Last stop, Bangkok!

After almost two and a half years of travelling it was all but over! From Hanoi we flew to Bangkok in the morning. From the airport we took the new train line to Phaya Thai which is the end of the line. We have been to Bangkok previously so will only be here for one day before our flight to Melbourne. For this reason we wanted to stay close to the train line for our return to the airport. First thing we did, as is so often the case, is we ate! Just under the train station and across a main road were a couple of food stall come lunch restraints for the locals in big marquee tents. The rule is, it may be hot, but if the locals are eating there, the food is probably good, fresh and cheap! We looked at the first tent, but when we asked about pad thai they sent us up to the next tent, each stall only serves one or two dishes. As expected the food was delicious, pad thai and a roast pork stew dish for about $2 each. Damien then hit the street in search of accommodation which proved more difficult than anticipated, partially due to walking in the wrong direction. Once off in the right direction we found “15 Petchburi Road”, My Hotel. This was reasonably cheap and ok for a night. The best part was its right in the shopping district close to heaps of markets and shopping centre’s.
So with an afternoon and best part of one day (our flight is at 10pm) we had some shopping to do! We also had hoped to have a massage and Christine a Manicure. As always once we got going, we kept thinking of other things we should look for so the shopping list kept expanding. For dinner we had another amazing Bangkok experience. We at with the locals in a road side stall and had the hottest dish we have had for a long time. It was a minced pork dish with spices and flavours, very tasty, very hot. After eating some of it Christine said, “I think I can see sesame seeds in it”, but no, those were chilli seeds. Luckily the other dishes, BBQ chicken and a vegetable plate were not too spicy. After dinner we retreated back to our room, burning, exhausted and looking forward to a good night sleep.
The hotel provided a simple breakfast which was a bonus. After this we checked out, stored our bags, grabbed a fresh mango smoothie and headed out to the shops to continue our express shopping. By the time we sat down for a late lunch we were almost finished, but were running out of time to enjoy a massage or manicure. As we ate, yet more pad thai, we received a text message from Jetstar telling us our flight had been delayed from 10pm until 4am. A blessing in disguise? We cruised our way around the markets at a more leisurely pace before returning to our bags, to try and fit everything into our bags. The delay meant that we had another evening so we headed down to the tourist hotspot, Khao San Road. We had planned on taking the bus, but as time was running out we tried to grab a taxi. After 3 attempts, with drivers refusing to take us there, we got a reasonable price on a Tuk Tuk and away we went. We finally got our massage which we had been saying we should have for 4-5 days. Relaxed we had dinner in a nice little restraint and were joined by Christine’s friend Tunde. After dinner the girls had their nails done, before we grabbed a taxi and headed to the hotel. The driver proceeded to get lost and it cost us the same as the tuk tuk in traffic.
Our plan of staying near the train line has slightly backfired, as the train finishes at midnight. Instead we took a taxi to the airport to wait for our 4am flight which was further delayed until about 5am.

Northern Vietnam – Hanoi, Halong Bay & Tam Coc

Stepping off the bus at about 9am in Hanoi, we were a bit relieved that the last of our bus trips was over. We had some ideas for hotels, through recommendations so gave the touts at the bus stop the slip. It took us a while to get our bearings, its similar to Saigon in the hectic busyness of the city. After a brief chat to a friendly local who didn’t try to sell us anything and a coffee in a busy little street side café we made our way into the old quarter. We were amazed by all the small shops and stalls selling everything from laundry products to children’s clothes. We checked a couple of hotels, the one mum and dad stayed at was full, and ended up randomly in one that Christine had seen on the internet, we think. The problem is, once one business becomes successful, others with the same name pop up everywhere. The hotel was ok, included breakfast and a reasonable price. The owner was very pushy with tours and extras, so we won’t be back here after Halong Bay and we will book our tour elsewhere.
