Hey there.. . . . Well the bus journey took a little longer than expected, but once we arrived in the area of Mui Ne and saw that it look like it had a nice beach and o good chance of a night life we smiled. . .We had already chose somewhere we were going to try and stay at, but as we didn't have a reservation the guy on the bus said we could only drop people off with reservation and he would take us to his hotel for us to check the rooms and if we didn't like it then he would take us where we needed. How annoying was that? To drive past the place we wanted to try and go 3km down the road to a place we didn't want, even more so now, just out of principle!

So, we jumped off the bus and stopped the guys taking our bags off for check in and complained that we just wanted dropping off. . . . it annoys me that they Shepard you in to these places and a lot of people fall for it. . . We didn't, we jumped on to another bus and eventually headed back up the road to the place we wanted. . . It turned out that it wasn't as good as we were hoping, so carried on walking towards the more lively looking area and found a posh holiday resort hotel that had low season offers for rooms. We popped in just out of interest and managed to get a room with 2 queen sized beds, so I shared with Claire and Nick so we could have a bit of luxury for a few days. . . . There was free internet, a great pool area, you were right on the beach and breakfast was included. . . .

That afternoon, we really settled in nicely, having a few beers around the pool and a good splash around in the waves in the sea! The sun was shining and life was good. . . . That evening we ventured out to look for a bit of night life, as the resort was pretty dead with nobody really around. . . We headed up the road and saw lots of bars and restaurants, but there was something missing. People, there didn't seem to be anyone around?!!?! And then suddenly, there was a power cut and all the lights went out! Soon after, a few places lit up again, I assume from back up generators, so this limited our choice of restaurants somewhat for food. We chose a nice enough looking place, playing a bit of music that also had some other clientele. . . . . The food was really nice as we all tried the fish and washed it down with a couple of bottles of wine. . . ! It was a very pleasant evening and on the way back we looked for a bar with a bit of music and activity. . . It wasn't to be. . . . The place was dead, so we pretty much called a night early. . .

We got up the next morning and went down for a great buffet breakfast and had a chat about our plan. . . And decided that we would try and leave that day to the next place, the bus was due to leave at around 1pm and it supposedly only 3 or so hours away, so we thought we would try it. . . . We managed to get the bus ticket confirmed and picked our laundry after chilling for the last hour or so around the pool and in the sea. . . . We packed up and checked out at midday and waited for the bus. . . . Late again, it turned up sometime after 1pm and headed off down the road, and do you know where to? To the same bloody place they had dropped us off the other day and said' "Right, we have a 30 minute lunch break here". But we had only just got on the bus?!?! Again, out of principle, we didn't have any food, more so cus the menu was crap, but eventually we were off on the road again with another crazy bus driver!

We thought, 'oh well', at least we will be there in a few hours, as it said 4pm arrival on the ticket. . . . But after some time and another stop after a couple of hours, one of the guys said we wouldn't arrive til 6.30pm. . . ? Hey? Oh, whatever, we thought. There just seems to be lies after lies here? So, we got on the road again and the heavens opened and they didn't stop. . . . We were on what it seemed to be the final approach to Nha Trang and the driver must have hit the biggest pot hole in the world as he seemed to try and swerve to miss, followed by the biggest bang ever! We thought he had ripped the front wheels off. . . It don't think he did any significant damage as he seemed to just compose himself and head off again. . . The last leg seemed to just drag and drag, but we did finally arrived. . . They did the same trick, not dropping us where we wanted and dropping us at their hotel. . . Thing was, it was cheap as chips and we got another twin double bed room for $12, $4 each. . . . ! And as we where tired and a little fed up and it was still raining, we decided to stay there. . . ! We quickly dumped the bags and headed out to explore. . . . We found the bars and restaurants, but again, the place seemed a bit like a ghost town! I suppose the poor weather was not helping things, even though the rain had eased to a drizzle. . . . We checked a few places out and ended up in a very nice looking bar called 'Why Not". I thought the name was great, so we headed in as the weather was beginning to worsen! They had happy hour prices on some drinks and what seemed to be a good menu! We had a few drinks and some food and a game pool, but the place didn't get any busier.

Later on we were approached by a strange looking guy offering us some free shots. . . . He turned out to be the manager of the bar and he joined us for a drink. . . . He was an English guy from Stratford upon Avon. He had been travelling his self and had enjoyed Nha Trang that much that he had stayed and been there for a year and a half. . . He seemed like he was a nice enough guy, although he did have the shakes and maybe a few issues. . . ?!?! After talking to him for a while and listening to him try and big himself up, I got a bit bored and we hinted that we would move on to another bar. He had told us there were only really 2 places to go, another place called the sailing club and obviously his place!

