Survived the first overnight train to be greeted by a beautiful beach at Nha Trang. An early morning stroll revealed I might be doing less in the way of swimming and more in the way of wave jumping however, as the South China Sea isn't exactly calm! But needless to say I spent pretty much the whole of that day on the beach. We found a great little place on the beach called Louisiana beach club where you could rent beds and umbrellas for a mere dollar a day and a nice young man would make sure you were kept refreshed with drinks and food. But no worries if you didn't fancy anything off the menu because there were plenty of other options available...look no further than the shoreline and there you would see local women with a bigpot of boiling water cooking their latest catch - lobster, shrimp, crab, you name it they had it. Doesn't get much fresher!

Second day here I'd had far too much in the way of relaxation so it was back on a motorbike to explore the local surroundings. We started off at the Cham Towers on the outskirts of the town. Built in the 7th-12th centuries they offer an outstanding view over the town, particularly if you get up early in the morning and get there before the crowds.

Our early start meant no chance for breakfast tho so our excellent motorbike riders (the Easy Rider team!) took us to a proper local place overlooking a shrimp farm. We had an authentic vietnamese breakfast, noodles etc which was delicious, although I still can't get used to noodles and rice for breakfast... No time for rest though as our busy agenda took us next to some stunning waterfalls. We had a long climb through forest and over rocks to get there, but was worth it when we arrived at the top and found we had the whole place to ourselves. Just four of us splashing around in the freezing water, getting your own personal massage from the sheer force of the water, undisturbed for as long as we wanted.

Our final stop of the day was at the lcoal mud baths. Not quite sure what we were letting ourselves in for we willingly handed over our money and looked somewhat bemused as we were told to get into a jacuzzi type bath filled with, yes you guessed it, mud. It came out of a tap and seriously looked like a chocolate milkshake, but in we got and it was actually really good, if a little slimy. When we eventually emerged fortunately showers were provided for us to wash the mud off, but that was easier said than done. Even after 10 minutes we were still finding mud in places you really shouldn't have mud, but hey, we consoled ourselves with a long soak in the mineral spa and then the pool which had the temperature set at a very mild 38 degrees! If the sun doesn't burn you the water definitely will! Great day though...