Nha Trang - Jewls Vern Novel without the Submarine
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2005
1
7
58
Trip End
Dec 27, 2005
Nha Trang,
Vietnam
Monday, February 7, 2005
The scenery along the route is nice. Funny thing is there isn't much to see but hills, rice paddies and well...more rice paddies. It is nice to see the countryside change to include palm trees though. I tell you, anywhere a palm tree can live must be a nice place
Hitting the Beach - Finally!
. And we were looking for a beach.Nha Trang is a busting resort town on the coast. It is turning into one of those places with a long white beach and big hotels along it. Lots of european tourists coming to escape the misery of their respective climates.
We spent yesterday on the beach as I struggled to get over my first digestive issues. I was just commenting on how nice it was that we had as of yet avoided any of those issues when bam - heartburn like you can't believe. Spent the day on the beach, felt better in the evening.
Everywhere in town in the evenings here everyone is out and about. The vietnamese are preparing for Tet and working harder than usual. I am beginning to think though, that they may just be moving things around constantly to look busy... not sure. Funny to see the families and young couples cruising the town on their motor scooters in the evenings. The further south we get, the more extroverted the people seem to get.
So today we were going to get going to saigon, but I dropped into a dive shop last night just to see what they wanted and they only wanted 30 bucks each for a dive trip including lunch
Making Friends on the Train
! It was so cheap we decided we couldn't miss out. This morning we got up early (again - so much for "vacation") and got on a boat out to the reef. Diving here in Vietnam is growing and the vietnamese have recognized that their coral reefs are a huge asset for tourism. Problem is, years ago someone realized that rather than using nets, dynamite makes things a whole lot easier. Well, coral doesn't like dynamite because it blows it to crap and it takes a long time to grow back. The government seems to be enforcing the no dynamite policy.
The diving was actually very nice (and for that price!!!). There is lots of coral and it is growing back. There aren't a lot of schools of fish, but there is quite a variety. We also saw some huge cuttlefish, a monster Morray Eel (who's head was about as big as mine), bright starfish, seahorses and assorted other creatures. The highlight came on our second dive when a divemaster discovered an Octopus and decided to pull him out of his hole for the tourists. Well this thing was pretty big, Its body was about as big as a football and its legs were about 2.5 feet long. So this guy was pretty big.
OUr divemaster reached into the whole and pulled it out it was trying to grab onto him and got him around the neck and his mask
Paul Enjoying the Water
. Its suction cups were as big as silver dollars. I was thinking 1. That's a big octopus 2. why are you hassling it just to show the tourists, 3. don't get it close to your face, I've heard of divers dying because they grab their regulators. Anyway after a 1000 leagues under the sea struggle, he let it go, the octopus squirted a bunch of ink and then changed colors repeatedly to blend into the coral. We then found a second one about the same size. Really amazing animals Octopus, they change colors to match the background instantly. They also get pissed off when you rip them out of their homes.We even got a great meal after the dive - all of this for $30 bucks!! And the equipment was all new US and italian made gear so we were very comfortable with the stuff (again, Mom, we're staying safe).
I noticed that the Pats won the superbowl today. I was pretty glad about that because I hate Terrel Owens and was so glad to see him lose. Hope everyone had a nice superbowl sunday.
We're off to get some ice cream and then to Saigon! Wew, I need a break from this vacation! Gotta stay in the same place for 3-4 days...
