Vietnam - Nice but not fascinating

Location: Nha Trang
Country: Vietnam

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Just by chance I happened to be in Saigon for New Year's Eve, and I'm very glad it worked out that way.
In Saigon there is the main street where all the backpackers stay (the equivalent of the Kaosan), that street was closed to traffic and there were different shows going on, and loads of stands selling food and silly souvenirs (felt like Yom-Ha'atsmaut in Netanya).
They had acrobatic shows, dances with dragon costumes and singing (looked just like something taken out of the 80's). It was really fun to sit and watch.

As I was sitting there drinking my beer, I was joined by this really sweet English guy and we ended up spending the whole evening together (and having a token kiss at midnight), he was really funny and we had a great time (don't get your hopes up Mum, he was gay). Ended the night rather tipsy and very cheerful.


The next day I had to drag myself out of bed at 06:00 (I have no idea how I managed it), as I had a bus to Mui Ne.
The bus took about 6 hours, as I got off and was trying to figure out which guesthouse to head to, I was spotted by 2 Israeli guys (you don't meet many Israeli people in Vietnam).
We went searching for a guesthouse and on the way met 2 more Israeli guys that they knew.
Prices were quite high there, so I shared a room with 2 of the guys.
They were all just after their army service and I felt like an old woman, but they were really sweet.
Mui Ne is a beach town, but no self respecting Israeli would spend time on that beach, it was pathetic.
The next day we all hired a jeep together and went to see the "sites" around Mui Ne.
Turns out there is nothing much to see there, saw a bad excuse for a waterfall, some sand dunes and a couple of other uninteresting places. But it was quite a nice day, as they were an amusing group.

The next day we all got the bus to Dalat.
It was supposed to be a 7 hour journey, but the driver took some shortcut through the mountains and we got there in 3.5 hours. Nothing more fun than thinking that you still have hours to go to get to your destination, and suddenly finding out that you have arrived.
Dalat is a really pretty town, it was built by the french when they had the colony here, and there are beautiful, colourful buildings all around.

I went with 2 of the guys on a day trip there that was really fun.
Some of the interesting things we saw :
* Crazy House - This is a guesthouse that looks like it has been taken out of a Disney film, it is really cool. Each room has some sort of children theme, and the actual building is amazing, hard to describe, you can see in the picture.

* Silk making factory - We saw how they keep the silk worms to create the silk and then how they actually turn it in to silk products, it was really interesting.
* Truc Lam Zen monastery - Even though I have had more than my fill of seeing temples and the like, I have to admit that this monastery was quite impressive.
* Elephant waterfall - As opposed to so called waterfalls we saw in Mui Ne, this waterfall was really impressive.

There were a bunch of school kids there who seemed fascinated by us and were dying to communicate, but all they could do was to keep repeating the one question they knew in English - "What your name?".

* Cable car - Always fun, great view from it.
In all, it was a really nice day spent in good company.

The next day I got a 6 hour bus to Nha Trang. Separated from the guys, as they were heading south and I am heading north.
Nha Trang is a pretty beach town, there is a really nice beach, though the weather isn't quite warm enough for it in my standards.
I took a boat trip to the 4 Islands around Nha Trang : Mun, Mot, Tam and Mieu.
It has to be the lamest thing I have done lately, I felt like such a pathetic tourist.
They had a guy in charge of entertaining the dumb tourists, he was telling jokes and we had a singing session. It was so bad.
On top of that, the weather was quite cloudy, so there was no way I was joining in all the water activity, which was most of the day.

Today I took a day tour around Nha Trang, not that much to see around here, but it was a pleasant day as the guide was really nice.
Saw a couple of pagodas and a really nice waterfall.


I wouldn't have minded spending a couple of days by the beach here, but unfortunately the weather is against that idea.
I am now waiting for a night bus to go to my next destination - Hoi An.

I have to say that travelling round Vietnam has a much nicer feeling to it than travelling round India, the towns are much more pleasant and clean. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be that much to do in each place. I haven't spent more than 2 nights in one place since arriving in Vietnam, and that isn't because I am rushing it, there just isn't that much to do.

The Internet here is a pleasure, they have ADSL (fast Internet) everywhere and it is really cheap. The Vietnamese seemed to be quite obsessed with the Internet, you see them sitting in Internet Cafes all the time playing online games (you would fit in well here Shahar).