Greetings from Nha Trang

I forget where I left off in my last blog, but I dont believe I mentioned Mui Ne at all so I am going to now. We spent four nights at a resort in the touristy but beautiful town of mui ne. It basically consists of resorts geared towards western and aussie travelers with some traditional restaurants mixed in. We stayed at the Canary Beach Resort and it was definitely a nice relaxing getaway for us. The pool and the beach were beautiful- and the best part was that it cost less than 100 dollars for four nights and eating/drinking at the hotel for basically every meal. Very good deal, however definitely too many couples.

We took another bus to get to Nha Trang which is where we are currently. We extended our stay by two nights which is becoming a habit of ours. Nha Trang is touristy as well, but much more developed with loads of restaurants and bars, again geared towards western travelers. THere are many neat places, including the Sailing Club which we have frequented often. It looks like something you might find in Naples Florida- right on the beach, with a very tommy bahama feel to it. They had a big new years celebration there with traditional vietnamese dancing, band, etc. good times. For the most part we have just been enjoying the beach and pools at the different beach clubs,. however the other day we took a boat trip that we had heard of through someone we met, and it was definitely an experience. We were told to make sure we booked the "funky monkey" boat trip, and im glad we did. The bus picks you up at 8:30 in the morning and takes you to the dock. About fourty people board this boat that at home would probably have a maximum capacity of 25. You stop at four different islands, they feed you lunch, you go snorkeling, jump off the boat, and have happy hour at the floating bar. They make everyone get in the water and then they throw you what look like enlarged bike tires as a floatation device. The "bartender" sits in the middle of the floating bar (basically a piece of metal with buoys around it) and feeds you an orangy mixed drink ( I asked what it was and they claim it to be sprite, orange soda and vietnamese rice wine, but it really smelled like dirty feet to me). Needless to say it is a very fun and funny experience, so much so that we went on the boat trip again today. They also set up a tiny little stage and play music for about an hour. I was called up to do a duet with the funky monkey himself to "eternal flame"by the bangles (sp?). He makes sure to bring up someone from every country and we had an assortment of aussies (so many aussies here), germans, swedes, canadiens, people from china, hong kong and many other places. Its a neat way to meet people and we actually met some really great girls from australia that we have been hanging out with some.

Tomorrow we will hopefully be heading north if the trains/buses havent been booked. If so, I guess we spend another night in Nha Trang!