I slept with my legs fully stretched on an old, dirty sleeper bus next to a cute but slightly crazy Indian girl from Texas. Morning arrived soon enough and I watched thousands of Nha Trangers participate in Ti Chi, badminton, swimming and other exercises along the ocean front avenue as we pulled into the city at 5:30 AM. Such an early rising culture! By 6, we were on the hunt for a room in this new city on a Saturday morning. After a few tries we settled on a hotel, recommended by our Lonely Planet guide, at the end of a narrow alley just across the street from the Ocean. Other family operated hotels, food stalls and seedy men with tobacco stained teeth offering you easy rider tours surrounded our cozy alley. After eating breakfast at the cafe Veranda right outside our alley, we went to the beach for a few hours playing in the somewhat heavy shore pound, reading and deciding what we wanted to do here. We had been researching getting SCUBA (which stands for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) certified in places like Santa Cruz and Hawaii before but we still didn't know exactly what kind of certification we wanted or even if we could afford it. But it sounded really appealing, especially for the places we plan on seeing on this trip. After a bit of online research, we learned that Nha Trang was one of the cheapest places in the world to become PADI open water SCUBA certified and after visiting two recommended dive centers, we were signed up with Nha Trang’s Sailing Club three day open water PADI certification course, with a textbook and homework to be completed that evening. That afternoon, exhausted and excited about our decision, we were stopped by an unfamiliar hotel employee at the entrance. He told us he just mopped and wanted us to wait a while before walking through. We didn't mind so we sat down at a circular concrete bench and table and pulled out our textbooks and homework and started rifling through the first few pages of our reading. This caught the attention of the guy who stopped us and he came over to sit with us asking questions about diving which we couldn't answer and about English, which we could. He ended up talking with us for over an hour with Tri (pronounced “Tee”) about Vietnam, English and recommendations on good local restaurants. We even attracted the attention of some alley loiterers (mostly the seedy ones), some of whom, Tri made perfectly clear he didn't like. It was all good fun and ended up with a dinner invitation with he and his girlfriend in an upcoming night. We even became Facebook friends (Facebook is blocked in Vietnam) and he showed me how to change my wireless network settings to gain access to the website.
The next morning we started at 6 AM having chicken pho for breakfast, on Tri’s recommendation, and beginning our classroom video sessions all morning. We breaked for an hour for lunch and after getting outfitted with gear (wetsuit, fins, snorkel and mask, buoyancy control device, regulator assembly and tank) we were taxied to a small, gorgeous beachfront resort with one of those “endless” pools. The remainder of morning and afternoon was spent learning the ins and outs of basic scuba diving and about the equipment. I won’t go into detail but there is quite a bit to learn and good portion of the exercises we were trained in were for emergencies and I hope I only ever have to practice those. Our instructor, Khoa, was very good and patient with us and I felt much more confident about diving in open water the following day. We left the Sailing Club office fatigued and hungry and let the fatigue take over with a long nap. Dinner was late and I found myself getting slightly anxious about the following morning. Would Megan and I enjoy this? Was this a poor investment after all?
The next morning we started at 6 AM having chicken pho for breakfast, on Tri’s recommendation, and beginning our classroom video sessions all morning. We breaked for an hour for lunch and after getting outfitted with gear (wetsuit, fins, snorkel and mask, buoyancy control device, regulator assembly and tank) we were taxied to a small, gorgeous beachfront resort with one of those “endless” pools. The remainder of morning and afternoon was spent learning the ins and outs of basic scuba diving and about the equipment. I won’t go into detail but there is quite a bit to learn and good portion of the exercises we were trained in were for emergencies and I hope I only ever have to practice those. Our instructor, Khoa, was very good and patient with us and I felt much more confident about diving in open water the following day. We left the Sailing Club office fatigued and hungry and let the fatigue take over with a long nap. Dinner was late and I found myself getting slightly anxious about the following morning. Would Megan and I enjoy this? Was this a poor investment after all?
