Nha Trang

Monday 1st October 2007
A long day: 10 hours on a train from Hoi An to Nha Trang, with cockroaches and 2 free meals that literally smelt like poo, thrown in for free. It wasn''t just me - the tour leader, Hoang brought his own food too. But it could have been worse - I got some reading done and had fun arsing around with Briony.

Tuesday 2nd October 2007
Lazy day. I had a lie-in and then had lunch, which consisted of some Gorgonzola pasta and a salad entitled "Green salad, Garlic'' - and it was just that: green lettuce leaves with lumps of garlic! But it had some oil on the side and was really nice. Although Briony was not so keen on it - at least, not on the odour I exuded for the rest of the day, and probably the next. But I''m a big fan of garlic and it's a massive part of the diet in Vietnam.
Then on to a mud bath! I was expecting the mud to be lumpy but it was like watered down clay. Then we walked through various showers and sat in a hot tub. At the end of the process we swam in two VERY hot swimming pools of mineral water. I couldn't stay in the second one (38 degrees!) for too long as it was so overwhelming.
All very pleasant, except for a rich Japanese woman who was very rude to me and ruined my reverie for a while. But then I remeberbred where I was and got over it!
I always wondered what a mud bath would feel like. It''s quite weird. I can''t say I noticed much difference to my skin, but it was worth the experience.
In the evening we went for a BBQ in a place which was very popular with the local people as well. Mini BBQs were placed on the table and we were given plates of food to cook. As usual, being special (a veggie) I got my own personal BBQ!
Afterwards we went for a piss up in a touristy joint with two for one on cocktails, which reduced my already fairly poor pool game to an almost non-existent game.

Wednesday 3rd October 2007
Another lazy day. We went on a boat trip and did some snorkelling - or not, in my case. I sort of dipped my head in the water for a few seconds with some very uncomfortable goggles plastered to my face, swam about for a bit, and got back on the boat again. The water was cold and muddy and the current was strong. No-one seemed really in the mood either, which I think was partly due to sea sickness. We had another feast served up for us, but again, because of the choppy conditions, we couldn't really eat.
Nevertheless, the journey was very enjoyable and I prefer slightly cooler, stormy conditions to the scorching sun of the dry season. We stopped off on a very cute beach and I had my first ever manicure and pedicure! Although the woman trying to do something with my chewed up fingernails had a bit of a job on her hands. And I had a Vietnamese massage! Luxury. Elin, one of the Swedes, and I had our manicure, pedicure and massage at the same time. We kept exchanging looks as one of the women pampering us would not stop talking. She literally talked non-stop for about 45 minutes and her friend barely got a word in. It was quite curious. Of course, we had no idea what she was talking about but by the end we wondered if she wasn't one fruit short of a basket.
Speaking of baskets, we stopped off on a small fishing island where most of the fishing is done from small basket boats. It takes 2 weeks to make one boat but they looked pretty sturdy and last for about 5 years. Apparently they are used in Wales as well!
On the island, there were a few cockerals in cages. The inhabitants of the island were having a day of rest and were gearing up to an immenent, illegal cock fight!
In the evening we caught a our last night train - to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). It was the most uncomfortable yet, with the beds so hard that most people hardly got a wink of sleep. But we played cards again before going to bed ,which was really fun. The group has really bonded over the last few weeks - partly during our raucous card games.