Nha Trang-Hoi An, Vietnam: 30 Apr 07

Hello! Hong

i woke up at 6.30am, except for the hard bed, the night was fine. I got my things packed and left the guest house. The hotel mama was very kind. Hugged and said good bye to me. We both busying bid fare well and forgot about my passport. i found that i did not take my passport when i got to the bus company in the town centre. Then walked back to the guesthouse again.

The bus was at night, so i had a walking tour in the town. i first when to the local small museum and then the market. i felt so funny when the shopkeeper quoted me a T shirt at 90000 D. i got one at 25000 D in Saigon, so i knew this was a few times of inflated price. i then said 20000 D and i got the T shirt at this price then.

Little did i expect that i would meet this kind Vietnamese girl, Hong. She approached me while i was visiting the town church. She came here with her mother to visit her relative and she invited me to join her in walking around the town. So we went to a temple together, the Cham ruins and chilled out at a small island. It was a nice tour and we got to one after another destination on her motorbike. However i felt sorry that she had to pay the inflated foreigner rate because she was with me.

Towards this stage of my trip, i think i like Vietnamese coffee. However it was kind of like really strong. Normally if i asked them to make the coffee less strong, then the aroma was really good then. i bought a small coffee maker at 20000 D. It would be useful to make a cup or two of coffee when i got back home.



Street scene, near to Dam Market.



Across the street, the castle-like building is Nha Trang Cathedral.
The Catholic cemetery not far from the church was disinterred to make room for a new train-station building. The ashes were brought to the catherdral and rebureid in the cavities behind the wall of plaques that line the ramp up the hill.



The 14-m high huge white Buddha of Long Son Pagoda. We took the 152 stone steps to get to the platform.
The top of the hill has great views of Nha Trang and nearby rural areas.



The Cham towers of Po Nagar stand on a granite knoll and on the banks of the Cai River.



One of the Cham towers built between 7th and 12 centuries. This site was used for Hindu worship but today, both Chinese and Vietnamese buddhists come to pary and make offerings.



We took a short boat ride to get to this isle. There is a buddhist temple on this small isle.

MONEY MATTER:
1.) Food: 62000 D
2.) Transport: 30000 D
3.) Others: Shopping T shirt - 20000 D

Nha Trang, Vietnam - 29Apr07

Sorry, Julian ...

This was a diving day. The first dive was sucked! We went to 30meter and i lost my bouyancy and shot up to the surface with my partner (Julian, a French dive master). I event kicked off his regulator because i was too panicked! It was dangerous and i really felt bad for him. i always have some kind of problem when i do my first dive. Next time, i would never do a deep dive in my trip first dive!

The second dive was good then. Shallow dive at around 15 meter. Many hard corals but not as many soft corals. The usual fishes like parrot fish, angel fish, moray... The bouyancy was ok and i dived for 57 minutes! This was considered as long.

The water clearity in Nha Trang is basically so so. Marine life is not as great as in Malaysia too. Diving is not a popular sport in Vietnam, so basically no local divers. However it was nice to have someone who i can speak in English without thinking, how am i supposed to make him/her understand me?

One of the dive instructor, Larry is from New York. It was really interesting to talk with him. He said he left America because he felt disspointed with the country. He has been living in Vietnam for 6 years. According to him, at least living in a foreign country with a kind of culture which he could never understand is easier.

On my way to go back to the guest house after the dive, i met Joy (the Isreali guy) on the street again! He was supposed to leave around 2pm, so i was quite surprised to see him. He basically shouted my name for 2 streets! i thought it was some tout shouting at me, so i just ignored him. Until after 2 streets, i decided that i have never met such a persistant tout and i should really look at him. Then, well, it was him. It was really funny.

So actually the hotel mother and daughter are sleeping in the living room of the hotel! They set up a bed of me and i shared that 'room' with them. Everyone passing by or in out of the hotel could see me sleeping there. i was half a slept when i overheard someone asked a for a room. Basically there were 2 female asking for a room first but they refused to pay for such a simple room at 15 USD. They probably met this guy who was willing to share the room with them. Then 3 of them walked back. The hotel mama refused to let 2 of them to share a room, saying either 2 girls or 2 boys only. Then out of sudden, they guy said, "i am a gay, so this is not a problem!" i don't believe this at all and i was laughing like hell then. Such a night.



The water look blueist and clear but in fact the visibility of water was not as great. Likely to be 10meter.
The boat ride to this dive site took around 45 minutes from Nha Trang town.



Nha Trang beach in the evening.



The town at night. A lot of alcohol.


MONEY MATTER:
1.) Food: 51000 D
2.) Accommodation: USD 7
3.) Others: 39000 D

Dalat-Nha Trang, Vietnam - 28Apr07

"Do you have a room?"

i got to Nha Trang in the afternoon. Every hotel and guest house telling me that "full". i refused to pay USD 20 for a room which normally costs USD 10, so i just walked along the street from one end to the other.

Then i went inside a guest house (probably my number 20th time to ask "Do you have a room?") run by a mother and 2 teacher daughters. i told them that i am a student and i am solo and really need a room. Then they offered me their room at the back of the hotel (not a hotel room) at USD 7 (after my bargain), but i need to check out tomorrow at 6am because even this tiny room will be rented out! USD 7 at this festive time, so i just took it! They said if i don't feel like to move then, i could stay in the room of the mother and a daughter the next day! i treated this as some kind of home stay and was happy to enough to have a place to stay.

i started to walk around the town to look for dive centre. One of the main purpose i came to Nha Trang is to dive! Then i met this very cute and interesting young guy from Isreal, Joy, while having my dinner at an Italian restaurant. After that, we hang out for a while to have a drink near to the beach and took street dessert. It was fun to have someone to come out with at night!



The bus was approaching Nha Trang. Nha Trang is said to be the place to come and party.



Nha Trang Beach. The town area is built along the long beach line.



The street food stall. This one sells a kind of coconut milk desert served with sago ball, peanut and baked banana. It is extremely sweet and Joy loved it!


MONEY MATTER:
1.) Transport: 20000D
2.) Food: 102000 D
3.) Dive: 35 USD 2 dives including lunch
4.) Accommodation: 7 USD