We departed our three days in Quang Ngai on a very odd little journey! We learnt a very swift lesson ( we keep doing that ) don't rely on anyone to look after forward bookings for you ! We were told by our receptionist that she would be happy to book our train tickets so that we didn't have to go back in to Quang Ngai to sort them out. We checked and re checked made sure we had a taxi booked and so on a so forth ! Well the day of departure was slightly different no train tickets and no taxi !
Any-hoo we did get tickets, the train was delayed by an hour and we were on what was called a hard seat ! Basically it is the cattle herding of the human world as we joined the locals on a train with hard wood bench seats with straight high backs, packed to the max ! It was certainly an experience ! However a particularly uncomfortable one for 7 hours ! We faced an older couple from Saigon, the guy got progressively more pissed on a plastic bottle of what he called whisky, but i think it was the stuff they have around here normally with lizards snakes and insects in , basically the Vietnamese liquid Viagra ! ( or so they believe !) . As the journey progressed we were grilled in Vietnamese , mainly over why we don't have children! Our new elderly and drunk friend blamed our lack of sprogs on the fact that Ben obviously hasn't been drinking enough of this chaps firewater, and so must not be firing right ! So Ben was repeatedly offered a swig of this stuff , followed by cigarettes or anything else. The other people on the train repeatedly came down to meet us , normally offering Ben a smoke from their bongs or food or cigarettes , of which we gratuitously declined ! Then one local took a real liking to Ben's hair and started to stroke it ! Then my drunk companion noticed my knee scar and so then decided i was a faulty wife and so i wont be able to have as many children as he first had predicted !! needless to say it was a hilarious journey , i am giggling about it just writing it down !
It was a horrendously uncomfortable journey but 7 hours later though beautiful scenery of the mountains and coast we arrived to Nha trang and marched straight to our hotel just one street off the sublime beach ! Oh Yeah!
Needless to say we went on search for the best drinking hole and settle for a Saigon beer for a night cap . We went to the highly recommended Sailing club, which felt far too upmarket to be called a backpackers bar as it does say in the lonely planet guide , but it was a great place to go , Aussie run they have got it sorted !
We treated ourselves to a day of sun and crystal clear south china sea ! And inadvertently got a tad tiddly whilst sampling the local night life . Need not to say more ! If any one saw my facebook status of "louise cant hold her drink anymore" that paints the picture
Unfortunately we had booked a boat trip for the following day sporting rather nasty hangovers !! Nha trang has a lot of islands around it and some great coral reefs to explore , as well as an aquarium that is only accessible by boat. A jump in to the sea to snorkel around the reefs was a great hangover cure ! Thank goodness, as the crew decided to entertain us after lunch with their band ! Their band consisted of a home made drum kit two singers and a guitarist, and somehow knew at least one song from every nation on the boat and there were a few !
Our last day in Nha Trang was also my birthday , which is an odd experience ! But we went to a mud and mineral spa up the road in nha trang, it was a great way to spend your day , rolling around in a wooden tub full of mineral mud and then getting hard baked in the sun , before taking a plunge in hot mineral water ! Dont know if it done me any good or not but it was certainly relaxing ! And don't be worried i found the equivalent of the Belgium Monk, the Louisane Brewhouse, to have a celebratory beer in before leaving on an overnight bus to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon as the southerners prefer to call it !
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