Firstly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!!
Our trip on the overnight sleeper bus from Saigon was pretty rough. It was a small bed you got which actually wasn't too bad (not the newest or cleanest but better than a normal upright coach). The problem was the driving and the roads. The number of pot holes were unbelievable. We were being thrown out of our beds, just being in the air most of the time!!! The driver didn't exactly drive slowly either and we were stuck with the back seat thanks to being picked up last on the bus so the bumps seemed worse. Well, we seem to have forgotten that it was bad as we have been sucked into doing another one tomorrow night to Hoi An. It's a little longer as well. They are cheap though, around £5. My air con induced cough seems to have subsided too. I think the last place we stayed at had a dirty filter. I'm sure you can imagine how popular I was on a heavily air conned 10 hour night bus...
Anyway, Nha Trang - back to the beach. It's nice to be back. Though I prefer a good old swimming pool (sand annoys me too much and I've acquired a fear of waves, not sure why ho ho ho!) a bit of sunbathing doesn't hurt (unless you're burnt...which I am). I definitely lost some colour in the last week thanks to a rainy and cloudy Ho Chi Minh City. It's nice to be able to relax outside the comfort of our own room as well, especially because of my air con cough. Our current room is windowless as well, which is slightly depressing, but for £3/each a night with air con, our own bathroom, fridge and tv (more Discovery Channel, yay!) we're pretty well off! One of the highlights of our 4 nights here was going to an Indian restaurant where beers were 23p and we had a set menu for appetisers, starter, main dish, naan bread, rice, and a beer for £2.97! You'd be lucky to get that price just for a bottle of beer at home in a restaurant.
Our first day or 2 didn't start too well as we had flash floods. Yes floods! I didn't sign up for this! I've never seen anything like it. Shops flooded, people knee deep in water and cars covered up to their bumpers.
Apart from hiding from the rain and lazing on the beach, eating and drinking well with the extra money from our cheap accommodation, we haven't done anything apart from a snorkeling trip today. I was a bit apprehensive after the vicious storms when we first arrived, the drama from the snorkeling trip in Thailand, thinking that the coral would be nothing compared to there and from watching a shark programme last night!!! For a better experience we decided to spend a bit more money and go with a dive company. It meant not one of the booze cruises where they take you to see pointless things and so that we would have people scuba diving on the same boat so you get lots of time at the 2 dive spots. I was pleasantly surprised with the trip. The equipment was so much better. We got fins this time and didn't have to sort our snorkel out every minute to get water out which would have been really annoying the amount of time we were in the sea. The first place we went wasn't the best visibility but ok. The second place was really good and although the water wasn't as clear and the fish weren't as bright as Thailand, the reef was amazing. You could go out quite deep as well, seeing as far down as 10-12m. I found Nemo! There were some big Angelfish, eels, some really big fish and lots of funny little ones that I had no idea what they were! If we go snorkeling again then I'm going to buy a waterproof cover for my camera so that I can take some pictures. Lunch was also included once we got back on land and it was pretty good. We had to come back for a nap though as we were up before 7am-not like us since being unemployed! The only bad thing was that we are in pain from sunburn! All on our backs from being distracted in the water. My bum is especially suffering-I hope it's recovered for the bumpy bus tomorrow! I can't wait for Hoi An. It sounds amazing. I'd say why, but il probably only repeat myself in a few days!
P.s. The drink ban lasted 24 hours. I resisted during my tea on the first night which tends to be the hardest time but then we walked past a bar with 50p cocktails. Not drank today though and won't tomorrow so 2 nights is a good start.