After a shower and rest in the room we headed out a bit after midday for a walk around the city. Our first stop was to buy some pork buns (filled with chicken) from the side of the road. Walking around we visited a number of the art galleries but also noted that a lot of the shops are targeting the locals rather than tourists. Eclipse hotel had been recommended to us so we visited this and organized a Halong Bay tour and our last few nights’ accommodation with them. We have splurged and chosen a luxury (3 star) two night tour. Unfortunately we also had to get them to organize a visa extension, as when we obtained our visa for Vietnam they started it too early and it is due to expire four days before we leave. After taking care of all the items on our ‘to do’ list we walk down to lake for a look around. We figured since we were in Hanoi we should eat on the streets, but were rather unsuccessful. We saw a few places but the either saw our white faces and wanted to charge us too much or they were a bit empty and uninviting looking. Eventually we ended up at New Day restaurant which had been recommended by the Eclipse Hotel. Dinner was really good, we feasted on Hanoi spring rolls, bbq beef patties, ribs and rice noodles.
After a busy few days we finally managed to have a sleep in, we didn’t leave the hotel until 1pm. Out in the daylight we walked down to lake and over to the theater to book tickets to the water puppet show. We then spent the rest of the day exploring the Old Quarter. Christine had a look at some bag and shoe shops before we retreated from the heat for a Café Sua Dar (ice coffee). We saw the old city gate, the main market, heaps of little local shops and stalls in the streets, crazy power lines before finding a small side street to eat Bun Vit (duck noodle soup) for lunch, before a bit more walking in old the town. As the afternoon grew older we retreated to Bia Hoi (fresh beer) corner for a couple of hours. This is a great place to sit and watch as city life passes you by as well as to chat to the other customers. This place is a highlight of Hanoi, 25c beers and plenty of visits by local lady’s trying to sell all sorts of things. In the evening we went to watch the water puppet show. This is a traditional form of entertainment for the people of northern Vietnam. It originated in the rice fields. It was very entertaining with traditional music and puppets in the pool that is the stage. There were different puppets including farmers, dancers and animals. The show was all in Vietnamese, so we didn’t understand a great deal, but it was good, and only lasted about 45 minutes. After the show we had another delicious meal back at new day restaurant before heading home to repack our belongings. No sleep in today, we were up early and checked out by 7am. We walked around the corner to our new hotel and had breakfast, whilst waiting for the tour company to pick us up. Once on the bus and headed to Halong bay, we stopped at a souvenir café, of course! After a four hour drive we arrived at the port and were quickly taken on a small boat to our big boat. On arrival we were given ice tea and cold face washers as a welcome. The upper deck had sun lounges and the bar and lounge area looked quite nice. After the welcome we settled into our lovely room which even had a private balcony, so far the tour is going to plan. Lunch was a series of Vietnamese meat, seafood and vegetarian dishes which just kept on coming. As we cruised through the bay the staff pointed out various famous rock formations and were very excited to show us the 200,000 dong note when we came across the island which is featured on it. The landscape in very dramatic even though it was quite hazy. We had a stop at the surprise cave which is really quite an impressive cavern but the guide encouraged us to use our ‘imagine’ and see animals he pointed at with his torch. After looking at countless dragons, monkeys and everything else it was time to paddle around in a canoe for about half an hour. The last activity for the day was a swim, which of course involved jumping off the side of the boat. The only disappointing thing so far was the location, while far from horrible, we were in the middle of the bay with a few other boats around. We had hoped for a clean secluded swimming spot. Diner was amazing similar to lunch but twice as much variety and quantity. The drinks on the boat are expensive, but buying drinks off the local ladies who would paddle over to the side of the boat with their floating convince stores were marginally cheaper. They had cold beer and nets on long poles, like pool skimmers, which they would put the drinks in to pass them up to you on the boat. This was fine as long as the crew didn’t see you doing it! Next morning we had a knock on the door at about 8am ready for breakfast. I am actually starting to get a bit sick of bread and eggs in the morning. We set sail, checked out of our room and then said good bye to the people who were doing the 2 day tour and heading back to Hanoi. We boarded a smaller boat which sailed through more amazing craggy mountains and rock formations. The boat pulled up at a small pier where we were all given bikes and had a ride through the interior of one of the islands. The land between the mountains is very flat and is used by the villages to grow rice and other crops. Of course the ride stopped at a café where we couldn’t resist a cold coke at inflated prices then we rode back to the