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Nha Trang, Vietnam: Jumping, Jiggling and Jam Jars!
After a long and cramped overnight train, we arrived in Nha Trang, which was just hosted the Miss Universe pageant. Thankfully there were no leftover leggy mutants still wandering around, so the self-esteem remains intact for the time being.
We only had one full day here really, which was spent island hopping and of course doing some drinking. Once we'd dumped our stuff at the hotel and had some breakfast, we jumped on a boat from the little harbour, and headed out to one of the fishing villages off the coast of Nha Trang. Once I finally get around to posting some photos you'll see how picturesque the views were - clear water, cliffs, and islands that looked like something out of "The Beach". We arrived at the first fishing village, and jumped into little round boats similar to the ones in the picture - made from bamboo and cow dung - lovely... I had my back to the island as we were paddled over, and reached into the water to pick up a plastic back which was floating past. Brigitte gave me a funny look and when I turned around I realised why - there was rubbish everywhere! When we asked Huy, he said that the fishing villages have always just dumped their rubbish in the ocean, but it's becoming a problem now because their rubbish is no longer just biodegradable. Such a shame, because it really ruined the beaches - I'm surprised they hadn't been cleaned up before the pageant.
After a quick walking tour of the island, where all the local kids yelled "Hello!" a the top of their lungs as we all walked past, we reached the other side and the aquarium. From the top of the tower there was a pretty awesome view of the bays and surrounding islands, but the aquarium itself was pretty disappointing - I think we've been spoilt having AQWA so close to home - in comparison, this place had very small, and fairly bare tanks, especially for the size of the fish and turtles which were in them. Some of the others seemed to enjoy it, but I found it a bit depressing.
After leaving that island, it was back on our boat and time for the veggie relaxing part (you know, compared to how stressful it was at the aquarium). The bench seats on the boat folded flat and we could lie down and have massages from the ladies who had come along specifically for that purpose - it's a hard life. I was too busy jumping off the roof of the boat for any of that though, plus the idea of massages has been gradually losing it's appeal after all the back cracking and bruising I've experienced so far!
The massage tables soon became a dining table and a massive spread of food was laid out (nope, we really don't do much other than eating on this trip), all fresh, locally caught prawns, squid, octopus and fish with yummy Vietnamese sauces and rice. Yay! From there it was on to one of the islands, where the rest of the afternoon was spent lying in deckchairs on a pebble beach (very weird to have no sand), getting a massage (Jen was the guinea pig - she had the first one to test if it would be like going to the chiropractor - and it wasn't), and reading a book in the sun. Remind me not to have a massage in public agaihn though - it's all well and good in a private room, but feeling your skin wobble and jiggle in public is a little bit unnerving! We also ran into Sarina and Vicky, two of the girls from the Cambodia tour - they said they'd also run into Grace, Scott, Sarah and Suzanne the day before. There's a pretty well-worn backpacker trail in these parts, so we could safely assume we'd all be running into each other fairly often over the next couple of weeks.
That night, we proved our theory. After dinner we headed out to a nearby bar, and saw Sarah an Suzanne ourselves. They came to the next club with us briefly, but I think the girls dancing on podiums in bikinis put them off a little bit and they headed off. Once again, more happy hardcore music and strange dance moves from the guys, but in the end we decided to just have a laugh and dance with them all. After drinking the whole club's supply of bottled water, and when we couldn't stand the music any longer, it was time to go. I'd had enough by that stage and was ready to go home with some of the others, but was pursuaded to go check out the sailor's club, and was glad I did. It was rigt on the beach, wiht an outdoor area filled with banana lounges, playing all Western music, full of other backpackers, and the entry fee included a free drink - a very potent vodka/orange style cocktail in a big plastic jam jar. We took quite a liking to these and ended up drinking way too many of them, which explains some of the interesting photos from that night, and why some people were piggybacked back to the hotel!
The next morning was a rare opporunity to sleep in. I checked out a few shops, and then jumped in another bus for ABT. Huy took us to another bloody temple, and explained that what looked like swastikas on the ceiling were actually originally a buddhist symbol. Then it was up lots and lots of stairs to the giant buddha on the hill, pretty cool, and lots of "ooh ahh" views to take photos of.
From there, it was time to finally get brown, for the first time on my entire trip - and by brown I mean covered in mud (you don't actually think I got a tan did you?). Huy took us to the mudbaths to get gorgeous, and after changing into bathers, showering in their mineral waters, and waiting on the steps, we were shown to what looked like a big brown empty spa! We all jumped in, and soon some seriously brown water started flowing in! I was expecting actual thick, goopy mud, but this was much more watery that I'd expected. Because the baths were built into the sides of hills though, it meant that ours was on a bit of an angle - so there was a deep end and a shallow end! Unfortunately for the most part I was on the shallower side, which made it much harder to hide the tummy rolls! After about 20 minutes in the mud baths, exfoliating, posing, and generally enjoying being dirty, it was time to get out and let it all bake into our skin. With the humidity and slight drizzle though, it didn't quite work! Trying to wash that stuff off though, especially in a public, outdoor shower, is a bit of a mission! Even after about 5 minutes, I kept finding little mud deposits tucked into strange corners of my bathers... So now it finally goes thick and goopy! Then it was into the warm mineral water baths - unfortunately my body's temperature regulation is completely messed up, so I didn't last long before I had to get out and sit on the edge - the water was too hot! Then into the hydrotherapy showers - jets of water which squirt out of the walls as you walk through. Then finally, to the pool - we thought we'd be able to cool off in here, but even the pool was hot!
We were supposed to head to a look-out after this, but by this stage it was getting late, there was an overnight train to catch, and we were all desperately in need of a shower first! Once we got back there was just enough time to pack our bags and grab some food before jumping in another overnight train, this time to Hoi An.
More details later...
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