Am I Getting Too Old For This?
That was what I was thinking when we stopped for a dinner/toilet break at 10PM last night; four hours into our 12 hour bus trip from Hoi An to Nha Trang. I've taken all sorts of modes of transportation throughout the years; two 24 hour bus rides in Yunnan, China with smoking Chinamen, overnighters in freezing weather in the Peruvian Andes, and a nine hour standing train ride from 1AM to 10AM in the middle of central China. This one 12 hour bus ride was nothing close - A/C and non-smoking. Nevertheless, it just felt a little tiring. Maybe we should have just flown all over Vietnam. That just seems a little wimpy to me. Maybe when I turn 30. Oops. That's just around the corner.
We are now in Nha Trang, Vietnam's attempt at a beach resort. It's certainly getting there; it has the night life. The beach ammenities needs some work though. There is plenty of diving for those wanting to enjoy the underwater world. The beach stretches 5-6 km. Nothing like the beaches of Southern California, but few places in the world can match that.
It's kind of a bizarre city. It's actually a pretty big city, being a provicial capital. The beach was absolutely empty the entire first half of the day. Granted, it rained all of yesterday and was raining the first part of the morning. But around 4PM, the whole beach area of town came alive. All the restaurants became fully opened. The street vendors came out. Even the street lobster vendors came out. We going to get ourselves a lobster from the street corner tomorrow evening. We'll let you know how that goes.
Didn't do much today. The beach was empty and we were skeptical about the cleanliness of the water. I figured that L.A. beaches were always off limits right after a rain shower because of the runoff, how much more worse would Vietnamese waters be! So, we rented another scooter and just rode around trying to find places of touristic significance. Not much available. Oh, well. Walked along the beach a little. Ate dinner at a table side, cook your own meat on a charcoil grill type of place. Looked cool. Smelled cool. But the meat was just inferior to stuff we can get in K-Town at Soot Bull Jeep or Chosun Galbi. Not even close to Gyu-Kaku on the Westside. But hey, can't complain for a more than adequate meal for under $10.
Made our first big blunder in Vietnam this morning. We allowed our previous hotel to book us a room with a mini-hotel before we left Hoi An. The two set of referrals have worked out fine through Hue and Hoi An, so we decided to go with this recommendation chain again. When we got there this morning, the room they showed us was fine; small but more than adequate for shelter for rain and some rest from a long bus ride. We decided to stay without even checking out where we were in town and what our other accomodation options were. We left our bags (our big backpack got really muddy in the cargo hold of the bus, bummer) in our room and decided to walk down to the more centrally located part of town. We eventually found a hotel and room that we really liked. When we went back to pick up our bags, they told us that because we already checked in, we have to pay the full night's stay. I guess we could have made a big fuss and argued some more with them, but by then I was just tired of their attitude. I figured this was the cost of not being more alert this morning. I was just tired, slightly wet, and got pressured a little bit into doing something I wasn't all that sure or comfortable about. Kind of annoyed me through the early part of the day, but it's done with. Chalk it up as a learning experience.
Our last day in Hoi An was pretty uneventful. We went to our tailor, walked around, ate, went back to our tailor. Then went back to our tailor. Finally stayed at the tailor's until we got everything done. I ended up getting 2 suits, 3 pairs of pants, 5 work shirts, 5 linen shirts, 1 linen pants, and 2 linen shorts. My total tab - $375. Amy got 4-5 dresses and a bunch of shirts done. This was much more than I intended to spend before we left, but it was a like a downward spiral. They made something for us. We liked it. Then we ordered some more in a different color. LOL!! The way I figure, $375 can even get me a decent suit back at home, much less one made to order.
Our plans tomorrow are a little more defined than today. We're taking a little snorkeling trip. And most importantly, we are meeting a potential guide named Tuan. We want to ride motorcyles through the Vietnamese Central Highlands for 2-3 days. I've never taken such a long bike ride before. I doubt if our rear ends would be able to handle it. Plus I don't even have a bike license. But sitting on the back of a bike with a Vietnamese guide seems a little gay to me. If all works out, Amy will ride with me and the guide will just ride by himself. We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow night.
We are now in Nha Trang, Vietnam's attempt at a beach resort. It's certainly getting there; it has the night life. The beach ammenities needs some work though. There is plenty of diving for those wanting to enjoy the underwater world. The beach stretches 5-6 km. Nothing like the beaches of Southern California, but few places in the world can match that.
It's kind of a bizarre city. It's actually a pretty big city, being a provicial capital. The beach was absolutely empty the entire first half of the day. Granted, it rained all of yesterday and was raining the first part of the morning. But around 4PM, the whole beach area of town came alive. All the restaurants became fully opened. The street vendors came out. Even the street lobster vendors came out. We going to get ourselves a lobster from the street corner tomorrow evening. We'll let you know how that goes.
Didn't do much today. The beach was empty and we were skeptical about the cleanliness of the water. I figured that L.A. beaches were always off limits right after a rain shower because of the runoff, how much more worse would Vietnamese waters be! So, we rented another scooter and just rode around trying to find places of touristic significance. Not much available. Oh, well. Walked along the beach a little. Ate dinner at a table side, cook your own meat on a charcoil grill type of place. Looked cool. Smelled cool. But the meat was just inferior to stuff we can get in K-Town at Soot Bull Jeep or Chosun Galbi. Not even close to Gyu-Kaku on the Westside. But hey, can't complain for a more than adequate meal for under $10.
Made our first big blunder in Vietnam this morning. We allowed our previous hotel to book us a room with a mini-hotel before we left Hoi An. The two set of referrals have worked out fine through Hue and Hoi An, so we decided to go with this recommendation chain again. When we got there this morning, the room they showed us was fine; small but more than adequate for shelter for rain and some rest from a long bus ride. We decided to stay without even checking out where we were in town and what our other accomodation options were. We left our bags (our big backpack got really muddy in the cargo hold of the bus, bummer) in our room and decided to walk down to the more centrally located part of town. We eventually found a hotel and room that we really liked. When we went back to pick up our bags, they told us that because we already checked in, we have to pay the full night's stay. I guess we could have made a big fuss and argued some more with them, but by then I was just tired of their attitude. I figured this was the cost of not being more alert this morning. I was just tired, slightly wet, and got pressured a little bit into doing something I wasn't all that sure or comfortable about. Kind of annoyed me through the early part of the day, but it's done with. Chalk it up as a learning experience.
Our last day in Hoi An was pretty uneventful. We went to our tailor, walked around, ate, went back to our tailor. Then went back to our tailor. Finally stayed at the tailor's until we got everything done. I ended up getting 2 suits, 3 pairs of pants, 5 work shirts, 5 linen shirts, 1 linen pants, and 2 linen shorts. My total tab - $375. Amy got 4-5 dresses and a bunch of shirts done. This was much more than I intended to spend before we left, but it was a like a downward spiral. They made something for us. We liked it. Then we ordered some more in a different color. LOL!! The way I figure, $375 can even get me a decent suit back at home, much less one made to order.
Our plans tomorrow are a little more defined than today. We're taking a little snorkeling trip. And most importantly, we are meeting a potential guide named Tuan. We want to ride motorcyles through the Vietnamese Central Highlands for 2-3 days. I've never taken such a long bike ride before. I doubt if our rear ends would be able to handle it. Plus I don't even have a bike license. But sitting on the back of a bike with a Vietnamese guide seems a little gay to me. If all works out, Amy will ride with me and the guide will just ride by himself. We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow night.
posted by amy & albert at 7:13 AM
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