boat. Our next and final stop for the day was ‘the bungalows’, which were on the beach in a small bay. We had lunch and were then given keys to our bungalows, and we managed to get a good one! The bungalow is on stilts over the water which you can actually see through the cracks in the floor. There are windows on two sides both of which over look the mountains and the sea. We also had a balcony out front with table and chairs. After lunch it was time for a swim which turned into a bit of a volley ball game with about 10 people. It was also when we noticed that the water was far from clean. The resort has canoes, so after swimming for an hour we grabbed one of these and went for a paddle. We toured around a few of the big rock formations before landing on a beach for a beer that we had bought with us. The beach, sadly, was littered with rubbish, but being a bit more exposed, the water seemed a little cleaner. After a beer and a swim we continued visiting more rock formations and coves, some of which were also quite dirty. We paddled past small houses floating on fishing farms before returning to the resort for cold showers. The bungalow resort has an amazing location and the bungalows while simple are quite nice. Unfortunately the owners are doing a terrible job of running the place. The reason the water is so dirty is no doubt due to the resort. Despite having an Air Con in the rooms and being told they would be turned on in the evening, they weren’t, there isn’t even electricity during the day and halfway through the night the rooms at our end of the resort ran out of water (no water for showers or toilets). The expensive beers weren’t even cold and dinner which was a BBQ buffet was ok, but there was barely enough food to feed everyone! The highlight of the evening was meeting a nice Spanish couple who sat near us at dinner.
In the morning we had to wait half an hour for our overly simple eggs and bread breakfast before boarding the boat at 8am. The third day of the 3 day tour is bit of a nothing day. We take a small boat to the big boat and then cruise on the big boat back to the harbor. There is time to relax on the top deck and cook your own spring rolls, before an early lunch is served. Then it was off the boat and onto a bus headed back to Hanoi. Halong bay is a must do in Vietnam. We have enjoyed it and it is very beautiful. It is just a bit of a shame that it has become so polluted and dirty. Apparently only 10 years ago there were dolphins in the bay, but no longer.
We were torn as to how we should spend our final day in Vietnam. We had two choices, spend the day relaxing and wandering the streets of Hanoi or join a day tour to Tam Coc. We decided on the day trip, as it was another area we would have liked to have seen. Again, better planning would have seen us get off the night bus 2hrs earlier to see the town, but since we didn’t do this, it was a 4hr return trip. As with all tours we were picked up early and driven to our destination with only a short stop in a touristy gift shop. It turned out to be quite a testing day with a group of pushy Indians on the group and the guide being almost rude at points (AST tour company - Avoid). Our first visit was to a temple, which we were rushed through. Then it was off to a restaurant for lunch, already!
Finally by about 1pm it was time to see Tam Coc. This was amazing and worth all the hassles with the tour company. The area is known as the Halong Bay of the Rice Fields. It is a series of mountains and rock formations surrounded by rivers and rice fields. We jumped in a small boat and were paddled along the river with all the other boats. Refreshingly, the water was clean and while there were other tourists, it’s nothing like what Halong Bay has become. This may not always be the case as we think we saw some resorts being built up the road. We had two drivers, firstly a young guy, then about half way he switched boats, and his mother took us the rest of the way. It was very relaxing being rowed through the rice fields and through caves and the scenery was spectacular. We were amused by all the guides rowing their boats with their feet instead of their hands. We also saw a local guy bathing and shampooing his hair in the water. After an hour and a half of being paddled around we returned to the port. The guide then told the group that some people were doing a bike ride for 45 minutes and everybody else had to sit and wait for them. This was particularly annoying, since our tour didn’t include this extra. Christine chose to sit in the restaurant and wait while Damien went for a walk around the town. Once they returned it was back on the bus and back to Hanoi. Strangely, we were last ones to be dropped off at our hotel. This is despite an earlier drop off being just around the corner from our hotel (which we didn’t realize until later that night). To make it worse the tour guide tried to drop us at the lake, which is actually a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel, but we refused to get out and made them drive back. While we are glad to have seen it, especially before all of the resorts move in, it was a long day (10hrs), considering the tour only spent an hour and a half at Tam Coc. Back in town we went shopping again for some more gifts. We ate pork buns on the side of the road and bartered to get them for half the price we paid the other day. Then it was dinner and home to pack our things for an early flight in the morning.

