We
couldn't wait to get to Nha Trang since we had heard it was a beautiful
little beach town. What we found was very different. The beach was
covered in garbage and the town had been completely westernized to suit
the tourists, with extortionate prices to match. We were actually
questioning whether we were still in Vietnam! We thought we'd give it a
chance anyway and decided to stay for two days.
Day 1: We went
to the Oceanographic Museum, after reading about its fascinating ocean
life and the loads of information displayed about their environment.
What we found was a row of small dirty aquarium tanks with some fish,
an actual small swimming pool lined with scum, where two sharks swam
around and round in small, tight circles in the brown water, a stuffed
shark and stingray, complete with bullet holes and collapsing heads,
and a huge dead manatee with its tongue sticking out, floating in
formaldehyde in a large fish tank. We were speechless. There was also
the empty pool with the display sign overhead stating, "Algae".
Fascinating. However, all of the tanks had that feature included
anyway. The grand finale was a room right out of a mad scientist movie,
with wall to wall, floor to ceiling shelves full of "specimens". Really
just different types of fish disintegrating in jars of formaldehyde. We
walked out without saying a word.
We decided to try to save the
day, so spent the afternoon tracking down the residence, which doubles
as the studio of a famous Vietnamese photographer named Long Thanh. He
was home, so showed us around his darkroom and gave us some advice. His
photos are incredible, especially since he only shoots with blk &
wht medium format film. He also develops and prints everything in his
own little darkroom, but only when he has the resources. Developer
isn't available in Vietnam, so he has to wait every few months for his
friend to bring it to him from Germany. Amazing. Check out his website:
www.longthhanhart.com
Day 2: We decided to do something silly
and fun, so we booked tickets for a well known party boat called Momma
Lins. We were supposed to spend the day snorkeling and floating in life
rings in the water while a floating bar comes around and serves you. We
sort of knew it was too good to be true. We were not wrong. This so
called "party boat" was full of Vietnamese families with children, the
"Crazy, Hilarious" guide we were promised, only spoke Vietnamese, so
they were the only ones who got any jokes. There were only five other
Westerners on the whole boat, and when it was time to eat and it was
discovered there wasn't enough seating around the table, we were
gathered up and put up on the roof of the boat to eat on the cement
floor. Our "afternoon" of snorkeling ended up being 20 minutes and the
"all you can drink" ended up being two dixie cups of Whiskey mixed with
wine (Ugh!) over a half hour period floating in the water. It got worse
from there, but it would take another two pages to list the ways in
which we got ripped off......again.
Vietnam is well known by
travellers for promising you one thing to get your money, then giving
you something so different you cannot believe how they can lie so
blatantly. Everyone laughs about it afterwards, but at the time you
just cannot believe it has happened again!
....And just like
that, we were in Da Lat. We arrived the next morning, and with Scott
and Reinira hired an "Easy Rider", which is a guide who takes you
through the highlands of Vietnam from anywhere between a few hours and
a few weeks. We spent the day on motorbikes cruising around visiting
tea and coffee plantations, silk worm farms, a village with a giant
chicken statue (why not?), and a bee farm. Good times. That is Da Lat
in a nutshell.
Next, Saigon and the finale of our Vietnam experience! I bet you can hardly wait to hear how it ends. : )
