park and took some night shots. The place was pretty empty, still, and again, no one seemed to care where I went or what I did. I could have operated a ride and no one would have minded.