Mr Ba's Fresh Beer

Not bad service for a 20c beer!

Central Vietnam - Hoi An and Hue

Well the overnight bus journey was epic! Maybe not as bad as we had expected the buses to be, but an experience all the same. The bus was full, meaning we had a bit of trouble organizing all of our luggage. The sleeper beds were comfortable, but we were at the back of the bus, meaning we felt every bump in the road. We misplaced the sleeping tablets, so with the bumpy ride struggled to sleep. Perhaps most annoying was the guy sleeping in the aisle, so to get to the toilet you had to climb over him. We arrived in one piece and with an American couple from the bus headed into town to find a hotel. Christine was super grumpy, so we left her in a café with the bags. After an hour we had seen many hotels and chosen one (An Phu Hotel), which was a pretty good deal. $20 per night in a pool view room, the pool was a decent size, and only about 5 minute walk to the central market. The rest of the day was very lazy, the four of us ate some breakfast and then had a swim before retreating to our rooms for a nap, and to watch AFL on the TV (first games we have seen all season). As we headed out for dinner we met two Belgium girls in the lobby who were heading the same way as us. We had a look around town before settling on a cheap restaurant by the river. We ate Cau Lac which is a local noodle specialty and white rose, prawn dumplings. After dinner we visited the night market and the Festival that is on this weekend in town, but were forced home early by another big thunder storm. We were up early the next morning for two reasons, get a head start on our shopping and to have breakfast before the St Kilda game at 10am. Possibly the biggest attraction to Hoi An is the shopping. The town has hundreds of tailors, and you can’t walk past any of them without being offered something. The town itself is lovely and feels less crowded as there are a number of streets were cars and motorbikes can’t go. Everything went to plan, bacon and egg roll with an avocado we bought ourselves at the market, ice coffee and back in the room in time for the game. Sadly the first Saints game we saw for the year, Saints only played for two quarters and lost. This did give Christine a solid 2 hours to look around the shops on her own. After a refreshing swim we ventured back out into the heat and the shops. First stop was the cloth market that Christine had missed in the morning, we ordered a top in a material she loved. Next was a bit of souvenir shopping, or at least browsing. After a late lunch we visited a tailor Christine had visited in the morning and ordered a dress and jacket. Having done all of this we had actually seen a lot of the town. We decided to have a walk along the river and around the non touristy side of the island. This was great, we saw locals at work, houses, children playing and had a chat to a family, three generations. At the bottom of the island we discovered where the locals eat, hundreds of tables with bench seats and stalls of food. We weren’t hungry, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stop at Mr Ba’s stall for a ‘fresh beer’. We figure this is some sort of homebrew at 4000d per glass (20c). This turned out to be one of our best Asian beer experiences, after ordering, Mr Ba jumped on his motor bike, which was parked at the back of the stall and disappeared up the road. Minutes later he came zooming back down the road and through the restaurant with a plastic bottle of beer, off the bike he cracked it open, poured two glasses and placed them in front of us, it was icy cold! Again we ate by the river and had good local food. We had the best intentions of an early night, but after dinner we got chatting to the girls on the table next to us. There were three of them all from Munchen, Germany. Since the restaurant was closing the five of us went for a walk along the river and eventually were led to a bar by a local guy. This place was a dive, loud music, graffiti walls and about 5 people in the place. Instead we sat at the corner store nearby and had a few cheap beers. Hoi An is not known for its nightlife, so a bit after midnight we all headed back to our hotels. Since we didn’t have enough money to pay a deposit on Christine’s dress last night we had to visit the tailor in the morning. We then ate breakfast nearby, in a nice little restaurant with a garden beside the river. It was one of the nicest breakfast’s we have had, French toast with mango and syrup, not too oily by Vietnam standards. Then it was a few hours of power shopping, we emptied our wallets and filled our suitcases. All sorts of nic-nacs, but mainly cheap clothing.
