Nha Trang

Nha Trang is a city 240kms north of Phan Thiet, where I will be living, it is the most popular beach resort in Vietnam. Although apparently Mui Ne is giving it a run for it's money. The cool thing about Nha Trang is that the beach is a municipal one, so if you are brave enough to cross the road, it's easy and quick to get to. The beach is 6kms long, has soft sand and sits at the bottom of Nha Trang bay. Opposite is the island Hon Tre, linked to the mainland by the longest sea crossing gondola in the world. On the island is the Vin Pearl resort, some say it is the largest resort hotel in Vietnam with the largest swimming pool in South East Asia. I am not sure about the resort but I definitely want to go on the gondola.
The night bus trip wasn't as comfortable as I had remembered, I had obviously blocked out how truly uncomfortable the buses are. We arrived into town on time and the bus dropped us off in the middle of the tourist area of the city. I only had to drag my luggage a couple of blocks to get to the restaurant where I was meeting Cal. Once again I was missing the rucksack. Having a rucksack makes getting around so much easier. No matter how little you think you will moving your luggage yourself, it's always more than you think. And in Vietnam where the pavement is for everyone but pedestrians and when you can use it is so uneven you'd rather walk on the road and risk death by scooter,having a suitcase is an even bigger pain in the butt than usual. What has possessed me to move to a country where just crossing the road is an extreme sport? Cal arrived and we sat down to breakfast, he is everything that Denise said he was. I think they are well suited. He's taken a year leave of absence from his job to come out with Denise. Originally he was going to work for APC too but the school has only just opened and they don't have nearly enough students at the moment for the number of teachers so he is going to find something else to do while he is here. After breakfast I dumped my bags at their place and we hit the beach. This was just the start of our lazy day. It is really nice to have someone to chat too, to meet me when I arrive into town and get me settled. It takes a lot of anxiety away. Again I don't know why I don't handle a change of location well, but I don't. I still stress abut it, I guess a psychologist would have a field day with that. In the late afternoon I headed out by myself to find a hotel room for my stay. I wanted somewhere cheap and clean, if such a thing existed in this city. I visited a hotel, it was OK but they didn't have a single room for that night. I went to the back packers hostel but they were charging $7 for a mixed dorm room and I didn't want that. I know I have slept in a mixed dorm before but now I am not a backpacker and have stuff worth stealing. I am so paranoid about having my computer stolen that I think the less people that see it, the better. I've been travelling with it in my suitcase so when I arrive somewhere, people can't tell by looking at me that I have a computer. Also my suitcase is lockable and as I've discovered very difficult to get into if you don't have the code. I started asking at some of the small guesthouses in the back alley. I found a couple with single rooms for $7 a night, I checked in to Hotel UB59. The houses here are generally long and narrow, my room was the middle room and had no window but does have A.C. . The lack of window isn't important. I'm not planning to spend a lot of time in here. The hotel does have WiFi. In fact I think the whole city is on a wireless network, accessing the internet shouldn't be a problem. All three of us had dinner together and then I arranged to meet in the morning. Not a bad first day in a new place.
My second day in Nha Trang was similarly stressful,i.e. I spent it mostly on the beach. Cal and I were at the Sailing Club, it's a restaurant / beach bar which also rents out loungers with shades for the day. The club has security and a policy that hawkers can't come and hassle the guests. Now that I like. I always want to remain polite to people but when you've said "No" for the tenth time it can be a bit hard. And most of the time the hawkers don't even have anything that I actually want to buy. Some of them are selling English books which I would buy, but a lot of the books are copies and they want more than the new price back in the U.K. for them. It comes as a bit of a shock when most other things are a lot cheaper than back home. The day ended as the first one did, Denise, Cal and I having dinner together, this time at a German restaurant instead of an Italian one as on the night before. Denise has actually started school but as it is a new school things are in a state of flux. They have no schedule, no clear idea of the number of students and consequently no idea of their students abilities. That will make lesson planning a bit interesting.
