Nha Trang, Vietnam

Today was my first time to Vietnam! Ted has been here previously for work, but this was a whole new experience for me. The day didn't start well though when the Captain did a PA advising of a tsunami that had occurred nearby, affecting the islands of Indonesia causing a lot of fatalities. This left a very sombre mood as we had only been in Indonesia a few days prior.

After breakfast, we packed up a backpack for our day out. Since this is a tender port, the lifeboat was removed from the front of our cabin window, meaning we finally have a view! At breakfast though, the captain did a PA advising his uncertainties about whether we could disembark due to the weather but fortunately it improved enough to leave.

Ted and I went downstairs to get a tender ticket and once we arrived onshore, nearly accidentally boarded the bus for a tour instead. We caught the included shuttle to a hotel downtown where there were plenty of hawkers trying to sell tours and taxi rides. Since we already had an itinerary written out, we headed first to Long Son Pagoda.

The walk was about 25 minutes, and I loved the vibrancy of the city. Even though the streets were hectic, they weren't difficult to cross as you just need to walk and not hesitate. We found the Pagoda quite easily and really liked it. Best of all was the Buddha up the hill so, even though the humidity was high, we made the climb up for a worthwhile view.

We then headed to the nearby Dam Market, but first Ted was thrilled to buy a bottle of vodka for only $2 on the way. The Dam Market didn't end up being as interesting as we'd hoped but it still provided an opportunity to see daily Vietnamese life. Unfortunately our time in Nha Trang was limited meaning we couldn't also visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers, so they're definitely on the list for our next visit.

Since we didn't want to wander too far from our departure point, we explored the nearby beachfront as well as a shopping centre. I bought a dragon fruit smoothie which I really liked, although I'm hoping to try durian on this trip too. For lunch we went to a waterfront restaurant with reasonable food and cold beer.

We then took the shuttle back and had a shower and nap before dinner. Even though we'd missed the afternoon trivia, there was an LGBT trivia which I invited all our group to. That was a good idea because it was a lot of fun, and we met some additional people who didn't make it to the first meeting, We wondered what the rest of the people in the bar thought about the questions though - kinda racy!

That night we had dinner with Emma and Carmen from New York and talked about all things political. I also spent the evening trying to secure a reservation for our group for Christmas dinner. Easier said than done since the restaurants are only guaranteeing a reservation made on the day. Hopefully it all works out okay.Read more