With that done it was back to the hotel where we met the girls from Munchen, Michelle, Carina and Hedwig. They had planned to go to the beach, and since we were keen to visit also we shared a taxi. The beach was less crowded than Nha Trang, but the water was not as calm. We swam, politely declined the ladies trying to sell us junk we didn’t need (“happy hour” and “don’t be lazy, be crazy”) and laid on sun lounges. The girls wrote post cards to just about everyone they knew, including themselves (I might try that later). As the sun went down we headed back into town for showers, before meeting up again for dinner. The three of them are so nice and great fun to chill out with, it also gives Christine a break from always having to talk to Damien (must be terrible). We had two stops before dinner, both fittings at tailors. First it was Christine’s turn, but it didn’t go so well. The reason she had chosen the tailor was because she had found a material she liked. To her displeasure, they had cut half of the pattern off at the bottom of the dress, or “butchered the material” as she told the shop assistant. There were a few other minor things to be adjusted, but we made it clear what needed to be done. Luckily, the jacket, although not complete, was looking a lot better. Next it was Hedi’s turn. She has ordered a Drindl to be copied from one she bought with her. It was the first fitting, and it looked a bit more like a maxi dress, but the tailor was very good and happy to make changes. Showing them images on the internet helped them understand the concept of such a low cut dress. The material looks amazing, a shiny green checked pattern made of silk. We think it will look amazing after another couple of fittings! Better still the girls have invited us over for Oktoberfest so we hope to see it at some stage! After the fittings we headed back to the same restaurant we ate at last night. Damien had fish and Christine duck, both were very good. With everyone planning on a reasonably early start in the morning, after dinner we said our farewells and headed back to our hotels.
In the morning we tidied our room, somewhat, and headed out. A quick breakfast at the café next door and then it was back to the tailor, nice and early, just in case! We were happy. That morning they had redone the skirt to show the full pattern and made the fitting adjustments. The jacket hadn’t needed any changes and was now complete. Next stop was the tailor in the cloth market. We were less worried about this visit, but when we arrived the top wasn’t there. A few phone calls and 20 minutes later it arrived on the back of a motorbike. While not the exact style Christine had in mind, it fits and it looks good. Not finished yet, the lady ‘miss forget me not’ then tried to short change us on the exchange rate, but with the top in our hands, we gave here what we had originally agreed, and left her sulking at her stall.
Back at the hotel and spent nearly two hours by the pool. After a beer that we had left over we had ice coffee and bread rolls from the café next door as well as avocado and dragon fruit from the market. After numerous swims to keep cool we showered and headed to the lobby to be picked up by our bus, which was on time! The ride to Hue was short in comparison, only 4 hours. The bus was a bit old and rickety, although not as bad as the Dalat death trap. It was only half full and had air-con, so we were able to spread out, but in the heat of the day it was still quite warm. The scenery was beautiful, the whole way was either along the coast or over mountains that seemed to divide the different beaches. From the coast we could see the surrounding mountains partially covered in low cloud and from the mountains we had views of the coastline, fishing villages and fish farms. We are deliberately rushing through Hue, keen to get to Hanoi. After the bus ride we quickly found a cheap hotel near the centre of town. We went for a walk along the river and then found a little restaurant for dinner. We had the best part of the day in Hue before boarding the night bus to Hanoi. We were up early for the breakfast we had to haggle for $10 for the room including breakfast. Leaving the hotel we headed to the travel agent to confirm the bus reservation we had already made. When we showed our bus ticket they proceeded to write our name on a list, so it was probably a good move to make the visit. The girls were actually quite helpful and have given us seats with a bit of extra leg room. We then walked down the main street and over the bridge to the citadel. Along the way we were accosted by a cyclo driver wanting about $10 for an hour’s ride. Neither politely refusing or more abrupt methods seemed to help. The only consolation is that we know he didn’t get any money for the hour or so he tailed us. After ‘Café Su Da’, ice coffee, partially to cool down and partially to escape our tag, we headed to the Imperial Enclosure. This was built in 1804 and was used by the emperor. It had a few buildings in various states of disrepair, lakes, tennis court and gardens. Leaving the palace we again found cyclo riders and since we hadn’t been on one organized one for a bit over $2, probably still a high price! We rode around parts of the citadel, which is quite large. These days it’s mostly ruins, suburbs, lakes, a canal and farming. The little guy rode so slow, it was agonizing, I felt like having a go at pedaling. Eventually we crossed the bridge back into town. Close to the hotel we got him to stop and jumped out, as we expected, he insisted on a higher price than we had agreed, but once again we paid our price and left him to find another customer. We chilled out for a while in a café and had some lunch before wandering around a few art galleries. We had seen a painting of some fish last night which Christine liked. After a bit of negotiating we got a good price and bought it, just something else to carry! Then it was back to the hotel for a bit more relax time and to cool off before being picked up, on time again, for our night bus to Hanoi. This was our longest bus yet, we were picked up at 5pm and didn’t arrive until 9am. We had seats in the middle of the bus this time so the ride was a bit smoother and with a sleeping pill we slept well. The only pain was some of the other passengers who were so rude to almost deliberately bump you as they passed in the aisle and the host who had limited English and woke us at 5am.