We went out on our first open water dive on March 11 early in the morning, one of the longest and most memorable days on memory. Cafe Veranda greeted us with tired smiles from the three women that work all day and eggs with baguettes, weak coffee and fruit. The ferry from the harbor to the marine sanctuary around Mot island took about 40 minutes and before I knew it we were being summoned to put on our wetsuits, stack our weight belts and test each others equipment. I was nervous. Would this be disappointing and boring? Difficult and painful? Then, one by one, we took turns taking one big step off the boat, careful to hold onto our weight belt and mask, and plunge into the morning calm, turquoise water. We did a controlled descent by gripping the boats anchor rope all the way to the bottom. Khoa went over some exercises we were introduced to the previous day in the pool and we had no trouble performing them again in the open water. After the review, it was time to sightsee. Once you get used to regularly equalizing your ears and breathing the dry, compressed air, the underwater world becomes more natural and incredibly stunning to stroll around in. All the stupid cliches in the training videos came true - you really do get to see entire cities and colonies of exotic animals going about their business right up close. As anxious as I was to go down to 10 meters (33 feet), it is so calm down there that the most disturbing thing was me; kicking my fins to ascend reminded me very much of a rocket launch, kicking up the sand in a giant cloud of turbidity. During the dive we saw tons of cool corals, fish, thumb sized jellyfish and even an octopus changing colors rapidly.
Back on the boat, we had a good yellow curry chicken and steamed rice lunch with a side of pineapple and got to know some of the fellow divers from Canada, America, Germany and China. The second dive went much the same except Megan was much more confident and I felt more relaxed with her more in control of her buoyancy. This time, after the training exercises, the highlights were a baby lobster in a secretive shelter and a lionfish. I was giddy throughout the entire dive. We had more class time that afternoon and were thrilled to return to our hotel where Tri greeted us warmly with more curiosity about our latest scuba exploits. At seven o’clock, we took our rented scooter in search of Tri’s recommended soup kitchen. We carefully scanned the landmarks Tri told us to pass but couldn’t seem to spot the kitchen itself. I got off the bike and started asking for directions a few different friendly locals. Some thought our bike was broken and others wanted us to join them for dinner (which was starting to get tempting). But we were on a mission and I had to have this crab noodle soup. Finally, in front of the train tracks during the passing of a train, one man was sure he knew where it was we were going and pointed to the next intersection and around the corner where we found it bustling with activity. It was in a tire shop. I had remembered Tri saying something about tires but I didn’t realized that it was literally a tire shop by day and kitchen by night. We sat down amongst stares and friendly gazes from children. I was so happy. We ordered two and were served a bowl delicious smelling soup with crab meat balls and a juicy pork rib. Then we were brought mint, chili and bean sprouts to add to taste. It was an amazing soup and weird to be sitting amongst stacks of tires and mechanical equipment while eating dinner. After paying, we rode, victoriously, back the hotel. From here, we followed Tri and another couple to Tri’s other restaurant across the bridge for a birthday feast for his Russian girlfriend, Ola, who was turning 30.
We were showered with deliciously cooked shellfish (one of which I was unsure of how to eat) and a squid hot pot with noodles. Seeing the raw whole, fresh squid on a plate was so foreign to me and when he had me slide them into the hot pot one by one, I thought to myself, “What am I getting myself into?” as my fingers stained with ink. But oh was it a delicious meal! I had so much fun eating myself seafood silly and drinking and talking with Tri, his friend and the other couple from the hotel. It had to come to an end at some point as Megan and I had our final day of open water SCUBA instruction the next day and it was pushing 12:30 AM as we rode back to the hotel in single file. Between the local cultural feast and the excitement about our next day of instruction, I could hardly convince myself to sleep.
We were showered with deliciously cooked shellfish (one of which I was unsure of how to eat) and a squid hot pot with noodles. Seeing the raw whole, fresh squid on a plate was so foreign to me and when he had me slide them into the hot pot one by one, I thought to myself, “What am I getting myself into?” as my fingers stained with ink. But oh was it a delicious meal! I had so much fun eating myself seafood silly and drinking and talking with Tri, his friend and the other couple from the hotel. It had to come to an end at some point as Megan and I had our final day of open water SCUBA instruction the next day and it was pushing 12:30 AM as we rode back to the hotel in single file. Between the local cultural feast and the excitement about our next day of instruction, I could hardly convince myself to sleep.
