It was a very long bus ride. The driver insisted on turning the lights on at every stop, even in the middle of the night. In the wee hours of the morning we stopped – a fair amount of hammering coincided with the replacement of a flat tire. The bus finally ground to a halt near the ‘backpacker’ area of Nha Trang in the drizzle. The first time in ages we didn’t think to put our pack covers on in the bus meant V’s pack was soaked through – oops. Having been warned (many times) about taxi scams and nonsense we immediately hopped on the back of a couple of motorbikes for the 5km ride out of town to our hotel. Turns out the bus passed by it on the way in but we were barely conscious and didn’t notice. Hadn’t planned on a free shower but at least we arrived at ‘The Tide Hotel’ partially refreshed. Within half an hour we had checked in, showered and were slumbering soundly.

We crawled downstairs around noon looking for food and were greeted by the hotel owner and his wife (Owen and Mai). Owen, the Canadian owner who is admittedly in charge of PR, was fantastic. Providing us with plenty of information and even accompanying us to a local lunch spot down the street. The Tide is opposite a tranquil beach used only by locals in the morning and evening. Being this far out of the tourist area means cheaper prices, less westerners and a more ‘real’ Vietnamese experience – but if you have had enough of rice, you will have a problem 🙂

After lunch (which was ok-ish, but cheap) we strolled around the local area stopping in at the market and for me to get a haircut. We dawdled along the beach and generally just relaxed the afternoon away. Nha Trang is really just a beach resort so there is not a lot to do.

On another recommendation from Owen we had dinner just down the road at another local joint. Most of the local restaurant/canteens have pre-school sized tables and chairs on the pavement – you feel like you’ve been ostracized to the children’s table 🙂 As we sat we were surrounded by at least 5 waitresses and both of the tarted up hostesses. The food was good but as usual we ordered too much (and too much rice…. and too much beer !) The ice waitress kept coming around to whip small ice-cubes out of our beer and replace them with much larger ones – that was really funny. Owen told us about a real American steakhouse in the tourist part of town with massive imported steaks at massive ‘imported’ prices. I don’t care. That’s what I’m having for dinner tomorrow !

[Pictures: The local beach. Sitting at the naughty kids table]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi