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Day 14 & 15 Departing for Nha Trang
Day Fourteen
The train was scheduled to leave at 10:30 PM, so we waited until after dinner before we packed our bags and left. Kha was going to stay at Xai's house to look after Robert. I said goodbye to him just before we took off.
That was a difficult moment. I'm sure Thu hated leaving Robert as well. We collected the friends who were going to travel with us and headed to the Train Station.
Day Fifteen, 05/30
Our car was a sleeper car, six people per compartment. It was fairly comfortable, air-conditioned, but noisy. The bed was just big enough. This particular train was an express, so it got to Nha Trang just as the sun was rising. Miss Hong is very aggressive about seizing advantages. We ended up having to stand by the car exit for thirty minutes because of her determination to be the first one off the train.
Nha Trang is a pretty little resort town on the coast north of Saigon. It was little cooler and more comfortable then Siagon. Since tourism plays an important role here, the town is much neater, with wider streets and more spaces between the buildings, then is typical for Saigon. There's also a beautiful beach with only a modest crowd.
We got to our hotel about 6:30 or so, we were all tired, so after a bit to eat, we decided to sleep for awhile. Well, that while ended up lasting until 3:00 O'clock. That was annoying, but I guess Miss Hong doesn't travel well. None of the ladies like heat and bright sunlight, so getting them out of their rooms before the afternoon was just not going to happen.
At least the hotel was nice, this was my first experience with a One Star Hotel. It had hot showers, flush toilets and air conditioning, and it was clean, so I didn't have much to complain about. About 3:00 we stirred out of our rooms and headed off. Thu said we were going swimming, but when we left the hotel, we drove past and away from the beach. We stopped to pick up some more friends and then headed on to our destination. By this time our party consisted of five ladies, three children and two male adults, myself included. Where were we going? But to the locally renowned hot springs!
The springs where a mixed experience. The place was beautiful, but a little crowded. We took a mud bath, which I consider to be an extremely pointless exercise. After that we hit the hot tubs, those were great, except that.... Well, hot tubs are supposed to be a place to relax, something that's basically impossible with three bored rambunctious children around. After that we spent sometime in the swimming pool. The pool was heated to 38 degrees C (natural heat), so any kind of exercise was impossible. On the plus side, there was plenty of shade so we didn't have to worry about getting sunburned. Another shortcoming was the absence of any kind of cold pool. Some of us boiled ourselves in the pool, others took off to get a massage. There were also some nice showers, one was set up like a waterfall, the other shot water at you from both sides at high pressure. All and all a nice place, but the experience was somewhat spoiled by the children. Someday I'd like to come back here with just my wife. (I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures of this place, but camera's weren't allowed.)
We got back into Nha Trang after dark and stopped at a restaurant for dinner. The whole place was an advertisement for San Miguel beer. Posters where everywhere and the waitresses wore tight outfits with San Miguel all over them, and the first question they would ask, (in English) is "Would you like some San Miguel beer". I did
notice some Hienkens bottles so San Miguel wasn't the only choice. Despite the overt marketing emphasis, the food was really really good. (lightly battered fried octopus, hmmm....)
After dinner we spent some time walking along the beach. Personally, I thought that was pointless, it was dark, so you couldn't see anything. (Except for the vague shapes of some young people doing what young people will do when the lights out.) Well, it was good exercise anyway. We stopped for some ice cream, and then headed back to our hotel. Made it to bed about 11:00 PM, dead tired, ready for about 12 hours of sleep, when Thu says "By the way, we have to get up at 5:00 Am, so that we can go to Monkey Island", "Good Night".
Monkey Island! What the hell is Monkey Island!?! |
Date(s): June 22, 2004. Album by Steven W Dugger. 1 - 2 of 2 Total. 216 Visits. |
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