Mama Linh's

Trip Start Feb 28, 2009
1
45
64
Trip End Aug 06, 2009


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
shadow
Where I stayed
Thuy Duong
(Nha Trang hotels)

Flag of Vietnam  ,
Monday, June 29, 2009

We took the elusive TRAIN down to Nha Trang, but we had to first get a taxi from Hoi An to Danang 30 minutes and soooo worth it. I say elusive because for some reason none of the tour operators want to sell you a train, perhaps they want all the smelly backpackers and tourists on the bus? I have no idea, they pretend to call the train station and then say they are all full up, so we had to walk to the train stations ourselves, during lunchtime which is a big deal here, they take lunch serious, everything closes from 12- 1:30 but a wonderful train attendant saw us and helped us get tickets. Seriously, its a chore to get on the train. We waited at the train station for an hour and a half, it was a little late, we were nearly the only Westerners in a packed house. We finally boarded the train and it was heavenly, a bed to fully lay out on and we were on the bottom so we had a table to play cards on. They only bad thing about the train is the time, it left at 2pm and took 9 hours, so daytime traveling. There is no announcer to know when we arrive at our destination, not that it would've been in English anyway, but the coach attendant opens your cabin and starts folding the blanket, that's the hint.

So we made it late into Nha Trang, got a taxi to a hotel, it was booked so the guy led us to another guesthouse, $10 for a very large room with a/c, tv, fridge, etc. Very nice. We spent the next day on the beach, paid for the shade and chairs, and relaxed at the nice beach...ahh such is life. Soft sleeper on train
Soft sleeper on train
 We went on Mama Linh's boat tour, kinda strange tour not what we were expecting but still good. Snorkeled at the "protected" spot and paid extra and watched jerkbags stand and sit on the coral. Heres my thought: if a place is "protected" it means from people and we shouldn't be allowed to go there, very annoying. But I guess its necessary to stand on the reef so you can fix our mask. ugh. Anyway, lunch was entertaining, they brought out heaps of food and its polite in Vietnam for your host to bring more food than you can eat and its polite not to eat all of it..pffeef! Then the band played, the drum kit was the best, hand assembled from bamboo poles, buckets, and pans - classic. The guide brought up different nationalities and had a song from each country, pretty impressive. Then we danced to La Bamba and then jumped overboard in floaties and swam up to the floating bar, which was our guide on raft. I'm not gonna lie, that part was really fun. But ten the rest of the tour was weird, we stopped at a resort that you had to pay so you could lay or sit on the beach. So lots of just stayed on the boat. Then we went to an aquarium, the building looked like an old ship, very cool.
After the tour we went back to the hotel to wait for another overnight sleeper bus! Actually, this sleeper bus was much more comfortable and actually slept some over the 10 hour ride.



Slideshow Print this entry