We moved down to Nha Trang for New Year, as it is on the coast and we were hoping for a nice beachy new year and some better weather! We arrived at 6am, and having learnt from our previous mistake with the taxi in Hanoi made sure to get a properly licensed one to our hostel. We were quoted 100,000 kip (about 3.20) by an unlicensed man we promptly told to get lost, and paid a measly 10,000 kip for the proper taxi - you really do get screwed over if you aren't careful!

Since we'd arrived so early and had been on the bus all night we had a nap in our room then went down to the beach to get a feel for the place. It was very nice, a lot like a Spanish resort if I'm honest! There is even an island with its own little amusement park and a Hollywood style sign - Vinpearl in big white letters on the hillside is pretty cute. We spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach eating pineapple and getting bitten to death by sand flies - despite that it was a lovely day.

On New Years Eve we had plans to spend the day at the beach but the weather had other ideas and we were underneath a band of cloud - we really have not had luck with the weather in Vietnam! So we decided we better make the most of our time there and see some of the cultural sights on offer. This basically consists of a giant Buddha and a temple so we did the obligatory wander round, Betty was very impressed with the Buddha and got a photo for the Brownies, and we fended off people trying to sell us drinks at every corner. Then it was time to get ready to go out, a very exciting prospect!

We started at a backpacker hostel which had a traditional dragon show on, I never realised that they leap up and sit on the shoulders of the person being the legs, it was pretty interesting to watch really, there were even some fireworks at the end! Then we went to see this big street party that had been put on by Heineken, but it was acts that we didn't know, mainly Asian and Eastern European as there are a LOT of Russian tourists in Nha Trang, I guess it is their equivalent of Spain or something! Albeit a LOT cheaper, 555. Anyway we ended up at the sailing club right on the beach and spent the new year standing in the surf watching fireworks go off further down the beach while the DJ played music in the background. It was most definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We ended up going to bed really late as had the bright idea we'd watch the sunrise, however as it was cloudy and raining there wasn't much to see so we toddled off to bed and spent most of the first day of 2012 asleep, only surfacing to get some food!

We'd planned to leave on the second, so as to be in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) for my birthday, but the bus was full so we had to book it to spend my 26th on a bus. Aren't I a lucky girl! A birthday isn't the same without presents anyway, so I can still pretend I'm 25 a little longer...

On the 2nd, as we weren't on a bus as planned, we decided to walk along the beach over to the cable car which takes you over to Vinpearl. However once we got there we discovered you could only get the cable car if you bought a theme park ticket which was really expensive so we got a taxi back to the main drag - at least we got a nice bit of exercise!

As I've said my 26th birthday was spent on a bus to Saigon, but at least it was only a measly 12 hours...

Becca x