Jan. 1-4, 2013 - Nha Trang, Vietnam (I wrote 2012 first)
I forgot to add this to the first Vietnam post so here it is.
Visa Fee: $190, had to pre-apply and mail off my passport to the consulate before I left for the trip
Exchange Rate: 20,800 Dong = 1USD
On the evening of the first we hopped the night bus once again to Nha Trang. We arrived around 8am. Normally, 8am after a good night sleep I can be up, happy to eat breakfast and explore. However, we were on the sleeper bus or as we have dubbed it the no sleep bus. So after a late night out on NYE and then a horrible nights sleep on the sleeper bus I was VERY ready for bed. Turns out there was no bed available and check out time wasnt until Noon and check in time was 1pm. I sat and waited for 4 hours exhausted and tired and sleepy for a bed that I could finally sleep in. Once the time came I was in sleep heaven. Even with all the other 9 people in the room coming and going I slept like a rock until almost 4pm. I dont think I even moved during that time. It was amazing.
After my epic nap I found Liz and we went for dinner. The food here is amazing and strange all at the same time. There are food stalls set up on the side walks all over the place cooking up noodles, rice, dumplings, chicken, pork, and lots of things That I really have no clue. One of the best parts about not being a picky eater is that its easy for me to order food. I just sit at a food stall in the tiny chair at the tiny table and hold up one finger to let them know that I just want one of whatever it is they are serving up that day. So far its worked out exceptionally well. We have tried a variety of things in Nha Trang. We tried a fried pastry thing stuffed with some meat and a boiled quails egg. Some rice that was colored in 4 different colors and had different tastes. I asked for a little bit of each of the purple, green, yellow, and red rice. All slightly different and all very yummy. I ate a, I'm gonna guess pork chop, grilled on the grill right on the street with rice veggies and a broth soup. Probably one of the best meals I have had yet. I visited this place twice.
Anyways after dinner we went over to the movie theatre across the street that I had read about in my travel guide. The unique this about this theatre is it has one screen. What you do is go in and pick out which movie you want to watch and then reserve a time for them to show it. Renting out the theatre cost us 50,000 dong each. Thats $2.50. Yep a movie theatre all to yourself or with your friends for 2.5 bucks. Crazy AWESOME. It was a movie night because neither of us had had enough sleep to do anything but sit and be lazy. But movie night turned out pretty spectacular as soon as Liz and I picked out Magic Mike as the movie to watch. This is the movie about Channing Tatum being a stripper. Yes, I know what you are thinking, it was the perfect girls night in! We quickly fell asleep and slept all night!!!
Nha Trang is a beach town. Supposedly a party town. Quite honestly though, I'm not real impressed with anything that I have seen here. Its just a city.
Liz and I visited the old Cham temple of Po Nagar. A small but pretty little site. Beyond that the city doesnt offer much other than the beach. Which is pretty but not amazing and its been overcast and almost drizzly everyday we have been here.
Today, the 4th, we went on a boat tour to 3 different islands. It was questionable at first how it would turn out but it ended up being really fun. This first island stop had an aquarium. The architecture was much more interesting than the fish it housed. It was made to look like a HUGE boat that had sank and been covered in sea creatures and coral. Beautiful. The second island was for snorkeling. And great snorkeling it was. After snorkel island we anchored and had lunch cooked up by the boat crew. A big spread of morning glory, squid, chicken, noodles, rice, fish, and spring rolls. Then came the entertainment. The boat crew was also a band! A band with 2 real electric guitars and a homemade drumset made out of old pots, pot lids and a plastic 55 gallon drum. It actually, surprisingly enough sounded good. They played covers and I of crew guys but on a coconut bra, a dress, and a wig and sang songs and dance on the table. Hilarious. But then it got better. We had to go around and say where we were from. Fine. Im up for introductions. Turns out they just wanted to know what songs to make everyone get up and sing and dance to. They had the chinese guy get up and sing a Chinese lullaby, the german sang a popular german song, the russian a russian song and we all clapped and he did the jumping dance where you squat low and kick out a leg. All these were very entertaining. Then it got to America. That was Liz and I. We willing got up on stage. The song they chose for us was "I want it that way" by The Backstreet Boys. And Id say we did really well reenacting the music video and singing the song. I think I heard a few laughs. After that they tossed a floating bar into the sea and if you wanted a drink you had to climb on the top of the boat, jump into the water and swim over to the bar. Liz and I where the first in the water! Im not even sure though what they were giving us as the boat cocktail. It was orange and only moderately tasty but fun. Good day good day.
What I have learned:
A quail egg has more nutrients than a chicken egg and is much smaller.
They randomly put a fried egg in with your meal sometimes.
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