I was sorry to leave Ho Chi Minh city, i really enjoyed it, great city, if you ever get to visit Vietnam you need to see Ho Chi Minh. We traveled to Nah Trang by a sleeper train and by sheer chance we were upgraded to comfort class as we were supposed to be in cattle class. From what I've been told cattle class is going to be 3 bunk beds one on top of each other, not sure how that is going to work but as long as i don't get the top bunk i'll be ok. Anyway the comfort class, we had 2 bunk beds, they were a little short, if I lied straight my feet are outside the carriage way and into the walkway. I could lock the carriage door with my feet if I wanted too. We had a tv, which we couldn't change the channel and a fold away table with some decorative fake flowers on it. After i had run out of shop bought beer i headed to the dining cart with a few of the others to have a few more beers. First impressions of the dining cart was it was nothing like the party carriage in Thailand, it all seemed sensible, there were no Dutch people dressed up as woman and no one was doing the can-can down the centre isle. The decor of the dining cart was dreadful, it had this awful pine wood panelling, it somehow reminded me of my dads bathroom which he needs to replace. We had a few more beers then i decided to call it a night and get some sleep. I had quite a good sleep on the train but when I awoke there was no chance of me getting back to sleep as the train was shaking quite heavily. The train was due to arrive in Nha trang at approximately 5am and just before 5 they woke everyone up by playing Vietnamese music loudly into every carriage, which was not really what I needed at that time in the morning. Got to the hotel ok, but as soon as i arrived I didn't feel too good and could feel concraptions coming on so i had another bonding session with the toilet. I've decided now that I must be ill and it can't be just the heat anymore. Im hoping that it stops soon as my Imodium stocks are running low too. I'm thinking that i "may" have lost some weight (but I'm not sure) as when I was in Ho Chi Minh city i forgot my belt one day and my shorts kept falling down so i had to walk around holding them up.
The hotel and room seem ok but now I'm getting used to it so something has to really unique to stand out. The hotel reception has got a unique indoor water feature which I'm trying to work out what the builder was trying to create when he made it. I think it's a pond with
a fountain as its got fish in it but it looks like a swimming pool that has got out of hand. The water is stagnant so it's just a breeding ground for the mozzies.
I've not seen much of Nha trang but it does look alot better than Sihanoukville, meaning that the beach front is not covered with bars lining the shore. We were soon out after arriving for a boat trip, the boat was fine and in good condition and on the whole i found the trip quite nice even though I was shattered and not feeling great. I'm so grateful for Imodium as I'm not sure what I would have done on the boat as there was no toilet. The boat trip took us to an island where we could snorkel over coral reef and check out the fish, just like the Cambodia, I didn't find the coral anywhere near as good as the Great Barrier Reef. Don't get me wrong it was good but not in the same league. We had lunch on the boat too and the guys working on the boat put out a good lunch, I was very impressed, with it being a seaside resort we had a lot of fishy stuff. There were a couple of Vietnamese woman on the boat giving out pedicures and other beauty treatments such as painting nails and threading. I don't know why but this is second time I've seen threading and it fascinates me. The first time i saw it appeared that they were getting their eyebrows plucked by this technique but this was whole different ball game. I watched some of the woman get there moustaches and beards done and it just looks bizarre, the technique somehow reminds me of making your own flies for fly fishing. One of the guys on the trip, Harr, had his nails done, I'm not sure why, but he is walking around with Florescent green nails with birds, ferns and a red sun painted on his thumb and index finger nail. I have to admit his nails do look impressive and would look good on a woman, although the colour is a bit extreme. They asked me if i wanted my nails cutting for $2, i declined and told them that i can do it myself. After the boat trip we returned to the hotel and I went straight to bed, I was shattered with the lack of sleep and early mornings...
After the meal that night I went to join V for a game of pool in the snooker hall. I wasn't expecting much, to be honest I was expecting a dark, dingy, smokey snooker hall similar to one i used to go to in Macc. Oh was i so wrong on so many levels. You entered and a group of good looking "well dressed" girls take you to a table and then they set the balls up and ask if you want a drink. During the course of the game they will get you the rest, more drinks and rerack the balls and all this for a tip. I lost to V overall but i wasn't too bothered as my mind was distracted on other things. Also had another bout of the squits too and couldn't find the toilet and thought with it being a local place I may have to use the urinal, but V came to the rescue and pointed me to the correct toilet. Im not sure why they cant stick the urinal and toilet in the same room. I've told him i'll have to give him a rematch in Hoi An as playing pool in Vietnam is a far more enjoyable experience than back home.

Thursday, I was up early as a few of us wanted to go and explore Nha Trang town itself. We had read that there was a pagoda that is worth seeing about a 3km walk outside of the town. It took about 45 minutes to walk there so I'm not sure if the 3km was correct but it was well worth the visit. I always find the Buddhist temples amazing in south east Asia as they are usually done up spectacularly. Did the usual thing and walked to the top so that i could get some better photos of the Buddha and to check out the view. The heat walking to top was incredible even for 9:30am, when i reached the bottom i downed 2 cold drinks and also a yoghurt...I'm hoping the yoghurt will sort out my stomach.
For lunch we went to a resteraunt and had a table barbecue, I've never seen them before until I came to Vietnam. The barbecues are only small and the waiter brings them to the table so you cook your own food, in a way it reminded me of fondu but instead of chocolate it was meat. We had pork, beef, chicken and squid and it was really nice.
Following lunch we had the option of going to a mud bath, I got completely the wrong idea of what it was all about. I thought we were going to be driven to some mud flats where we lie around in the mud and throw it at each other. I decided I want to go as I've never had a mud bath before and I thought it would be a new experience. We arrived by taxi as it was a few kilometres out of the town and my idea was so wrong as it was a outdoor spa complex and not pit with mud. It cost 120,000 dong which is about $6 and you get a towel and a pair of shorts thrown in too. The whole complex was professionally laid out and they had tubs dotted around where a member of staff would turn on a tap and liquid mud, or mineral water would come out, so you knew you were gettkg fresh mud/water. They had a 39 degree swimming pool and a cool water pool too, a warm water waterfall, zacuzzis and a bar. It was well worth it, it probably cost more than $6 to warm the water up. I'm not sure if my skin feels any better but it was a new experience and definitely the best 4 quid I've spent for a while. They had a VIP treatment but I'm not sure what extra you got for that.
Tonight I head to Hoi An by another sleeper train, I'm telling myself that i need to get bottom or middle bunk otherwise I'm going to be pushed up against the train roof if I'm at the top bunk. Dreading this train journey