We decided to head up the road and try the other bar as the heavens opened again and I mean opened. . . . ! We got absolutely drenched, so headed back to the hotel instead and called it a night. . . . This was followed again by the conversation of "Shall we leave tomorrow?". Of course if the weather stays like this. . . . . ?

The following day (and through the previous night) it rained and rained and rained! So we didn't really know what to do, by the time with left the htel it was late morning after our bit of a lie in and the rain had eased slightly so we headed out with a bit of a plan. . . . After some breakfast, we were going to get pampered at one of the local Spa's, as posh place, but it was dirt cheap!

We got some breaky at a local place and then headed to the spa, picking up some cheap poncho's on the way, to try and keep some of the rain off! The problem when we got there was everybody had had the same idea and the spa was booked up. . . Doh!

We carried on walking and found a cheaper, not so exotic spa place and thought, why not? We headed in there and to kill a few hours we had a facial and a massage, to be honest, it was the first facial I had ever had, and yeah yeah, I know, it's not really a blokes thing, but you know what, it was great! The facial was really relaxing and the massage was great, the only problem was, it ended! But hey, whatever, it was great

After that, me and Nick headed to the sailing club, supposedly the other bar to go to and Claire got her nails done and met up with us later. . . . .The sailing Club! Wow, what a beautiful place, yeah OK, it was pricey, but for good reason. . . . ! you know what, this place would be absolutely awesome in good weather! We had a few beer and played a bit of pool and then Claire arrived with story of her nails being messed up, Doh! We played some more pool and settled in for the afternoon, as there was nothing else to do. . . . . Claire found the wine list and although it was ridiculously expensive we ordered a nice bottle of Sav Blanc. . . Yum yum, is all I can say, I hadn't had a nice bottle of wine for ages and it was a nice change. . . . . . So, several bottles later, we were very merry!

Later on a really nice South African guy came in with his German wife and friend and they joined us playing pool and chatting about travels.. . . .. The afternoon was turning into a bit of a session. . . . . ! after copious amounts of booze and pool we headed back to the hotel as the weather had eased. Blimey, it's stopped raining!?!? We got back to the hotel and decided to crash out for an hour, but I was soon awakened by Nick and we quickly got changed and headed out again, Claire was crashed out, I think the wine had taken it's toll. . . .

We went down stairs and joined the the people who ran the hotel for a cup of tea, I think we were still drunk from the afternoon session. . . . ? We then walk outside, much to the delight the rain had held off and noticed a lot of local guys and girls on their motorbikes, so for comedy value, I jumped on the back of one of the bikes and said "where are we going then?". They were really friendly and when Nick jumped on another one they sped off. . . . I jumped off and watched Nick head off down the street. . . . . I whistled him to stop and then they came back and picked me up. . . . ! It was so funny because they took us down to the sailing club bar again and were going to join us for a drink, but because it was so expensive they upped and left. . . .A real shame really because they were really nice people and so so friendly! We said our goodbyes and headed back into the bar, got a beer and stalked the pool table. . . .

After a couple of games of pool together and with some Irish dudes, the South African guy (Rob), wife and friend came in. . . . We continued to play, much as we had done all afternoon, however I was somewhat worse than earlier. . . . ! The bar really filled up and there was quite an atmosphere. . . . Later on, it got a blurry and to be honest I am struggling to remember it all, happy hour kicked in and they were selling buckets! Hhhhmmmm, I think that was my downfall because I really cannot remember much else. . . . I think we had a bit of a dance and chatted to lots of random people. . . . . I think I fell over a lot on the dance floor. . . . . With all that in mind I decided to call it a night and grabbed Nick. . . . He told me in the morning that we actually got a lift home on a motorbike, I cannot remember that. . . What was in them buckets? Blimey. . . . !

I the morning slightly fuzzy headed, I was awakened by Claire slamming the door as she headed down stairs. . . I don't think she was too impressed with us heading out without her. . . . ? Later, I joined her downstairs for several cups of great coffee and some breaky. . . . She was coolio and with the rain hammering down again, we contemplated what to do. . . . . The area has hot spring and mud baths that you can visit rain or shine, so we booked ourselves in and headed out. . . .

The Spa place was pretty cool, but to be honest, I wasn't really feeling it, as I was a little hung over still from the night before. . . We stayed for a few hours, dropping in the mud baths, hot springs and finally the hot swimming pool. . . . ! We headed back to the hotel and I crashed out for a few hours before meeting up with Claire and Nick for some food. . . . .We then packed everything up as we were off on the road again for a mad overnight bus trip to Hoi An. . .

The weather doesn't look like it is improving, so we are contemplating cutting Vietnam short and heading back to Thailand early to try and grap some last sun before heading home. . . So will let you know how I get on. . . Ciao for now people!