On Friday I decided to avoid the beach and give my skin a rest and spare the locals the sight of my curves, I'm sure that they can only take so much excitement in one week! Besides the sun is a lot stronger here than I am used to and despite not minding that my room doesn't have a window I don't want to be confined there with sunburn. I decided to see some of the city sights and do a little walking at the same time. I walked along the beach front, this place is so beautiful. I then cut inland and went to take a look at Nha Trang Cathedral. It's situated on a raised rock bluff and so overlooks the city, similar to Sacre Coeur in Paris. It is beautiful, very simple but more impressive than Saigon Cathedral. You can actually walk up to the altar, rather than being confined to the doorway as in Saigon. You can sit in the pews and take refuge from the sun outside, which is exactly what I did. I came across the train station and stopped to take a picture for Scott. I of course, have no interest in trains whatsoever!! Then it was onto Long Son Pagoda. The temple itself isn't anything outstanding although I am always fascinated by the roof decorations on these temples. It is so stunning and totally opposite to the sober,stone gargoyles of British cathedrals, it is truly exotic. The use of colour so alien in the churches of my youth. Maybe that's why I like them so much, they are polar opposites of the places where I was conditioned to pray. The highlight of the temple is at the top of 152 steps and looks out over the city. It is a large,seated,white Buddha, unfortunately before I got there I had to navigate the "guides". In the temple grounds there are young people who live and work at the temple and offer to show people around, they profess not to be hawkers, but that is what they are really. A young lady latched herself onto me and proceeded to tell me about the temple, for "nothing". Halfway up there is a reclining Buddha, so we stopped here. My guide wanted to hurry me up to the top but before I could go I had to buy some postcards from her. I said that I wasn't ready to go up yet and wanted to sit a while and look at the Buddha, I wanted to have some space to just look and ponder. I think since Betsy and I completed our trek around Shikoku I am a little more receptive to the peace you can experience in a temple. Especially in a country as crazy and noisy as Vietnam. My guide took exception to this and told me that I had to buy the postcards now as she had to go to lunch, I said I would wait for her before proceeding to the top. So I sat down and relaxed, she didn't take this too well, I made sure that the bottom of my feet weren't pointing at her so as to not offend her further and chilled. She was not a happy bunny and consulted with another young male guide, he then proceeded to insult me, but eventually they both left and I got the peace that I wanted. It shouldn't be this hard and I should be more understanding. I am still a work in progress and with that in mind I bought some incense from a lady on the steps and burned some in prayer to the big Buddha. I feel weird about praying for myself so I pray for my family, Darren and friends. I then sat down to just be I guess. I know that sounds a little new age, but it's good to just stop. Of course that made me a sitting target for another hawker . I can't imagine their lives and I don't fully appreciate the advantages of being born white, so I ascribe my modes of behaviour onto them because I forget that I do know different. After all I have lived in another country other than my own. I would've thought that I had learnt something from that experience, but obviously not.If I am clearly praying in a place of worship I feel I should be left alone, it's what I would do. If I am in a restaurant with my friends and we are quite obviously having a conversation, I do not want to be interrupted. It seems that when we arrive in a "tourist area" the only label we wear is that of "tourist" and as such are fair game. And for me when I am approached by someone wanting to sell me something, all I see is another hawker. It's very sobering. I can't speak for other people, nor would I want to. However I should try to see the person and not the label and treat them as I would wish to be treated. I cannot modify other peoples behaviour, only my own.
I met Cal in the afternoon for a drink, since neither of us has a job and don't have to keep to office hours. We found a place that sold bottles of the local beer,La Rue for 25 pence and then settled in. Denise,Cal and I had a drink with Carrie, Cals daughter-in-law, she's great. She comes across as so positive and has been teaching for a few years and so has been a great help to Denise. It's all new for Denise and reminds me of how I felt when faced with a classroom of eight kids for the first time!! After a beer us three went to a local restaurant for dinner. Then we were joined by Justin,Cals son, Carl and Marjorie. We had a great Thai dinner. I haven't eaten a lot of Vietnamese food so far. Since I've arrived in Nha Trang I've been sleeping through the night, which is great. And a miracle considering that I don't have a mattress just a block of really hard foam on top of a wooden frame to sleep on. I sit on it and I don't even make a dent, it's crazy. I really should have brought my bed roll with me. Maybe I'll ask Darren to bring it with him when he comes out, he might need it! On in to the weekend. And yes it being a weekend does make a difference to me.