Nha Trang - Vietnam

Well the train did have air-conditioning and the toilets left a lot to be desired. Man those are gross. The trains are very old, grimy and the toilets, holy the toilets. You just hope no part of your body touches any part of that room and use lots of hand sanitizer once you get out. The doors between the cars did not shut. So when people were smoking between the cars the smoke came billowing into the car and man after 8 ½ hours I felt as if I had smoked two packs of cigarettes. Well enough of that.

It has been raining off and on here. Sometimes it just downpours, but it usually only lasts for five or ten minutes. Nha Trang has a bit slower pace then the other towns so far and it is on the beach. I am staying at a hotel that is half a block from the beach and I can see the water and beach from my room for $8 a night. It is lovely and very clean. No free breakfast at this one though, but free internet.

This town also likes to cater to the Western’s and offers lots of massages and spa packages. So with the rain. I walked into Crazy Kim’s Spa and Gym to check the prices and facilities and ended up staying for a couple of hours. It was great. It was up to North American standards, very clean, sterile and modern. It was nicer then some of the expensive spots in Peterborough. So the ladies reading will like this. I had a deep cleansing facial for 70 minutes, pedicure and foot massage for 60 minutes and steam bath (all I could take was 10 minutes or so) all for less than $16. My skin has never felt so good. She worked wonders on it. If the rain keeps up, I may have to go back.

I also found another spot up to North American standards. I keep saying that as it is very poor here and things are usually grimy and not as bright and modern as in Canada. This place offers diving certification. So you got it. I am signed up to start my open water PADI certification for scuba diving tomorrow. It should take three to four days. I had to fill in a bunch of paper work and answer a lot of questions. I answered yes to one of the questions so I had to go to the doctor and get checked out. The question asked if you have ever had ear surgery. As a kid I had five sets of tubes. So off I go to the doctor. No problem. There is an English French speaking doctor across town. The dive shop (which is mostly westerners working there) got one of their Vietnamese employees to get me a motorbike and told them where to take me and to wait until I was finish and bring me back. Not a problem, as I am constantly being harassed, “motorbike, you like motorbike.” They always want to give you a ride.

So to the doctor a quick ride across town and I was in and out of the office in less than five minutes. Holy speedy, no sitting around waiting there like at home. He checked my ears and filled out the paperwork and gave me the okay. All this for $6.

Oh another crazy thing, trying to find deodorant. I was running low so I was watching out for it. They have many street venders who sell it, but not what I like or Westerns use. So it took a few days and a couple of towns. Luckily I still had some left. I found an A mart in Nha Trang, a large department store, similar to K mart, but a tenth of the size. I found regular Westerner deodorant there and was able to read the English on the Vietnamese glass bottles of deodorant. You got it, glass and they are heavy. Well it turns out they have whiting ingredients in their deodorant to make their skin whiter. Glad I got the regular stuff as I do not need help in the whiting department. So this leads to my other white story. In Hoi An at all those tailor shops all the women would rub my pasty white skin, “oh so nice, nice white skin, so pretty.” It was a bit much. The women here all want to have whiter skin and will wear surgical masks over their faces to protect their skin. Or longer ones that also cover the neck and long satin gloves to cover their arms when they are outside. So in the heat, me in a tank top and shorts I am gleaming white, as I have not been the beach.

The food is excellent. I have been having a lot of seafood even squid (little octopuses) in my seafood pasta. You can eat really well for cheap the most expensive things are $4. They have great fruit shakes for 50 cents. Most things are between one and two dollars.

Yesterday I met this really neat older woman. I went to the beach to read and met this woman there. I never got the book open. She was the first female war correspondent for Holland and was/is a journalist. She has lived in Saigon for the last eight years and was here when the war was on. She was fascinating to listen too. She has been all over the world, seen many wars and lived a very interesting life. Her stories were fascinating. She invited me to come to her house in Saigon when I am there to check out her scrapbooks and clippings from the war era. It was really neat listening to her.