Day 37: 15/7/13
We had a bit of a sleep in this morning as we didn't have to check out until 11. We had to get our laundry before that though. It was supposed to be ready for 10 so we said we'd be there at 10 on the dot and come back and have a shower and be all clean in our new clothes! Of course the laundry wasn't ready when we got there and we had to go back again at half ten so we were all rushed to be checked out at 11 and sweating all over our clean clothes!!
We had a city tour in Nha Trang today. There were a few sick heads after last night but most were okay! I hadn't drank much so I was fine thankfully, even though it was awfully hot!
We went to a pagoda first. You could see some incense lighting on the way in- generally 3 sticks of incense. This is because they believe in 3 Buddhas- a past Buddha, present Buddha and future Buddha. The future Buddha is the fat one you would often see as they hope they will be wealthy and have lots of food in the future. They always light odd numbers of incense and have odd numbers of steps, etc in the temple as it's better luck. Even numbers are for the living and odd for the dead and they don't worship themselves- something like that. There are always really low doors, big thresholds to step over and tiny narrow steps to climb, all of which make you bow your head in respect. The actual pagoda was closed but we were really going to see the Buddha statue behind the pagoda. It's a massive white Buddha, 24m high. There are a load of steps up to it, which fairly woke us up!! Steps and heat don't mix! They build temples and things up high so that it's difficult to get there- just like it's difficult to get to heaven. It was built in 1964 in memory of monks that had burned themselves in 1963 in protest of the war (conflict between Catholic and Buddhist, aswell as Communist and capitalist). This Buddha is the biggest one in Vietnam. It's very pretty and inside there was a temple with statues sort of built into the wall. Our guide invited us to light incense if we wanted to pray for something and as some of them were doing it, one of the guys let out a big alcohol filled belch! Not very pleasant!! The same guy had been sick on the way up the steps to the Buddha!! There was a carving of a turtle at the bottom of one of the pillars in there which seemed weird but apparently there are four sacred animals- turtle, unicorn, dragon and Phoenix. That's why on some buildings they have two circles on the door frame representing the dragons eyes. Around the Buddha aswell you could see what looked like little lockers. It's where people put the ashes when they are cremated. Generally Vietnamese people prefer to be buried (in Cambodia it's all cremation) but sometimes they are cremated, maybe because of a lack of space, even though it costs a lot to have your remains kept here where the Buddha is.
We went to the market next. It seemed small enough but then we realised we were outside the building and there was a whole market inside. I got a little keying with the animal from the year I was born on it- they wear it for good luck. The animal you are is very important because some animals are not compatible. When parents would meet a new prospective son or daughter in law the first question they need to ask is what year they were born (it's the second question for the man as the first is the job and salary). Of course I'm born in the year of the pig so the keyring isn't a very pretty one!! We found some nice pictures too- I don't know where I'm going to put all these pictures I have! A few of us wanted to them and we bargained hard and thought we got a good deal and then saw some more later that were cheaper!! Always the way!!
We went for lunch then and had a local specialty- pork rolls. We weren't sure what to expect really but it was basically making our own springrolls. We had rice paper and then there were pork sausages and pork crackling to wrap in it as well as pineapple, cucumber, lettuce, carrot, mint, etc. it sounds strange but it was really good- we had loads of them!! They didn't go down well for poor Steph and she was green by the time we left the place! Luckily some tiger balm cured her within a few hours!
We went to another temple then- something like pogana temple. This was built by Cham people as they used to own the land. There are still Cham people today but they don't have their own land- they're just another ethnic group really. There were some of the Cham people there- the men had white robes and a white scarf tied around their head. They look a little darker aswell- a bit closer to the Indians than the Vietnamese. They played a little bit of music while we were there too- two guys were banging on drums and another guy had a clarinet type instrument. We only saw about a minute of it but it was good. The ladies had pink robes on and there was one there weaving silk. I don't know how they work the loom as the seem to have a million different threads with different colours coming out of it! Making the different patterns seem extremely difficult!
The actual temples there were nice too. They had a brown sandstone look and there were trees with red flowers all around them so it was quite picturesque. The temples themselves were tiny- there wasn't even room for all sixteen of us. The ceilings were tall but narrow aswell with no windows so it was quite dark in there, although it was fairly cool- nice to get out of the heat! The Cham people are Hindu so there are Hindu symbols like Shiva- the woman with eight arms and stuff. There was also a linga and onta (don't really know how to spell or say those!!), the symbols of men and women. They pour water over the linga for their ceremonies and rub the top of it for good luck! From the temples, which of course were on a hill, you could see out over the river which was gorgeous and you could also see the big white Buddha that we'd seen in the morning!
We went to mud baths next. We weren't really sure what to expect here but it was good fun! We all had our swimsuits on and we sat in a pool that they filled with mud. They put in 'clean mud' for every new group! There were about seven of us in ours - just enough room for everyone sitting. In one place though I could barely sit down for some reason- I just kept floating!! Of course when the guide took photos with our cameras, I'm floating in them! I swapped places and the other was much better, but everyone was floating a bit, whatever was in the mud. It did make your skin really soft though. When we went to wash it off in the shower it had gotten everywhere!! The insides of our bikinis and togs were just a pile of mud- which meant around your bum you had quite a strange sensation!
Next we went into a mineral pool- they filled if with really hot mineral water an we just lay out in it. One of the guys in our group was really sunburned in Cambodia and is peeling now and he kept picking off his skin and dropping it in the water and there were lots of other people in his pool! Thankfully I was in a different one!!
There were some water jets and waterfalls then for us to go through, which just beat the crap out of us! Them we had about half an hour to chill in a swimming pool- which felt like a real holiday, apart from all the locals going around in their life jackets!! Our skin felt really good afterwards and it was very refreshing but for some reason we all felt exhausted by the time we for back to the hotel- it just really drained us!!
We just had enough time then to go to the supermarket for some snacks for later and go to the restaurant for dinner before we'd have to go to the train. We were all to go for dinner whenever it suited us and we ended up all there at the same time anyway! We played the ABC game with animals while we were waiting. It's amazing how hard it can be to think of an animal beginning with the letter i when it's your turn!!
We left in taxis around 7:30 and the train was to leave at 8:30. It was a bit delayed though so we had a little while waiting outside, which wasn't too bad as we were entertained by some Asian people having an argument that were attempting to fight each other and being held back, but really just shouting at each other! We'd no idea what the problem was!!
On the train Ann-Marie and I were with Geoff and Ian- lots of strong smells from sweaty boys and their sweaty feet!! We spent most of the evening in the cabin with Hannah, Steff, Dan and Mike. A few others came in there too. It was Bryan's birthday today so the guide bought him a cake and we lit the candles and had him come into the carriage. I don't think he expected it so that was good! The guide had bought sparklers and some firework type things that just let out a huge flame and has us all screaming!! He left it on the ground at one stage and we thought he would burn the train down! When he had enough of holding it he threw it out the window- God help any little Vietnamese standing near the train track!!
We stayed up a little then chatting but we were all pretty wrecked so there were no stories or sing-songs this time!! I think I'll actually sleep on this train now that I'm so tired!!