Nha Trang - Beaches and Drinks

Next stop was Nha Trang. And let me just say, I've never gotten soo many mango shakes in 3 days! Megan stayed in Dalat for an extra day or 2, hopefully we run into her again!

The bus ride there was utterly amazing. Probably the most beautiful bus ride I’ve been on yet.. I caught myself sleeping at one point, woke up, saw the view I was missing because I dozed off, and stayed awake for the rest of the ride. There were mountains all around us, the road was very twisted and curvy, and at one point the driver stopped so we could all get out and take some photos! This was especially good because every time I went to take a photo while the bus was moving, it was blurry or a tree happened to find its way to the center of the photo.

When we finally arrived, it was only about 1:00, so we spent our first day at the beach, lounging around. The water was soo beautifully blue! And you could see mountains all in the distance, to the left and right. Some islands were across the water that we could see as well. There is a cable car that connects to that island, and it is the longest one over the sea in the world!! I guess there’s a big water park there too, but my budget definitely didn’t allow me to be able to go…

Nha Trang consisted of many late nights and many lazy days. I must say, it was probably the least exciting place I’ve been to in Vietnam so far. The beaches and tourist areas are mainly backpackers and Russians, so you’ll find many signs and restaurants with the menus in both English and Russian. What is difficult about this is that I’m a smiley person.. Most of you know I say hi to everyone, if not, I’ll at least smile at them, enjoying the smiles back as well… but, it was like the eastern Europeans; the Russians don’t smile. It took a little adjusting, but eventually I got a bit used to it.

Here’s a (maybe) easier way of writing the things we did while there:

Day 1: Ally, Lucy, & I - We got there early because Lucy only has 1 night here.
 - Took a cab to the Nha Trang Cathedral and Temple (with many Buddha’s).
 - Beach – the water is a seriously brilliant blue color, soo beautiful!!
 - Looked at the islands, cable car, and waterpark from afar (as mentioned above).
 - Watched people parasailing – it was seriously funny seeing them take off running across the beach, being dragged, dipped in the water and landing. It was great.
 - There are quite a few backpacker places to chill at night, so we went out and had a blast of an evening –one we’ll never forget! Ally went on a long walk that night, and Lucy and I fit on the back of a motorbike that someone else was driving; that’s 3 full sized people on the back of that thing! 2 of which were western! … Brilliant!
 - ALSO! Guess who we ran into!? The 2 Dutch guys, Frank & Ralph, and the Aussie gal, Patricia, from Dalat! Hah!!

Day 2: Ally & I – Lucy left today :( but Kate (gal I met in Siem Reap, then saw again in Koh Rong, and then again on the way to Saigon) came later that day!!
 - Easter mass at the Cathedral – it was all in Vietnamese, unlike last weekend in Saigon.. but still very nice to have a Catholic Church to go to on Easter day.
 - Said bye to Lucy, but we planned to meet up again at the next stop (Hoi An).
 - Got lunch.
 - I can’t really remember what we did today lol.
 - Ran into someone I met the night before!!
 - Met up with Kate! After I got a mango shake later on in the day.. And hung out the rest of the night.

Day 3: Ally, Kate, & I
 - Attempted to show Kate the Cathedral, but it was closed.
 - Long Tranh Art gallery –There is a photo gallery that is mentioned in Lonely Planet, Lucy wanted to go, but it was closed yesterday. Unfortunately after Lucy left, we went there with Kate, and luckily it was open!
           - It is a local photo gallery; the photographs are of the Vietnamese people and scenes, and each photograph truly shows the culture and emotion of the individual shown. They are truly beautiful.
           - We even got to meet Long Thanh!! And Kate, being the ballsy gal she is, asked if we could get a photo with him! :)

           - http://www.longthanhart.com/
 - Then we walked back through the local city streets and markets – saw no westerners.
 - Kate and I went to the beach and I blogged and fell asleep!

That night we took the night bus to Hoi An! Met some awesome English dudes named Jake and Mike.

<3 M