Hi all,

The overnight journey to Nha Trang was an interesting one to say the least.

IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED OR SENSITIVE - PLEASE DON'T READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH. I"M NOT JOKING!!

Unfortunately, I saw my first Vietnam human road kill. We were travelling to Nha Trang as normal and consistantly honking the horn, overtaking everything, mopeds everywhere, always heading straight for the oncoming traffic and pulling in at the last minute - the normal driving conditions of Nam. I was looking out of the window and in the yonder I could see blue and red flashing lights. We slowed down slightly and when we were closer I could see that a coach was at a stand still on our side of the road at an angle. All the passengers were standing at the front of the vehicle. As we crawled past the coach I could see a moped that was completely mangled. Proper destroyed and unrecognisable and just behind the bike, motionless, there he was. He was a reet mess, half his head wasn't there. It looked like his whole face had sunken four iches into the tarmac. There was the biggest pool of blood surrounding his head and upper body. Don't want to go into too much detail but he was certainly going to have more than just a head ache in the morning. In all honesty, I was fairly fascinated/intruiged by it all and not disturbed in the slightest. But over the left shoulder Becki wasn't. I think shock kicked in and plenty of tears too. There was real panic and fright in her eyes and she was gasping for air and tears running down here face. I then suffered from the age old problem that men suffer from!! Not having a clue what to say to girls when they cry. I was lost for words for once and didn't know what to say! I did say 'are you alright' every 5 minutes for the next half an hour. When she seem to have calmed down a bit I thought I might lighten the mood a bit. I mentioned that I was glad I wasn't eating tea around that area that evening, as he was probably of the bbq by now! This didn't go down well and the tears started again...... oops mistake........!! The rest of the journey was a little less stressful!

Nha Trang seemed nice - a lot more touristy than Hoi An and much bigger. We secured accommodation which was fairly reasonable for the first two nights but then doubled for the following two nights. This was due to Tet. We settled and then had a look around. There seemed to be a lot of quality restaurants and bars and the feel was that it was a bit of a package holiday destination. After some lunch we rocked down to the beach and soaked up some sun. The weather was amazing and so hot. It really felt like you were burning after about 10 minutes, so it was in and out of the sea to cool down.

It was up early the next day to hit the beach for some exercise. Ten months of no exercise and eating out and drinking too much is starting to take its toll. So some light exercise and eating healthily is the way forward. Before I become a gym freak when I get home! After a fruit salad for breakfast and a litre and a half of water it was back to the beach to relax and soak up some of that sun and get the tan back. It had been a quality couple of days on the beach but it was time for a new experience. The next day it was a day of pampering at the mineral mud baths.

We jumped onto a single moped and headed for the mineral mud baths. It was a bit of a hairy ride and with the recent sighting of the 'vietnam road kill', I decided just to relax and shut my eyes. We made it in one piece and decided to go for the mineral mud soaking experience and then a massage and steam room combination. The actual site/complex was fantastic and really plush.

I was soon in my swimmers and in an open air shower preparing for the mineral mud soaking. It was like sitting in chocolate coloured coconut cream. It was so silky on your skin and smelt superb. The funniest thing was that you floated in it when you laid down, such a nice feeling. After soaking for twenty minutes and getting it in my eyes (oww) it was time for the shower again.

Once showered it was to a new outdoor area and through mineral water jets and then into hot mineral water baths for forty five minutes. It was so relaxing.

Next was the forty five minute Vietnamese massage. This was great and on a proper massage table too. But before you knew it the vietnamese women was on the table also, walking on my back, elbows and knees ironing out all the knots in my muscles - magic. At the end I was asked to rate the quality of the massage and then I was asked for tips!! Well, I though she meant any tips on improving her technique so I reply 'No - it was excellent'. Moments later I realised that she was asking for a tip - got to laugh.....

It was from the massage table and into the steam room to sweat out the impurities in my skin. A quick freezing cold shower and back into the steam room for a second helping. After 20 minutes my time was up and I felt fantastic! Just the ticket for a total price of five quid including the taxi ride there and back - and the day wasn't over.

After a spot of lunch it was to the Hot Mineral Spring Pool and Waterfall to sunbathe and swim. It was so funny, I was reading and Becki decided to have a dip in the pool to cool off as it was roasting. She hopped in to a nasty surprise. The temperature of the HOT Spring water was 38 degrees. It was like jumping into the hottest bath you can think of and not being able to get out very quickly. You've got to laugh!! I decided to give it a miss and hit the shade to cool down...... It had been a cracking day and I was looking forward to the next as we were going to go diving with Octopus/Sailing Club Diving.

It was a quick takeaway fruit breakfast to make it in time for the minibus to the pier. The boat ride was going to take 45 minutes to reach Hon Mun Island which is a protected marine park in the China Sea. Due to being an experienced diver, they just put me and Becki with a Dive Master which was nice. Both dives were good with some beautiful corals and marine life. The highlight of the dives for me was seeing two giant octopus and a shimp wart. Marine life that I hadn't seen in the water before.

The rest of our time on Nha Trang was spent on the beach, sun worshiping with the Italian stallion. God love the Italians. Please see pictures of Nha Trang (NB. Becki took these photo's). We also discovered an amazing fish restaurant mmm. I really enjoyed my four and half days in Nha Trang - it was like a mini holiday. When I wake up I will be in Ho Chi Minh City or formally known as Saigon.

Bye for Now

Miffy x x x