Nha Trang

Hello again!

Here we are almost a week after vacation and I am finally getting around to telling you about the last leg of my wondrous vacation, Nha Trang!

After our not-so-awesome-train ride we were more than excited to finally arrive at our destination! Before going to Nha Trang, I had heard it was a touristy beach town and I wasn't really sure how impressed I would be. However, I LOVED it! Nha Trang was gorgeous. The second we arrived I couldn't wait to hit the beach. The water was so blue and the beaches were so quite... the perfect place to catch up on sleep while working on my tan!

We quickly found a taxi and left the train station in the dust only to find out that our hotel was slightly less amazing than our hotel in Hoi An. I mean what could we really expect for $15/night? I just would have appreciated a shower curtain in the bathroom, but you can't have it all. What we did have were three big beds and a balcony.. oh and the South China Sea right across the street. We unloaded some of our stuff, got changed, and headed down the street to grab some breakfast and a drink (it's vacation, no judging!). We found an amazing breakfast place right outside of our hotel. They had the best hash-browns, just like McDonald's breakfast, and really yummy fresh pineapple juice. It was even more fantastic with a splash of vodka! After eating it was finally time to get on the beach! I couldn't even tell you how long we spent laying on the beach, but it must have been quite a while. I think I slept the entire day and it felt amazing!

 

First things, first. A picture of all my custom made clothing. No, I do not have a problem.

 

The crowded beach...

 

Time for relaxing!

 

and a free sample of hair threading... glad I remembered to shave that day!

After our day on the beach we got ready (remember, shower with no shower curtain.....not so fun) and headed out to get some din din. All the restaurants in Nha Trang were quite similar, but we finally chose one and tiredly sat down to eat. The food was soooo good. I had the best fish and what made it even better was that I wasn't spitting out bones! Since our dinner was good we were feeling a little more lively and decided to go out for a couple of drinks. Before hitting the backpackers bars, we had a nice drink on the beach. It was awesome listening to the waves crash and reminiscing on our vacation so far. 

 

Clearly happy.

Once we had finished our Larue's, we headed out only to see about all of the same backpackers we had just seen in Hoi An, including our French friends. We had yet another fun night of drinking and playing cards outside with cheap drinks and fun people. And while the night life was more than amazing, it made for a not so fun early morning. 

On Thursday we had to wake up early for a boat tour of three of the islands around Nha Trang. We signed up for this all day excursion on Thursday for the low price of 7USD. The package included: snorkeling, a Vietnamese lunch, stopping at three islands, a music and dance party and a floating bar with free cocktails (if you can call them that!). The day started off a bit rough. We were picked up at 8:30. Right away we hopped onto a boat and set sail for island number one, which as it turns out, was quite disappointing. The only thing on this island was an "aquarium." Being hungover did not help, but the aquarium was quite disappointing. Really not much to see and very very hot! The next stop was a bit further away, but a lot more fun and absolutely gorgeous! The second island had the most beautiful blue water and it is where we got to snorkel! We spent a good hour and a half on the island in the water and relaxing on the beach. The snorkeling was a lot of fun, but I'd have to say Puerto Rico was still my favorite. I was hoping to see some sea turtle, but no luck!

 

A couple pearls chillin' at the aquarium! 

 

Where we got to snorkel! Picture unedited, it was amazing!

After snorkeling came the best part of the day; lunch, dance party and floating bar! While I say this was the best part of the day I should first inform you, I thought there was no way it could be that fun. Our hotel had told us it was like a big party boat, however we were stuck on a boat with no other English speaking people. Lots of Russians and some Vietnamese people. Luckily for us we hooked up with another boat full of young, fun-loving travelers from all around the world. We had a huge lunch and then spent an hour singing and dancing and floating around in the water. It was so much fun!! The crew on the boats were hilarious and the other backpackers were so fun! After the party we stopped at the last island. On this island we had the chance to rent jet skis which we took full advantage of! Jet skiing was super fun! I had never done it before, but can't wait to do it again. Amber and I shared a jet ski and Michelle was off on her own. After the jet skiing fun was over we had a some more time to just sit around and be lazy on the beach. It was amazing. I will definitely be going back to Nha Trang to do the boat tour again!

 

The lunch spread. The only picture I took during this part of the day, sadly. 

We were pretty tired after such a fun filled ay, so Thursday day night was an early night for us. We grabbed some food and we were off to bed. Friday was another long, lazy beach day, although, we went to a snazzy place that had super nice chairs, a pool, super yummy food and terrible service! But it was a perfect day for being lazy. Friday night we enjoyed one last night out in the backpackers area and ended at the Sailing Club, my new favorite place to go out! It was a beach bar and there was tons of fun people dancing and just having fun. Knowing that Saturday we had to wake up and check out early, Friday night was not too crazy!

Saturday, our last day of vacation. It was a sad day! We were a little slow moving and not wanting to go home. We woke up and packed all of our stuff back up, about twice as much as we started vacation with, and checked out of our hotel. From there we headed to see some rocks that Amber had found in Lonely Planet. Sounds pretty lame right? Some rocks. But it was pretty amazing. Right on the beach there we just huge rock formations. They were gorgeous! After seeing the rocks we spent yet another lazy day on the beach. I think if I could sit on a beach the rest of my life, I would be a happy person!

 

Michelle looooves playing in the ocean! 

 

weeeeee!

 

My Vietnam besties, last day!

 

ROCK.

 

Gorgeous!

That pretty wraps up my awesome vacation. I got a bit lazy with details tonight, but Nha Trang really was all about the beach and it was fantastic! We were more than sad to leave, but coming back to this crazy city was comforting in a strange way. I really felt like I was at home when the taxi pulled up to my apartment. 

 

Sad to be leaving...

It was fun getting back to school and seeing my kids. I definitely missed them! And now I face my first parent/teacher conferences tomorrow. It is times like these I am so thankful that I only have twelve students! I can't imagine having any more conferences than that! 

Hope everyone is staying warm back home. I have heard it's snowing, so you'll be glad to know I am sweating my booty off while I write this blog. Saigon is getting hotter and hotter!

With love,

Michelle