Epic Road Trip (VII): Phan Rang to Nha Trang... The wind, the kite, and more bun cha ca

6:00
Dancing in my room again?   Is it the room, the music, or the new me? (or just the wine?)


6:30

there is something very endearing with Vietnamese and their life at the beach at sunrise....

Air temperature 22 Celsius.... how could I not?

What a divine swim ;-)   And NO surprise waves !

8:00
I'm packed and ready to go ....  on y va

Ban Nha:   Sell House ....  (I am THRILLED that my tieng Viet has come this far ;-)

Menhirs ?!  And I'm not even in France, LOL

What a sky to be allowed to ride into !

New fish ponds

Temporary road block by a truck dumping construction sand

It's morning and the young men of the village are out on their bikes to run errands.  TOO MUCH eye candy! I'm having a hard time tearing my eyes away from those brown legs in jeans shorts

Gorgeous legs with Gucci hat on the right ;-)

8:45
Is THAT what I think it is?   Kites in that tiny shop on the side of the road?  I stop and look......   

It's a pack of 10 kites still in the original wholesale pack.   The man's almost toothless mouth forms into a grin and he shakes my hands with both of his.  FINALLY someone is buying one of those bloody kites..   
How about string?  He finds something and I ask him for 30 meters.... but I suspect I only got 13 meters.  His wife starts rolling the string around a bit of paper but the man proves he has two right hands..... an old pop bottle is much better and he even secures the loose end of the string with the bottle cap.

Yes, in Vietnamese garbage dumps they still separate ...

I REALLY don't like leaving Phan Rang.....  The beach area with its developing resorts might not be my thing, but the hinterland is still pure Vietnam..... and now I'm on my way to Little Vladivostok... Don't like!

9:30
I've just rolled into the Com Cay Dua restaurant again.  And there is the same cute waiter.... big grin, he recognizes me from 4 days ago.... and I'll order the same thing again...

OMG, this stuff is GOOD. How can simple steamed rice and an omelette harbour such flavours?

Still another 60 km to Nha Trang....  but I'm in no great rush... I don't even know whether my room will be ready.

The wind is ATROCIOUS.... half the time I'm traveling at 40km/h and even at that speed the wind rocks the scooter from side to side.  Also probably not the best thing for that shoulder of mine, which I slammed into the sand while swimming and which now emits intermittent bursts of pain.

the Cam Ranh peninsula with its HORROR of resorts

Yes, it really is that gorgeous ;-)

By the time I reach the beach promenade in Nha Trang, I am exhausted.   Too much friggin traffic on the last few kms of road.

Now where is that hotel/hostel?  Oh.  A tiny 2-storey building RIGHT NEXT to that high-rise construction monstrosity.   If their construction elevator collapses, the pieces will come through my ceiling.....

Also, I really got used to the QUIET in last night's hotel.   The promenade traffic just outside my window is already starting to annoy me.

I buy wine from the usual store..... and I can't believe how TIRED I am ...

I'm still not quite awake and I can't find my room key ....

Strange thoughts:  Here I am in Nha Trang, a place where any pale freezing potato-fed Russian can consider himself lucky to spend one week per year, and I'm dreaming of getting back to the real Vietnam...... 

the construction site next door being well guarded !

Time for a brief walk at the beach.... but it doesn't feel right.... too many Russians....

a high-rise casting a shadow on the beach ....

Good thing the old airport, by now no longer used, separates me from the centre of Nha Trang

my hostel being dwarfed by the new high-rise

But I am content in my single overshadowed hostel room palace.   


E-mails from M, Joanna, and Phap.... some more wine....

18:15

The Disneyland equivalent across the bay ...

 I should go out and get some dinner .... maybe buy some munchies too?

Tet is near!  Mandarin trees for sale ;-)

I find the Bun Cha Ca place in the side street again ;-)

OMG, this stuff is even better than last time!

Eating food like this, no wonder the Vietnamese are so healthy and look so good!  Only good stuff: fish, rice noodles, spices, vegetables, bean sprouts, broth.....  no need for any of that gluten-free or other bullshit the crazies back 'home' like to practice.


Toi muon tra tin (I want to pay)... I see the owner starting to think and mentally stutter ... so I say "bang tieng Viet "(In Vietnamese).... ba muoi  (30), she says with doubt ..... Cam on nhieu; rat ngon! (Thank you, very yummy), I reply after I give her 30,000 and I get a big smile .... even the people at the other table turn around and smile .... 

I couldn't control myself.... I just had to unwrap it ;-)