After the relative chaos of Saigon it was refreshing to experience a far less hectic city in Nha Trang. I was not expecting such a beautiful city and being by one of the prettiest beaches possible was an added bonus. When we arrived off the bus at 6am it was monsooning-down and we had to take shelter in a random bar while we tried to work out where we could find somewhere decent to stay! We settled on an area near the beach and found a ridiculously cheap hotel near all the main sites and with the friendliest staff ever. We managed to a book a boat tour with the hotel that went around four small neighbouring islands.

We left at about half 8 the next morning and found that the tour involved about twenty other tourists and plenty of other English speakers (including, unbelievably a fellow Boro fan). It was a great atmosphere on the boat and we first went to a sort of aquarium on a small island that had huge pools of turtles and snapper fish ready for feeding. Next we sailed to the edge of Mon Tre where we spent a good hour snorkelling after bombing off the top of the boat into the crystal clear water. I'd never been snorkelling before and it was really great to float over the beautiful coral and see exotic fish literally swim right up to your face. The sun cream didn't stop the inevitable sunburnt backs on nearly all of us fair-skinned folk but it was worth it. We spent the rest of the afternoon cruising between the other islands on the party boat and then one of the hosts set up a floating bar in the water that we all swam round and drank from (obviously). It was quite bizarre but enjoyable and we got on well with a lot of the other travellers so time flew by. By the end of the day we returned to the shore all a bit too pink but it was a great day and we finished off by going for a few drinks while the football was on in a bar in town.

Next day we went for a bit of sightseeing on our own around Nha Trang and tried to stay out of the sun as much as we could! (the contrast from the rain we saw when we arrived to the blistering sun the next 3 days was incredible!). We visited the Nha Trang cathedral which was the most modern one you will ever see, located at the end of a spiralling cobbled street. The views from the top of it were amazing, you could see the horizon on one side and a huge white Buddha from a pagoda at the other side of the city. We ended the day by finding one of the accliamed seafood restaurants in our book and it was a great idea. The fish was perfection and there was almost too much of it for the small price we paid. Our stomachs have definitely shrunk since we arrived in Asia so we struggle when a western-sized meal is put in front of us!

Our final day was spent strolling down the beautiful promenade all the way along the beach and I think we'll struggle to see a more picturesque beach front wherever we end up over the coming months. We now await a ten hour bus to Hoi An in the central provinces!