Good Vorning Mietnam
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2008
1
9
104
Trip End
Feb 26, 2010
Nha Trang, Vietnam
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The journey was another uneventful, mishap free one. On arrival in Nha Trang, the first thing we noticed was the heat - compared to the highlands from where we came it was about 15 degrees hotter! We headed straight for the beach which is more or less the best thing to do in Nha Trang.
We spent the rest of the day chillaxing on the beach and eyeing up potential spots for the next day and then ate dinner in a little restaurant called 'Cheers'. Much to Stuart's disappointment, they didn't know his name, although they were glad we came.This became our favourite place to eat, as it was very very cheap, rfiendly and good food
Zero Degrees with a pool!
. Rachel tried the cocktails at 50p a go - the cocktail 'Good Morning Vietnam' very soon became 'Good Vorning Mietnam'as she tried to order another, due to their generous measures of rum! We met up with a Dutch guy who we'd talked to briefly in Dalat and went for a few, very expensive, drinks after dinner.The next day we spent lying by the pool at the Louisiane Brewhouse - a microbrewery/beach club. It reminded us of Zero Degrees in Blackheath, except that it was sunny and the home brewed beer was a pound a glass (that's expensive here though).
Having got very burnt (Stuart not Rachel as she was sensible and wore suncream) we went back to our hotel and booked ourselves on a boat trip for the next day - 'Hanh's Green Hat Boat Tour'. No relation to Roger Red Hat.
This was the most bizarre experience of our trip, and possibly our lives so far! Hanh is one of those infectiously bubbly people who initially seems a little insane but is only trying to make everyone have a good time. A 'party catalyst', as Stuart put it. The trip started pretty lamely with a visit to a fairly mediocre aquarium on one of the islands. Was pretty though
In the pool
. Next, we anchored up by a reef and went snorkelling. The visibility was really poor (especially for Rachel who kept going under forgetting to put her mask on and therefore saw nothing and ended up with very sore eyes!) so we ended up ditching the snorkelling and having a swim. This in itself was an adventure due to the currents which meant you suddenly found yourself miles from the boat in a matter of seconds - good exercise getting back!At this point, the trip headed towards the surreal - the seats turned into a huge table and we all had dinner together followed by... Karaoke Hanh style - An old drumkit and guitar appeared, the table became a 'stage/dancefloor' and Hanh grabbed people of varying nationalities to 'represent their country' singing. He twirled a few Chinese girls around who looked very embarrassed and presented them with roses. Luckily, we escaped singing as he grabbed 'Mr Steve' from England first who winded up singing House of the Rising Sun with additional shouting and cheering from Hanh!
Just to get a picture of Hanh, here are some quotes...
'Good luck to you, happy new year, happy christmas, happy birthday',( followed by singing happy birthday in a very strong Vietnamese accent- it was nobody's birthday and this is September!) He said this several times throughout the day
The beach
!'everybody say ooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyy!'
And the next quote needs to be given in context...
We had been promised a floating bar and envisaged a shack whch we tied the boat upto and had a drink at but instead...
we jumped off the boat in rubber rings and were greeted by a floating polystryrene box tied to the boat by a long rope, with 'Dalat mulberry wine' inside. Hanh served this up to us in the water and we swam around drinking it. He claimed the wine was called, in English 'f***ing minging wine. It's f***ing sh*t!' We weren't sure if he knew exactly what this meant but it got a few laughs so he continued to shout it while swimming around and pouring us some more.
We then were taken to an island with a beach where we swam some more, drank some beer and soaked up the sun. We were greeted by a 'fruit party' on our return to the boat where we sampled lots of Vietnamese fruits on our way back to the harbour.
A fantastic trip and would recommend it to anyone. They all seem to take the same format but this is the only one with Hanh and he made the day for us!
Off to Hoi An now to get some new clothes!
xxx
Comments
Floating bar
I loved it!
Floating bar
What did you love? x