Nha Trang Part Deux

Monday, March 25th, 2013 Nha Trang Vietnam

 On our way to dinner the other night, we took this photo of a typical 2 or 3 star Vietnamese hotel, with the moon just off to the right. The building lots in Vietnamese towns and cities must be quite narrow because it's very common to see tall, narrow buildings. The hotel we're in is 8 stories high and about 20 feet wide. As one of the university students we talked to in Hanoi said, "In Vietnam, we build our buildings the same way we brush our teeth, up and down, not sideways".

On Saturday night we had dinner at Lanterns, a moderately priced but very nice restaurant about 2 blocks from our hotel. Great food. The night before, at Veranda, we had been talking to 2 young Danish women who had ended up in Nha Trang by mistake. They had booked bus tickets to Dalat from somewhere and went to the bus station at the appointed time. A bus was just leaving so everyone in the bus station hurried them on to it without checking their tickets. They thought they were going to Dalat until they arrived in Nha Trang. But it's nice here so they weren't upset about it. Their sleeper bus experience has been worse than ours. Sometimes if the bus is mostly Vietnamese passengers, the bus sound system plays loud Asian pop music all night. People seem to want that. Asia is very loud.
They were also uncomfortable with the spare bus driver (2 drivers take turns) laying in the aisle right beside them. However, it's common here for people who have a few minutes or more to just rest wherever they are. Life is lived on the streets here. We often see barbers who have a kitchen chair set up on the sidewalk and a small mirror hung from a tree or wall. They work away all day cutting hair for people. Another common thing is to see people picking nits out of someone else's hair. They do this sitting on little plastic stools on the sidewalk or on benches in the park. Head checks for lice remind Anita of work. Anybody can get head lice. It happens all the time in schools in Canada. Here, they just deal with it in public, as they do everything else.
We rarely see much in the way of displays of affection between adults because that doesn't seem to be part of the public culture. There's definitely public affection toward babies and children. Everyone smiles and holds babies.  On the other hand, there's always some guy urinating on a wall or into the sea or against a tree. That seems to be accepted. It's just different here.
At Lanterns, we chatted with a young Swedish woman seated next to us. She told us a bit about Hong Kong where she had spent some time, about travel in China, and about her life as a Swedish post graduate student. Part of the fun of travel.
Yesterday morning we walked to the north end of the beach, closer to the town center. Last night we ate at Kirin, also recommended in Lonely Planet. It was good but not great. The cockroach that ran across the floor past our table didn't actually bother us much but if we'd seen that in a restaurant at home we probably would have left immediately. I guess there's no point in traveling if you're going to come home with the same attitudes as when you left.
As we walked along the beachfront park last night, there were lots of Vietnamese families having picnics on the beach or the grass. The parks are full of Vietnamese people exercising before dawn. Then the tourists come out during the day while the locals are at work. And then after dusk, when the tourists are in the restaurants or bars, the Vietnamese families and teens enjoy the cool air and company in the parks.
This morning we walked south along the beach again. It's quiet down there so we spent a couple of hours bobbing in the ocean and sitting on the beach. The water is so warm it's possible to just stay in the ocean without ever getting cold.

Anita is trying to pass the time as pleasantly as possible while waiting for spring in Combermere.
Near noon, we walked back up the beach toward our hotel and had another swim there. While we stood drying off in the sun with our daypack and hats on the beach behind us, a beach vendor came up to sell us something. We said no thanks and she said something about how we should watch our stuff because someone might steal it. Then she walked away.
About 50 feet from us she reached down and scooped up a pair of flipflops that were sitting by themselves on the beach and slipped them into her bag. People who sit in the shade of the palm trees will wear their flipflops down over the hot sand to the shore when they go for a swim. There are flipflops left like this all the time.
Anyway, we looked for the owner of the flipflops and we saw a woman swimming quickly toward shore, heading straight for the vendor who had moved a bit up the beach. Being hard up for entertainment this morning, I was hoping for a catfight but the vendor had dropped her bag and gone to talk to someone else. The swimmer just walked up to the bag and took her flipflops back without saying anything. We talked to her and her friend later. They were Russian but one spoke some English. They were very surprised that the woman had tried to steal a swimmer's shoes. I guess you do have to watch your stuff.
On our way to Lanterns for a bowl of pho with pork (that's Vietnamese rice noodle soup - a staple) we heard a guy on a motorbike yell, "Anita". It turned out to be Neville, an Aussie we'd met at our hotel in Hoi An. He seems to be having a great trip but Aussies always seem to be having fun. After a short chat he headed off to some beach or mud bath or something while we went for lunch.
Tonight we'll eat at Veranda again and tomorrow it's back to the beach. Yesterday afternoon we booked our last hotel of the trip in Ho Chi Minh City. We contemplated flying there from Dalat but we'd only save about 3 hours total time from hotel to hotel and it would cost an extra $150 or so. Instead we'll likely take the 7 hour bus ride.