Nha Trang

Friday, Sept. 8, 2006--Bus to Nha Trang

The bus picked me up at the hotel. I was their first pickup, so I had my choice of seats. We stopped at a few more hotels and picked up 6-8 more tourists. Then we went to the bus agency station. There was a huge crowd of Vietnamese waiting there--more than there were enough seats. So there was a big push for people to get onto the bus. Finally, all the seats were filled and we took off. I was sitting beside a 28-year-old Japanese man who has been touring here for a couple of months. He spoke English well, so we visited some. The bus stopped at 10:30 and again around 12:30. Then we rode through the rest of the night. I tried to sleep and did some, but it was difficult. I was tired when we arrived in Nha Trang around 6 a.m.

Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006--Nha Trang

The bus stopped just around the corner from the hotel I had chosen. I got my luggage and walked there quickly and had a room and was in it by 6:30. It's the same kind of room as usual with a/c. mini-fridge, cable TV, etc. I got it for $11 including free Internet and free breakfast. I immediately climbed into bed and slept until 10:30.

I decided to do some laundry since the room is one where the a/c runs all the time. Many hotels here have the a/c attached to a system that operates only when the room key is inserted in a slot on the wall. With a/c all the time, clothes are more likely to dry. So I filled the sink with soap and water and washed a shirt, a pair of shorts, and a pair of underwear.

Nha Trang is a beach community. I should say city instead of community. It's a big place with a long beach. Hotels line the roadway across the street from the beach. There are islands out in the bay and mountains at each end of the beach to give it a dramatic setting like many beaches in Brazil. There is a promonade along the beach, then there is a grassy area between the promonade and the street. (It's the kind of design that Corpus Christi wanted to implement by moving the wide unused median from between the traffic lanes so that it would be next to the sidewalk and provide grassy areas for games and sitting.)

When we arrived this morning, the beach was full of local people. Others were exercising in the grassy areas. And still others were jogging along the street. That was at 5:30!! It was rather deserted during the day except for a few tourists trying to turn themselves red. Then it was busy with local people again in the late afternoon. Many boys were playing soccer in various locations on the beach. Lots of people were in the water. And all the benches were full of people just sitting and relaxing.

It seems cooler here in Nha Trang. That's because of the seabreeze coming off the water. Actually, it isn't really cooler. I can tell, because my face becomes oily within 30 minutes of going out and my shirt starts sticking to me. I never realized I had oily skin until being here in Vietnam. My face stays shiny all the time here.

I had lunch in a restaurant recommended by the guidebook. I had wild pork with lemongrass and chile. It was a lot of meat and not enough rice. But it was delicious. There were bamboo shoots in the dish, however, that were just too tough to be edible. I moved them to the side and ate every bite of the rest of it--pork, onions, green onions, green bell pepper, red hot peppers, and sauce.

I read for a while at the beach. But I became tired again. I went back to the room and fell into a deep sleep. Now I wonder if I will be able to sleep tonight. Anyway, it is nighttime now. I've wandered along the beaches and explored some of the streets inland. It's a little after 7, and I will go to find a place for dinner when I post this entry.

One more comment: They are running an interesting ad on TV here that I have seen several times. It stars a Chinese martial arts film star (Jackie Chu?). He is talking to children who are playing with paper birds (Japanese origami). He talks about the fact that children should not play with live birds or parts of birds that have been killed because it can cause them to get a disease (bird flu). But he assures them it is fine to play with paper birds. It seems like a rather effective ad campaign. I hope they are showing it on local television as well as the cable channels I am watching.