We arrive earlier than expected in Nah Trang at 6:30am. At first there is a lot of hanging around until we figure out where the hotel is, but thankfully, as we are carrying all of our belongings, it is only just around the corner from the bus operators office.
My room isn’t ready, so I leave the bags at the hotel and walk the short walk to the beach to check out prices for water skiing or jet skiing. Water skiing is 875k Dong for a half hour which, at about £30/£35 doesn’t seem very tempting. Jet Skiing is slightly cheaper at 700k Dong, but I am told that at least the water skiing is only doable in the morning due to tide conditions, so I leave it. I doubt I will be in a fit state to do it tomorrow morning, and I am planning a group island hopping boat trip the following day.
I meet up with Belgian Sam and Caz on the beach. Lying about for while, a lady with her mobile kitchenette offers us Lobster. While it seems odd to be having Lobster for an albeit late breakfast, at the equivalent of £7 for a large fresh lobster I can’t resist. It’s the best meal I have had so far on this trip and we are aided by the not entirely necessary guidance of a young local boy telling us how to crack it open with our hands.
I also buy a Thailand Lonely Planet from another beach combing merchant for less than £5. It’s not a real one at this price of course but, even if I was so inclined, it is impossible to find genuine non-photocopied versions of any English language or western books in Vietnam.
In the afternoon I join Sam and Caz on a tour of sites around Nah Trang, these consisting mainly of religious sites of one form or another, e.g. a Buddhist temple and monastery with a very large Buddha at the top of a hill, a Christian church at the top of another hill and one of indeterminate origin, at the top of a hill. The highlight for me though is a stop by the coast where we wander onto some boulders jutting out providing us with a serene view across the bay.
The lowlight would be a visit to a sealife museum featuring skeletal, pickled or taxidermied remains of various sea creatures, such as a whale shark, a hammerhead and a manatee. This wasn’t so off putting, but a lonely looking seal swimming kept in a pool with only a couple of turtles for company was. There were also various other live animals kept in tanks, though none looked so sad as the seal.
 |
| Sammy the Lonely Seal |
In the evening, about twelve of our group meet up to go to a restaurant to start New Year’s Eve celebrations. Wine is at western prices here, but we splash out on many bottles before moving onto the beachside Nah Trang Sailing Club where there’s a big party. There’s a live band of locals playing covers of Bon Jovi and such like. Drinks are about five times more expensive here than at other bars, but when you are paying less than £4 for a ‘jar’ of vodka and orange, I still couldn’t complain.
After the band there’s a DJ and a couple hundred drunk people dancing.
The non-dancers of our group have gathered around a few deck chairs. Scots widow Helen announces loudly that she has lost her shoes. Five minutes later she declares that ‘I’ve found them, they were on my feet’. Not long after, she decides she is ready to go back the hotel. Later, Hughie is looking for his shoes. Someone points out that they looked very much like the shoes that Helen went home wearing.
A fun New Year’s night was not necessarily had by all, as the two Sam’s almost get into a fight: Essex vs. Belgium. With some cajoling from me, and some manhandling from Joost, Essex is persuaded to leave the scene....
Belgium is not too shaken up though, and I am told he later relaxed himself by jumping naked into the sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment