Beach

It has been awhile since I've updated - apologies to those who weren't sure if I was still alive. I am very much alive, but the computers in Nha Trang don't like to go to my blog page. I hope it's working okay for everyone else.

I'm on my 3rd day in this great beach town. It has a healthy mix of tourism and local culture and charm, and is much more my speed than Saigon was. It is hella hot, though and humid. The keys on the computers stick like nothing else and I'm ingesting approximately 8L of water (for a price of about $2!!!) per day. How's that for hydrated?

On day 1 here I took a boat trip, which is what one does when one is in Nha Trang. I somehow ended up on a tour that was 90% Vietnamese, plus me, 4 Germans and 3 British guys. I spent most of my time hanging out with the 3 guys, save for when something attacked me (or I guess stung might be a more reasonable description) on my pinky toe, which promptly swelled while 1/2 of my foot turned red. It stung like a mother for 20 minutes, but then I recovered. My boat guide said it was coral, but I'm not buying it. the highlight of the trip was the "band" on board. Our guide sang and 2 of the boat workers played electric guitar and "drums" of cut down buckets labeled "Yamaha". The two songs he sang for the English speakers were "My Heart Will Go On" by Celene Dion (while acting out the famous Titanic front-of-the-boat scene) and Frere Jacques (I think I butchered that spelling). Frere Jacques? Interesting that the 2 songs he chose were Canadian and French - Vietnam does have a French history!

Yesterday I was awoken at 5:15 by the start of sunrise. I bolted to the killer roofdeck here and snapped some amazing shots. I managed to catch the sun JUST as it broke the horizon. My hotel has hammocks and a great view of the city and beach on the roof, as well as food. I could probably live up there :) All morning I lounged on the beach on a lounge chair with a 3 inch thick mattress and a thatched umbrella. It cost me $1.25 for the whole day. Incredible. The water was the perfect temperature to cool me off, but not so cool it was a jolt to the system.

I spent a few hours in the afternoon wandering all over town, seeing some of the sights. The two things I was struck by were the kids and pedestrians.

Kids
The children are incredibly well-behaved. They all help their parents work or entertain themselves while their parents do so. So many of them like to say "hello" to me and giggle when I respond. I was walking by a group of about 4 4-year-olds yesterday who were getting a school lesson from an older woman. I didn't realize what was going on (because they were so young!) and was waving at the little girl of the group. She kept staring like she wanted to wave but was afraid to and sat there quietly. On my return trip the same children were outside but the lesson was over. They waved madly, laughing and saying hello. At 4 years old these kids had that control to know how to behave when in class! I can't imagine US kindergarteners doing that - ever. The only kids I saw fighting/bickering all day was when I walked by the open door of a home and saw 2 fighting over a video game controller. Go figure.


Pedestrians
There aren't any. I was virtually the only one walking anywhere yesterday. They may be the smart ones since it was probably 95 degrees out, but it still seemed unusual. In most cities I'm used to people walk most places, but I guess in the cities I know not everyone has a motorbike. Here they're used to go everywhere - even just for a trip down the block.

My friend Sam (one of the UNC girls from Cambodia) is arriving this morning. I think we'll spend the day on the beach (though I'll be in the shade - too much sun yesterday!) and may hit up a mudbath place! Then tonight I'm off by overnight train to Hoi An where I hope to find an incredible tailor to make me heaps of custom clothes on the cheap!