We were blessed on our final day of certification with extraordinarily calm waters and good visibility. Same routine to get out to the dive site except a new variety of nationalities on board the ferry including a pair of Swedish girls and a French couple both on their second day of certification. They took us to two new spots today and saw some large puffer fish and a tiny slug but nothing that topped an octopus, even diving down to 18 meters, our certification limit. Everything went smoothly and we even learned how to navigate underwater. The whole day went by in a sun filled blur but it ended with us passing our written tests and officially obtaining our open water SCUBA certification. We celebrated with delicious Texas BBQ burgers and beer!
The next morning, out of habit, I woke up early and disappointed that I was not soon getting onto a boat for a dive. We spoiled ourselves with beach time and delicious food for the next two days straight, not really doing much except relaxing, reading and writing.
The next morning, out of habit, I woke up early and disappointed that I was not soon getting onto a boat for a dive. We spoiled ourselves with beach time and delicious food for the next two days straight, not really doing much except relaxing, reading and writing.
Then, on Saturday, March 16th, we rented a scooter and rode over the bridge to the Po Nagar Cham tower, one of the few tourist traps in town. It was tranquil and well restored but a quick visit was all we needed before heading off to Bo Hoa waterfalls about 25 km outside of town. The drive up was pretty cool; we passed big rolling hills, fishing villages and rural farming towns. I’m glad we didn’t have to traverse some of the back roads during the wet season because we had some difficulty getting there with just a few big puddles in the way.
The pictures of the waterfalls speak for themselves. There were a bunch of locals out and, of course, people trying to sell you things or get you to pay them to show you the way up, even though the path is clearly marked. A few local men started jumping in a deep pool from about three or four meters high, showing the rest of us how its done. We spent the bulk of the afternoon playing in the gentle fresh water current, tanning and playing with friendly butterflies. By the time we left a few hours later, there were tourists jumping off rock edges from five or six meters above the pool! Later after a lunch at Texas BBQ, we made for the Thap Bo Hot Spring spa where we enjoyed hot and cold pools, mineral waterfalls, mud baths and a mineral spa for $6!. It was relaxing and fun to float completely effortlessly in the mud bath too!
The pictures of the waterfalls speak for themselves. There were a bunch of locals out and, of course, people trying to sell you things or get you to pay them to show you the way up, even though the path is clearly marked. A few local men started jumping in a deep pool from about three or four meters high, showing the rest of us how its done. We spent the bulk of the afternoon playing in the gentle fresh water current, tanning and playing with friendly butterflies. By the time we left a few hours later, there were tourists jumping off rock edges from five or six meters above the pool! Later after a lunch at Texas BBQ, we made for the Thap Bo Hot Spring spa where we enjoyed hot and cold pools, mineral waterfalls, mud baths and a mineral spa for $6!. It was relaxing and fun to float completely effortlessly in the mud bath too!
The following morning, we checked out of our favorite room in Vietnam and hopped back on the scooter. This time, after a final morning of tired smiles and slow service from Veranda, we headed 30 km south through high seaside mountains on a four to six lane highway to Vietnam’s long beach, a stunning pearl white sand stretch of coastline that stretches as far as you can see. Restaurants are built right up to the high tide water level so when you eat at the front row, your feet get lapped with water. It was a pretty even mix of locals, expats and visitors and the day was spent lounging, swimming and even talking surf with some Aussies. Had some killer fish tacos too. Life seems pretty good here and I can see why so many westerners have made it their new home. No surf was had but I still found the day very entertaining and it ended all too soon to catch our last sleeper bus of Vietnam (and hopefully ever!) to Saigon.
I awoke at 5:30, unsure of the quality of my sleep due to a few Russians enjoying St. Patrick's day on the bus in the middle of the night. We were on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, the new name given to old Saigon after the northern Vietnamese army captured the capitol in April 1975. We wandered for a bit around a large park in the center of district one, in the heart of the city and what many Vietnamese still refer to as Saigon. Gaining our bearings as we watched thousands of men and women participate in big Ti Chi sessions, badminton and jogging, we made our way up to the top of the park and into the backpacker district where our hotel was waiting for us with a room at the top floor. Neither of us had any energy left so we slept the whole morning away and started our day around noon, finding some cheap good eats right outside our hotel’s crowded alley. We had yet to come up with a plan for exiting Vietnam (our visa expired in one more week) so we started shopping around for ways to get us into Cambodia while enjoying our final days in the Mekong delta. As we made our way back to central park, Megan was struck by an old woman on a scooter. She wasn’t hit too hard but the pain and the hatred mingled nonetheless. After getting several options from a few different companies we walked through a big market by a local bus depot, passed through a cafe to have some ice coffee before we sat down back in central park where we had great dialogue about greed, happiness and helping our planet and its inhabitants while helping ourselves. Feeling the enormity (and heat) of the city, we opted to take a city tour by air conditioned bus through several sights in far off districts. Later that night, we watched Paul on HBO and were surprised when a documentary film about Burma didn’t air afterward as it was displayed on the online guide. We attributed this to the Vietnamese government controls and had one more small taste of life in a communist country.
