By the seaside

Just to let you know - we arrived in Nha Trang OK with no delay as it seems the roads had cleared.

Will update soon.

*ADDED ENTRY BELOW FOR FRIDAY 9TH NOVEMBER*

We have spent 3 nights in Nha Trang and I'm afraid, again, have not done anything of much note.

Nha Trang is on Vietnam's south central coast and has a 6km beach front. However the beach was OK but a little disappointing; during the hot season the condition of it is better than during the rainy season and although we had warm weather with no rain during our time here, we didn't end up on the beach.

The first day we recovered from the overnight bus and once we had had breakfast we intended to have a short nap; only we didn't wake up until around 4pm! I think we've reached a point in the trip where we don't have the energy to continue sightseeing and seeing everything on the tick list. I know we should be grateful everyday for not having to go into work (and we are!) but I think we just needed a few days to do, well, nothing. So that's what we've done.

From what other travellers have said I think Nha Trang is a bit of a party place that is perfectly safe but a place where some caution needs to be exercised at night time. Not that we needed to worry as we were in for 8pm anyway.

We did do some more research on this tyhphoon Peipah and found a website whereby we could track it over the next 48 hours. It should make land on Saturday morning (10th November) in or near Nha Trang. It hit the Philippines pretty bad but according to this site, by the time it reaches Vietnam it should have downgraded to a 'tropical depression'. I think this will mean some winds and more rain which is really sad as parts of central Vietnam and I think Saigon (much further south) have been terribly affected by the rains so far. I believe about 200 people have died in Vietnam so far during this season. It usually only lasts for around 3 months and should be ending soon.

This morning we took the day bus to Saigon or HCMC - Ho Chi Minh City. A 10 hour journey that was much more bearable during the day, but still left our backsides pretty numb. Gentle, mild-mannered Matty had a fit and nearly swung for the bus driver when we disembarked; our bags weren't anywhere to be found. Rather than panic I tried to calm Matt and thought there must be some logical explanation as we always carefully watch whenever the bus stops anywhere. May I just say that this is a COMPLETE role reversal and it is normally me, who in certain circumstances admittedly has a fairly short fuse and goes into a complete hissy fit if things aren't quite going accordingly. Anyway, it turns out that they had already taken our bags off the bus and to their tour office to get some of the luggage out of the road. Problem solved (thank goodness). So, we're in Saigon for the next 4 nights. From one end of the country to the other it has cost us $32.50 each in buses. Bargain.