Beach time! Nha Trang

Style of boats in this costal area

I was happy to leave Dalat and head for the coastal areas, even though it meant a return to 100-degree heat. But our last few stops have all had the beach nearby and swimming pools at the hotel, and I've learned to get up early as the locals do and walk around before it gets sweltering (this would be the time frame of 5 - 8:30 AM) and find a shady cool place to chill out in the afternoon before heading out again around dusk.

In Nha Trang we had a boat trip that took us first to a "quaint" little fishing village where we walked around and admired the beautifully painted boats in the harbor. Then we sailed for about 20 mins and anchored near a small island, and we swam around the boats and feasted on a seafood lunch cooked by the boat crew. It was very quiet and private out there and the water was a gorgeous turquoise-green color. Pretty much paradise for me. After lunch we went to a beach on a different island that was a bit a dirty and not good for laying out - it was a pebble beach rather than sand - but I found some really nice seashells here. It's a beach that Vietnamese tourists and locals come too, so it's set up with shady areas to sit in but not much else. (The Vietnamese don't sunbathe.) There was parasailing, but that's not my thing. Throughout the day two girls joined our group to offer manicures and pedicures for the low low price of $2 each. So I paid only $4 for a mani/pedi on the boat.

Nha Trang was the first place on our trip where I started to see a number of other foreigners, and bars/lounges mainly for Westerners/ the backpacker crowd. I popped into one called Guava. It was nice but not too many people there. It's the "low season." The next night my guide took my roomate and I to a Vietnamese bar/disco, which was much more lively (and the girls' skirts surprisingly short) even on a Sunday night.

The 5:30 AM beach crowd

Our last day in Nha Trang I got up at an ungodly time because I heard that some people do tai chi on the beach then and it would be interesting to watch. Well, I went out at 5:30 and was amazed to see what seemed like the whole town doing their exercise - not just tai chi but jogging, stretching, badminton, swimming. Even teenagers were out and moving! And people were probably starting to go to work or do errands at that time because there were quite a few motorbikes on the roads. The sun was bright but still low on the horizon and the temperature and humidity was comfortable. These people are "no dummies."