The Vietnam Open Bus Ticket.
As mentioned we purchased an open bus ticket which took us from Saigon (HCMC) all the way to Hanoi. There are a number of companies all offering similar so it’s a bit hard to choose. We went with Phuong Nam Express company, as we saw in Saigon they had some nice yellow buses, but I wouldn’t recommend the company. The problem was that we never ended up on one of these nice yellow buses. Firstly, they put us on a public bus to Dalat and then from Dalat we had the oldest bus we had ever seen, after they picked us up an hour late because they forgot about us. In Nha Trang we also learnt that this company doesn’t run the whole route, instead they subcontract to other bus companies. So in short, avoid the middle man and try to find a company that has buses running all the way up the coast.
All in all its been a good experience as it has meant we have seen so much countryside, that if you took flights you would simply miss out on. Many villages, farms, rice fields, coastline and mountains. That said you need patience and time and if your short on either perhaps stick to the Saigon – Nha Trang – Hoi An – Hanoi flying visit. At the same time our trip has still felt a bit rushed and we had to skip large chunks of the coast to fit everything in, but once again, sadly, you can never see everything you would like to!

Good times in Nha Trang!

Shortly after arriving at our hotel (Happy Hotel), it started raining, heavily. No worries won’t last long. We negotiated with the hotel to upgrade us for free to a sea view balcony room. To see the sea, all we have to do is stand in one corner of the balcony and lean half a meter over the rail, perfect! We showered, watched some tv and waited for the rain to stop. Finally, waiting got the better of us, we put on our poncho’s and headed out. Craving something different, we tried an Italian restaurant we saw in the lonely planet. It was good (Christine has had a bad Asian spaghetti incident in Thailand), we shared a pasta and pizza. Still raining we headed home after dinner.
Our receptionist had booked us onto a snorkeling, without us even agreeing! We woke up in the morning and it looked like a nice day. The tour was only $13 so we thought what the hell. We were picked up just after 8.30am. Promising, minibus, only eleven people. The port was only a short drive, with no factory visits on the way. Shortly later we were on the boat and cruising from port out into the islands. Only one interruption on the way out to the islands, and that is when we got pulled up and had the police board the boat. The boat had a good mix of people, a guy from Perth, a kiwi couple, Spanish couple, two English and two girls from America. At our first snorkeling stop, we jumped in and were pleasantly surprised by how clear the water was. After all the rain last night we were worried it may be a bit cloudy. The water was warm and there were plenty of fish and coral to see. After 40 minutes we moved on to our second dive spot. More chasing fish and then it was back to the boat for lunch. Our boat was actually tied to another tour and we ate on their boat, probably about 30 people all together. It was another big feast of fresh calamari and fish as well as noodles, rice and vegetables. After a bit more motoring around the islands we stopped for one last snorkel. This was cut short for some people, as there were a few jelly fish in the water which stung a little. We still had a decent swim, not knowing when we would be back again. The ride home was enjoyed with a beer in hand sitting in the afternoon sun. After a shower back at the hotel and a short walk on the Nha Trang beach we were met by Anna and Andrea, the Americans from our snorkel tour. It was their idea, but for dinner we ended up eating burgers in the Oz Café, they were good, but still looking forward to a real burger back home! The girls from NY are lovely. We finished the evening in the sailing club bar by the beach on the sand, for a pricey drink.