Our tour the next morning began early and the first stop was the war remnants museum. I must say, this was one of the most shocking and hardest hitting museums I have ever encountered. It really hit home for me as an American and in most rooms I was consistently tearing up through each exhibit. There were three floors, the first of which housed international war protests and propaganda memorabilia. The next floor displayed war photographs, weapons and machines used in the conflict but mostly terribly tragic pictures of mass executions and crying children. The other exhibit on this floor focused on agent orange legacies which was difficult for anyone to stomach. I guess I never realized the extent of the genetic damage inflicted on the affected persons. Hundreds of thousands may have been exposed to this horrifying substance and the effects last generations. The room was full of pictures portraying disfigured people and babies and I don’t think I’ve ever been sick to my stomach and at the verge of crying like this in my life. The final floor was a tribute to the dozens of war photographers from a large variety of countries who lost their lives documenting this awful war as well as an exhibit about rebuilding Vietnam. I was very moved, appalled, shocked and somewhat relieved when we exited. Those halls will stay with me for a very long time.
Throughout the rest of the tour, we stopped for coffee and tea (where we learned about “world famous” weasel poop coffee beans), Tien Hay which is an old Chinese Pagoda, visited Binh Tay wholesale market (organized chaos), toured the reunification palace, visited a traditional wood laquor art factory (smelly) and the briefly stopped Notre Dame replica and nearby old post office (still in service), where we were bombarded with young students intent on practicing their English skills with us as part of a class project. It was long and emotionally draining day which we ended with good pizza and cheap beer. This city is huge and pretty overwhelming between the heat, driving culture and just plain big cityness and we were more than happy to take our leave the following day.
Throughout the rest of the tour, we stopped for coffee and tea (where we learned about “world famous” weasel poop coffee beans), Tien Hay which is an old Chinese Pagoda, visited Binh Tay wholesale market (organized chaos), toured the reunification palace, visited a traditional wood laquor art factory (smelly) and the briefly stopped Notre Dame replica and nearby old post office (still in service), where we were bombarded with young students intent on practicing their English skills with us as part of a class project. It was long and emotionally draining day which we ended with good pizza and cheap beer. This city is huge and pretty overwhelming between the heat, driving culture and just plain big cityness and we were more than happy to take our leave the following day.
The next two days are one of those times that really reminds me that fate likes to guide us along a rough path with subtle, or blatant, reminders on staying the course. We left our hotel in a taxi with a working meter (for the first time on our trip) on our way to a southern bound bus terminal in order to catch a ride to Chau Doc, a delta city on the border with Cambodia. We had an easy time finding tickets and a kind ticket vendor showed us the way directly to the bus. Once again, we were the only tourists around and one of the men on the bus took a liking to me, seemingly fascinated with the blonde hair on my arm and the fact that I was on my way to his home town. We were entertained on the six hour trip by an extremely gory and cheesy Vietnamese film called “The Story of Rickey”. I couldn't understand much but the special effects were unspectacular and it was fun making up dialogue in my head with the mismatched sound. I totally botched our arrival in Chau Doc, stupidly agreeing to the first shoddy room we saw for its cheapness and proximity to where we were dropped off (it was hot once again!). We had plans to tour around mangrove forests and hike up a nearby mountain for sunset views of neighboring Cambodia but I wanted to get us out of this crappy room and dirty city. For dinner, we walked around the town center and sat down for street food only to watch the biggest rat I have ever seen waddle, yes waddle, over the cement and into the bushes. We bolted for the next restaurant we could find and we saw a fat rat there too! Plans changed quickly to get us out of here and into Cambodia in the morning.
