Good morning SE Asia!: Nha Trang

We got up late and didn't have much planned for our first day in Nha Trang. We needed to buy a few things, but in general decided to take it easy and find out what Nha Trang is all about.

First things first, we went for breakfast and it was a feast. Probably the best buffet breakfast we had seen for a while with everything you can possibly imagine that someone might fancy before 10am - eggs, pancakes, pastries, fruit, sausages, fried noodles and fried rice, porridge and much more. It was great once you actually managed to fight your way through hordes of other tourists and safely returned your plate to your table.

The first stop was one of Nha Trang's shopping malls, which was the first Western looking shopping mall we had seen in Vietnam. Everything was overpriced and we really didn't fancy spending money unnecessarily. We walked up to the top floor though and spontaneously decided to have a fish spa. It's basically a water tank filled with little fish that nibble away on your dead skin. It's also supposed to be good for circulation. Only problem is that it is extremely tickely! It was a nice thing to do though and prepared our feet nicely for the unexpected 10k hike through Nha Trang in search for a bike shop which in the end we didn't find and then took a taxi back. Too tired to do anything exciting we just had dinner in a place close by.

The other thing that seems to be a must-do when in Nha Trang, especially when the weather isn't that great (it was mainly raining when we were there) is to visit a mud bath. It's a local place used by tourists and Vietnamese, not to expensive and about 4k from the hotel. We took a taxi to it in the morning. The bath tubs are all lined up next to each other. You can choose a communal one or a personal one or a VIP one. We chose the personal tub. Once you sit in the tiny american-western style tub together head to toe, they the pour in the mud. It looks like Nesquik but doesn't necessarily taste like Nesquik. Greg and I made sure we agreed on that after a few tastes. After the 20mins mud treatment we jumped into a super hot mineral bath for about 10 mins, it was too hot, and then we used the cold mineral pools which are available for everybody. Great fun! We felt nice and relaxed afterwards. We got back and spent that evening in a craft brewery pub on the beach. Nice place with tasty beers and a terrible house band that murdered a few classics as we sat on a beach table!

Day 3 we spent on a snorkelling boat trip. Greg loves snorkelling and even though I am unsure about the whole deep water thing, I like to come and spend time on the boat and maybe one day I will become a master snorkeller.

The weather was a little bit better today, but it did start raining later on. We walked across the road to the tour company and they drove us to the harbour. There were about 80 boats in the harbour all packed with tourists on snorkelling or diving trips and all trying to leave at the same time. It was madness and difficult to understand how they manoeuvred between the chaos out into the open sea, but somehow it worked with the old tyres strapped to each boat. We passed a big cable car that takes people from the mainland to "Nha Trang land" or how it is really called, Vinpearl, which is an island just off the coast and now a big resort and water park.

We also noticed that all the blokes on the boat had the same hair cut, sunglasses and beard. Must be a traveller style that we don't understand yet. We shared the boat with a few people who were on a diving course but we all went to the same three snorkelling spots. Greg said that the first spot was the best, video to be added later! After lunch, on the third stop Greg got a little bit of extra unwanted exercise. The boat dropped off all divers and snorkellers (I stayed on the boat with the crew) and then decided that they have to quickly go to nearby resort around the corner to pick up some new passengers. It was only going to be about 15min until we came back and we shouted to Greg to wait, but he didn't hear the whole message and decided to follow the boat. He was already quite close to catching up when we returned. The guys on the boat were very impressed and laughed when he got on the boat for 1min just to jump off into the sea again!

That evening I was in for a big fright! We bought some green Jasmine tea which was in my half open front bag. I went to open it up and there it was - a thumb-sized Gecko staring at me! I started jumping up and down on tip toes, simultaneously clapping the front and back of my hands together frantically whilst shouting "Geeeeeeccccckkkkkooooo" which Greg thought was hilarious!

Tomorrow back on the bikes.