VinPearl was our objective the next morning. This is an island off Nha Trang beach that has an amusement park on it. We took the bus out of town and after buying tickets, we jumped on the cable car over to the island, which was an experience in itself as it has great views. We started with the rides, and soon found Anna and Andrea who had also just arrived. The rides were a bit old, but fun, there was a rickety old mini rollercoaster, pirate ship, merry go round and a few others. The main attraction is the water park, which the four of us visited next. The rainbow slide has six lanes so we were all able to race, to Christine’s disappointment Damien was the clear winner, twice.

There were a number of very cool slides including tidal wave. This we were able to ride two at a time in small rafts, into a half pipe type slide with a short vertical drop at the start. This was a bit crazy, as we weren’t expecting it to be that steep, then coming down the other side you are sliding backwards. Another crazy one was the Typhoon, which starts out quite calm in a closed slide, before falling sharply down and then spitting you out into a bowl shaped slide that you spin a few laps of before falling into a pool below. We rode a few other rides before retiring to the Lazy River, which is a slow moving river which you can swim in or ride tubes along. There is also a nice beach on the island and a wave pool that we didn’t get a chance to use. We ate lunch in the seafood restaurant, which was quite reasonably priced considering it’s in a theme park. Next stop was the aquarium which had a number of tanks filled with local sea life, much of which we had seen yesterday snorkeling so it was great to see. There is also a big tank which you can walk underneath, as sharks, sting rays and other large fish swim above you. We returned to the slides while the girls headed back to the main land. We had a few more goes on the rides from this morning as well as kamikaze, a long steep drop which you fly down before hitting a pool of water at the end. Just about done, on the way out we visited the games room, which had two storey’s of out dated but fun video games in a cool air-conditioned room, then it was back to the mainland on the cable car. After a quick shower we headed down to Louisiane Brewhouse for a beer with the girls before a late dinner. After a sleep in we headed out with a few things to do today. After breakfast we headed to the travel agent to reserve our bus seat for the following evening. With that out of the way we visited the pagoda and giant Buddha which is on top of a hill. Then it was on to a photo gallery of an artist called Long Thanh. This was quite small but all his works were black and white photographs of life in Vietnam, so very interesting. We considered walking to the market, but a bit tired we instead headed for a taxi back to the hotel. After a seafood pancake and spring rolls we headed back to the Louisiane Brewhouse for a swim in the beach and a beer. We really like it here, it has nice beer and restaurant, a swimming pool, palm trees and private beach. Service wasn’t great but we eventually got a few beers! Our evening turned into a bit of a progressive dinner, on the beach were some locals cooking fresh seafood, we had barbequed prawns and squid. We finished the evening back in town with chicken served in a coconut and dessert in the Italian restaurant. So far we have loved Nha Trang, and had planned a chilled out day before taking the night bus to Hoi An. We started with breakfast at Louisiane Brewhouse. The food was good but the highlight was swimming in the pool in the brewery. We meandered back to the hotel to check out and were then picked up to be taken to the Thap Ba hot springs.

On the way we met Sarah who’s from London, travelling by herself, she joined us for the afternoon. When we arrived we were shown to the thermal showers for a rinse and then into the mud baths. After 20 minutes of slopping around in warm mud, we were to sunbath, allowing the mud to dry, before another mineral shower. Then it was into another tub, this time full of hot mineral water. Finally it was another shower and then off to the warm thermal swimming pools and water fall. We had about two hours on sun lounges and in the pools before returning back to town. Very relaxed we took it one step further with an hour full body massage. It was so nice, and Christine had a good chat to the girl giving her massage. Leaving massage parlour we were so relaxed we were struggling to lift our feet. We had a quick dinner before being picked up for our overnight bus journey to Hoi An.