So I arrived in Nha Trang at 6:30am this morning (the bus trips always take longer than they say). It was an incredibly bumpy journey - it was like there were road works the whole way! I actually did see some places along the road that were sectioned off with lots of broken glass on the road... not a good sign! Anyway, as the sun came up, the full moon started to set against the mountains (a new landscape) - it looked amazing!!
Though I tell you, many Vietnamese people are not very polite - when I got on the bus, the bus company guy kept pushing me up the aisle to a seat that he designated for me (don't ask me why I couldn't have chosen my own seat??) and he kept saying, "go! Go! go!" whilst pushing me! Also at the guest house, all the staff are generally so indifferent to you, so nothing, and they act like it is this HUGE effort to pass you a menu or something - it's bizarre!! Like they just want to watch TV and not be disturbed!! Sometimes in the street I have had people push me aside to get past - no "excuse me" or Vietnamese sounding equivalent!!
Anyway, when I arrived in Nha Trang at 6:30am, sure enough there were men waiting there, waiting to take us to the hotel where they get commission. So I get on the back of the scooter and tell the driver I want to go to Blue Star, and of course he says, "I take you to another good place. Cheap place". Well I made him take me to Blue Star. I always forget that when the drivers ask if I already have a reservation there I need to say yes!! Not no like I often say when I'm not thinking cause then they pester you!
So later on I walked down to the beach - unlike Mui Ne this one really has beautiful blue/green water and it is so warm - like a warm bath!!!
On the way to the beach, I was stopped by some guys with scooters who wanted to take me on a tour of the Central Highlands, like the kind of tour I did to the Mekong Delta - and guess what? This guy also pulls out a book of references from travellers just like the Saigon guy did! And of course when they ask where you're from, and I say Australia, they always show you the referrerences from the Aussies saying how good he was. And the whole time I;m thinking - yes and you didn;t get the references from the people who didn;t like you of course!! haha. I tell you they are pushy guys!!
So on the beach, it was really beautiful, but it's funny - there's no forgetting you're in Vietnam cause the whole time you have people coming up to you saying, "Madam, you want painting?", "Donut banana mango?", "Nice lady you want massage?", "You want cheap food?". I really don't get it though cause I have never seen anyone buy their food / paintings / postcards / books etc. Do they really sell anything?? And it would have been so hot walking around in the sun all day! It was funny too cause I heard this one guy ask the man selling the paintings if he painted them himself, and of course he says yes. So the other guy asks, "But how come there are different signatures?" and the painting man replies, "same same but different". hahaha!
For lunch I went to a restuarant which supports an orphanage and pays for children to go to school and do further study if they want. I had yummy tofu in a tomatoey sauce.
In the afternoon, when the sun was going down, the Vietnamese people came out to the beach (I imagine they don;t go in the day cause they don;t want to tan). Some of them were collecting the little crabs on the sand that come out of those little holes. Are they going to eat them?? I guess so!
Tomorrow I have booked a GROUP tour to go island hopping around Nha Trang. I would really like to meet someone who has a scooter so we can drive up to where there are really nice secluded beaches... but I would have to meet that person... these are things I can't do alone if I won't try driving a scooter!!
xxx Orna
