Yes I spent nearly a week in Nha Trang. This happened mostly because I decided to get my diving certification and be a bum the rest of the time (hence the lack of blogging).
Day 1
Today our big group went to the Water Park at Vinpearl island. This place was a trip. First of all we took the longest cable car (gondola) over the ocean in the world, it was pretty cool. The island itself is a huge theme park type resort aimed at Vietnamese and Russian tourists, meaning everything was extremely cheasy and over the top.
The water park itself was ok, but the fact that there were only about 30 other people in the whole park made it a lot of fun, even if there were a disproportionate amount of speedos.
Everyone else in the group was going scuba diving the next day and kept on encouraging me to come along, and I just so happened to cave under the peer pressure.
We got back together for some dinner after the park, but called it an early night in preparation for the next days activities.
Day 2:
The day started at 8 AM, when we were picked up at the dive shop and taken to the docks, where we boarded our dive boat.
The boat was pretty cool, and we enjoyed some coffee and tea as we made way for our first dive spot. During the ride my Dive Master, Indo, gave me a tutorial of all the equipment and procedures, and got me dressed up in the wetsuit and gear.
This was a "Discover Scuba" dive so Indo would basically control all my stuff while my only responsibility was to make sure I kept breathing.
The dive was amazing! At first I just kinda went limp and Indo did all the swimming as my body was trying to figure out this whole breathing under water thing, but after a minute or two I started carrying my weight and we explored the reefs and fish around the area.
I was warned that this whole diving thing tends to be a little addictive, and I naively disregarded the warnings, only signing up for one of the two dives. Luckily Indo was free for the next one, and for a few extra bucks I was able to go on dive number two after lunch at a new location.
The second time around I was a lot more comfortable in the water and felt like I was in a bit more control. The highlight was seeing a black and white sea snake that we followed around for a bit. Really cool.
Back in the city Eric and Niels convinced me to stay to get my open water certification. Their argument was that it was cheap, I was here, and in 10 years time I won't care about the money, but I would definitely be happy about having the certification which I can use anywhere in the world. I didn't need THAT much convincing, and booked the course with Gaelle.
Eric and Runnard left that night after we ate some tasty Italian food. And it was again an early night for our early morning training.
Day 3-5
I group these together because they are boring. Well I had a lot of fun, but nothing to really describe in detail.
The days consisted of waking up early to dive. First in the pool than in the open water. Going through the thoroughly entertaining training manual (sarcasm alert). Sleeping. And sitting at the beach on occasion. I also frequented what I liked to call baguette street. Basically there are a bunch of street vendors who sell sandwiches in really tasty baguettes called Bahn My. The insides are filled with laughing cow cheese, pate, veggies, egg, assorted sausage type meats, soy sauce, and chili sauce in various combinations. Very tasty.
On the last day I passed my final exam and celebrated at a bia hoi place with a bunch of people who were diving that day, including one of the instructors who just passed his dive master exam.
Now I have a dive log book and will be getting my certificate in the mail, so I can dive anywhere in the world. Fun stuff.
Day 6:
Today I planned on exploring the greater city of Nha Trang which I have barely seen with all the diving, but alas my plans were spoiled when I slept through my arm. I made due, catching up on some beach time and having a needed day of relaxation.
Later in the afternoon, Thau, the woman who works at the guest house, took me to eat shrimp pancakes that she has been telling me about for a couple days. While we talked at lunch I slowly began to realize that Thau may have had a little crush on me and might be looking for rich Western husband. I think she was a little disappointed when she realized that I am a young, broke student, and not in the market for wife by any means. Fortunately we were able to smoothly transition into less suggestive conversation. She is really nice and smiley, and we laughed a lot at our attempts at the others language. The shrimp pancakes were amazing, basically fried rice base with veggies, shrimp, and some squid, which you dip in a sweet chili sauce and mix with fresh greens. Delightful.
On the way home Thau let me drive the motorbike, which is to my surprise was manual. She was terrified, and I must admit that I stalled once or twice. I did get into honking like the Vietnamese do, which is at anything on or near the road. I never understood this before, but found it kind of fun when doing it myself.
Once back at the Guest House it was time to get ready to catch my night bus to Hoi An. As Iwas waiting to get picked up, Thau kept playing this song for her adorable niece , and it quickly got stuck in my head. See if it does the same for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoOu1wra3XE&feature=related
I was a little sad to leave, this is the longest time I have stayed in one place since starting my travels, and although I didn't do much on the cultural front I really enjoyed being here.
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