A Day in Nha Trang
Getting off the bus at 5:30am and checking into the hotel by 6 and rest before getting picked up by tour guide at 8:30 for a full day at different islands. I honestly have no idea where my energy is coming from..must be the Vietnamese coffee. Soooo good and addicting. I hate drinking coffee back in America, but this...this is life changing.
My day started off at Monh 'Black' Island where I went snorkeling! It's incredible under water with the different coral, reef, and fish, but I wish I had a waterproof camera to capture what I saw. After was lunch on the boat and I went up on the deck since it was crowded on the main floor, but there was already a family eating upstairs which turned out to be cool because they adopted me for the day. The kids were practicing their English with me and the parents were trying to get their youngest kid to talk to me. It was a family of 3 plus 3 cousins, and their family dynamic and hospitality reminded me of my own family and cousins and aunts and uncles. And not for the first time nor the last, I wish they were here with me so I could share this with them.
After lunch the 'best boy band of Nha Trang' performed and pulled people from the audience to sing a song from their country. Unfortunately, as 'Miss America' I had to sing but the song the band knew I didn't really know the lyrics...uh sorry. Something like "Close your eyes..give me your hand..can you feel my heart beating?..." that's all I knew. Later, the tour guide asked me where my origins were and I said parents from Saigon and he started calling me Miss America and Miss Saigon. After we just chilled in the water in tubes and one of the staff was handing out what looked like tea but really was strong cocktail..whoa. Then we went to another beach but it was kind of rocky and I can see all the trash on the shore so I only briefly went in and then took a short nap on a chair.
After we went to the aquarium which was interesting. I thought the architecture was more interesting than the fish but whatever.. That concluded the boat tour which ended around 5 pm. After getting dropped off the hotel, I searched on tripadvisor for dinner because after such a nice day, I thought I would splurge on dinner. Instead of squatting on the streets on a small chair made for a 2 year old and spending 1-2 dollars, I went to a nice restaurant that actually worked with the local community in hiring disadvantaged kids called Lantern and I spent 6 dollars which included tip. Fish in clay pot and mango shake. So nice. Then I asked the waitress on where the night market is and she said most of it is closed (by now it's almost 7 pm), but she drew a place on my map to check out. So I walked around and enjoyed the scenery and checked out the market which, assuming I found it correctly, turns out to be like 3 booths. Since I heard Nha Trang can be dangerous with gang life, I figure it might as well be an early night. Too bad I don't have that much time for Nha Trang cause I heard their booze cruise is famous...oh well maybe next time. Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up early enough to go to the beach and pack and check out for my 7am bus to Da Lat.
My day started off at Monh 'Black' Island where I went snorkeling! It's incredible under water with the different coral, reef, and fish, but I wish I had a waterproof camera to capture what I saw. After was lunch on the boat and I went up on the deck since it was crowded on the main floor, but there was already a family eating upstairs which turned out to be cool because they adopted me for the day. The kids were practicing their English with me and the parents were trying to get their youngest kid to talk to me. It was a family of 3 plus 3 cousins, and their family dynamic and hospitality reminded me of my own family and cousins and aunts and uncles. And not for the first time nor the last, I wish they were here with me so I could share this with them. 
After lunch the 'best boy band of Nha Trang' performed and pulled people from the audience to sing a song from their country. Unfortunately, as 'Miss America' I had to sing but the song the band knew I didn't really know the lyrics...uh sorry. Something like "Close your eyes..give me your hand..can you feel my heart beating?..." that's all I knew. Later, the tour guide asked me where my origins were and I said parents from Saigon and he started calling me Miss America and Miss Saigon. After we just chilled in the water in tubes and one of the staff was handing out what looked like tea but really was strong cocktail..whoa. Then we went to another beach but it was kind of rocky and I can see all the trash on the shore so I only briefly went in and then took a short nap on a chair. 
After we went to the aquarium which was interesting. I thought the architecture was more interesting than the fish but whatever.. That concluded the boat tour which ended around 5 pm. After getting dropped off the hotel, I searched on tripadvisor for dinner because after such a nice day, I thought I would splurge on dinner. Instead of squatting on the streets on a small chair made for a 2 year old and spending 1-2 dollars, I went to a nice restaurant that actually worked with the local community in hiring disadvantaged kids called Lantern and I spent 6 dollars which included tip. Fish in clay pot and mango shake. So nice. Then I asked the waitress on where the night market is and she said most of it is closed (by now it's almost 7 pm), but she drew a place on my map to check out. So I walked around and enjoyed the scenery and checked out the market which, assuming I found it correctly, turns out to be like 3 booths. Since I heard Nha Trang can be dangerous with gang life, I figure it might as well be an early night. Too bad I don't have that much time for Nha Trang cause I heard their booze cruise is famous...oh well maybe next time. Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up early enough to go to the beach and pack and check out for my 7am bus to Da Lat. 
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