We awoke abruptly at 5:45 in the morning and the city looked no cleaner in daylight than it did at night. We were totally caught off guard and we were dumbfounded that our taxi to the travel company’s headquarters was a pedi cabber. He spent ten minutes trying to offer us a ride I thought and we turned him down repeatedly because we were so used to being solicited so often. I felt like an idiot and tipped the man appropriately for the three minute ride. We had breakfast next to a nice Indian woman from New York who had just come from Cambodia and gave us a few hints and we exchanged emails. Then, we were escorted to our boat for the day, a long narrow canal tourer which took us on an unnecessary tour of a fish farm where tourists could watch a fish feeding frenzy and then to a Cham village before taking us to our the border crossing on land three hours up the Mekong. The hours flew by talking to a young Australian couple, Ryan and Zara. Ryan and I instantly bonded over surf talk while Megan’s eyes glazed over but she started chiming in when we all talked about our trip and travel plans. They had been on a similar path to ours except they were only spending a couple of days in Cambodia seeing Angkor ruins before running off to Nepal. We learned that they wanted to fly to Canada after a month in Nepal and we told them about our Australia plans and they gave us some ideas of how and where to travel in their home country. It was refreshing to bond with another couple going through similar travel trials as our own. After a hot and slightly confusing border crossing, we were on a bus to Phenom Penh and then a tuk-tuk to our hotel, where we were placed on the same floor as our Aussie counterparts. We had a wonderful Indian feast that night and talked for hours over a couple of drinks and the more we learned about each other, the more we noticed how similar we were as couples. I got the best vibes from those two and I have a strong feeling that will not be the last time we share a meal and I hope I get to trade waves with both of them one day.
Vietnam was really a wonderful country to visit. All of the rumors about people trying to rip you off are mostly true but the people not selling anything are surprisingly friendly and helpful. We finally got in a good rhythm traveling for two months and it really felt good to feel so at home in a country so scarred by American intervention. Nha Trang really embraced us like I never thought we could as simply hotel guests. I learned that if you give a country and its people a chance, they really can welcome you in the kindest ways. I am happy and proud of our Vietnam visit and I hope to visit again someday. Now its off to our next big adventure: Cambodia!
We awoke abruptly at 5:45 in the morning and the city looked no cleaner in daylight than it did at night. We were totally caught off guard and we were dumbfounded that our taxi to the travel company’s headquarters was a pedi cabber. He spent ten minutes trying to offer us a ride I thought and we turned him down repeatedly because we were so used to being solicited so often. I felt like an idiot and tipped the man appropriately for the three minute ride. We had breakfast next to a nice Indian woman from New York who had just come from Cambodia and gave us a few hints and we exchanged emails. Then, we were escorted to our boat for the day, a long narrow canal tourer which took us on an unnecessary tour of a fish farm where tourists could watch a fish feeding frenzy and then to a Cham village before taking us to our the border crossing on land three hours up the Mekong. The hours flew by talking to a young Australian couple, Ryan and Zara. Ryan and I instantly bonded over surf talk while Megan’s eyes glazed over but she started chiming in when we all talked about our trip and travel plans. They had been on a similar path to ours except they were only spending a couple of days in Cambodia seeing Angkor ruins before running off to Nepal. We learned that they wanted to fly to Canada after a month in Nepal and we told them about our Australia plans and they gave us some ideas of how and where to travel in their home country. It was refreshing to bond with another couple going through similar travel trials as our own. After a hot and slightly confusing border crossing, we were on a bus to Phenom Penh and then a tuk-tuk to our hotel, where we were placed on the same floor as our Aussie counterparts. We had a wonderful Indian feast that night and talked for hours over a couple of drinks and the more we learned about each other, the more we noticed how similar we were as couples. I got the best vibes from those two and I have a strong feeling that will not be the last time we share a meal and I hope I get to trade waves with both of them one day.
Vietnam was really a wonderful country to visit. All of the rumors about people trying to rip you off are mostly true but the people not selling anything are surprisingly friendly and helpful. We finally got in a good rhythm traveling for two months and it really felt good to feel so at home in a country so scarred by American intervention. Nha Trang really embraced us like I never thought we could as simply hotel guests. I learned that if you give a country and its people a chance, they really can welcome you in the kindest ways. I am happy and proud of our Vietnam visit and I hope to visit again someday. Now its off to our next big adventure: Cambodia!