Hard to believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Not sure where the time has gone. Today we left Nha Trang and headed further north along the coast. We were able to stop at a local fishing village and get out and watch the locals haggle over fish, unknot fishing nets and come ashore in their bamboo boats. Great little interlude. The drive had some stunning scenery with the mountains and coast. Also drove past lots of rice paddies with workers out in the fields, some with the water buffalo, working hard. We stopped at one bay where the North Vietnamese army used to use to keep their southern troops armed.

Stopped for "Happy House" and bought some 'real' salt water pearls with real silver for $7.50. Lunch was at a local restaurant along the road before we stopped at Nguyen Nga Centre. It is a centre supporting children and young adults with disabilities. At the beginning of our trip Intrepid gave us a shoulder bag with embroiderey on it "Say No to Plastic Bags" and they get them made here. They support people with 4 different types of disabilities - Deaf, Blind, Down Syndrome and Physical Disabilities. The lady who started it 20 years ago had a sister with a disability and wanted to do something and it has slowly grown over the years. Originally her mother said no, it will never work but she went to a fortune teller who said it would and here she is, all these years later.

The deaf students do the embroidery and they were a crack up, asking all these questions of us, how old are you, where do you come from, those with a boyfriend if they were pregnant or had children. Was really great. The blind students are taught music and they put a performance on for us. They ranged from 8 years to 25 years and very talented.

The students with physical disability work from home, the staff take work to them as it is too difficult for them to get to the centre and they teach the Down Sydrome clients life skills. Downstairs they had a shop selling their handicrafts so as I do in places like this, bought a few things and also left a donation as they are trying to build a permanent building on some land they have purchased. They are currently renting and over the years have had to move 5 times.

It was a great time spent there. We made it to our hotel which is by the beachfront again. I joked with Cong in the bus that Toni and I bagged the beachfront view which we all laughed about. Well, we are all laughing now because we all have beachfront views, not that you can sea much because of the ocean fog. I'm down in the lobby and there is a wedding or something happening and a piano playing happy music. We're meeting for dinner soon in the hotel restaurant down on the beach so must go. Have a mini cold and feeling pretty crappy at the moment. Hopefully it disappears overnight. At least this is a good place to get Chicken Noodle Soup which one always feels like when they have a cold. Off to Hoi An tomorrow for 3 nights. Heard it is a great town.