Nha Trang.... it's a sticky place

Holla!

I've finally arrived in Hoi An after spending WAAAAAAAY too long in Nha Trang... I couldn't help myself, I was surrounded with sun, surf, beach and beer... what more could a girl want in this world?! I spent most of my days relaxing at Louisiana Brew Pub which is a beer brewery that has grrrrrrrreat passion infused whiet beer, great lounge chairs, aaaaaaand a pool that overlooks the ocean. HELLO!

After I traded in my camera for my new, improved, super-fantastic pink olympus, I was walking down the beach I stopped for water, and met a sweet little Vietnamese lady who was holidaying in Nha Trang. She was fascinated by my $2 knock-off ray bands. She tried them on, and was striking poses all over the beach with them... gave them to the dude selling the water, and he started posing too.. so funny! So, being the sweet little entrepreneur I am, I asked if they wanted to buy them. She said, YES YES!! HOW MUCH!? Thinking she'd want to barter with me, I started and $100,000 dong... she said OK!! Whipped out a $100,000 note and just like that I doubled my money on the sunglasses. hahaha Then I went and bought new Armani ones for $50,000 dong. So awesome.



I used the extra $50,000 dong to get me a motorbike taxi to a mud bath/mineral pool spa a few kilometers outside of town. It was super relaxing, and although it felt a bit weird to bathe in dirty mud water with big black asian hairs floating around in it... I managed to enjoy myself. From the mud bath, I layed in the sun to allow the mud to try, and then showered off to get clean again. Then I moved into a Hyrdotherapy shower thing, where they blast tigerbalm smelling water at you for 3-5 minutes. After that, I sat in a hot mineral tub for another 15 minutes. In the hot tub I met a couple Aussie blokes, and a dude from Hollywood. They invited me to join them for some street meat lobster afterward so once I finished my treatment under the mineral waterfall, and the hot, and cold mineral swimming pools, I was picked up by my driver again, and went back to town to meet them.

We walked a few blocks from where I was staying and found a couple Vietnamese people with a Hibatchi BBQ sitting on the sidewalk... this was our dining room. We had a big group, so we ordered 10 lobsters and sat around on tiny plastic stools eating the lobster and dipping it in lime juice mixed with some kind of spice... SOOOO DELICIOUS!!! Half way through our meal, the Vietnamese lady came rushing over to us and said "GET UP, GET UP!! YOU MOVE OVER HERE" We were quite confused cause we were mid meal, and didn't really want to move... then we realized the police had shown up and it's illegal to sell food on the sidewalks in Vietnam.. so the lady picked up our plastic table, and we carried our stools around the corner where the set-up shop in the ally way for us! Classic!

After our lobster fest, everyone else was going to party, but I had arranged a scuba dive for early the next morning, so I declined, and opted to go to Crazy Kim's Spa and Gym instead for the best Vietnamese massage EVER!!! I went to bed in bliss...


The next morning I woke up at 6:30 and had a quick bowl of fresh mango, mixed with plain yogurt and musili (my new favorite breakfast... i kinda overdid the banana pancakes in Thailand) and headed to the dive shop. It wasn't until I was already in my wetsuit and 20meters underwater when my stomach began to gurgle..... Here's a question for you... what's the best move when you're underwater with a Vietnamese dive master named Indo who speaks very little English, and even less sign language, and you feel like you're going to shit in your wetsuit!? Answer... massive amounts of praying and clenching... Luckily I made it out of the water without having to experience a diarrhea dive.. but it was a close call. For future reference: DO NOT EAT STREET MEAT SEAFOOD THE NIGHT BEFORE A SCUBA DIVE.

After diving I took a motortaxi to one of the local markets where I wondered around taking pictures of the locals shopping, and the amazing fresh fruits and vegetables for sale there. I also found several dead bats hanging up in a shop that were for sale!! GROSSS!! Check out the picture... I just love all the little old Vietnamese ladies here that try and sell stuff too, they are soooooo cute and wrinkly! This lady was one of my all-time trip favorites... after I took her picture, she tried to make me pay her $15,000 dong! hahahaha!


A couple days into the trip, I was wondering down the beach and ran into a fellow I met scuba diving. We started chatting and he introduced me to a few friends he had made from the states. Turns out the guys from the states were part of a hip-hop dance group who were performing at the Sail Club that night... ummmm does life get any better!? So, I ended up hanging out with them for a bit, and then watched their show later on. It was pretty good, and I was happy to just listen to some good music and see some sick dancing, cause I was starting to have hip-hop withdrawals over herrrrrrrr...

The next day I was lounging at Louisiana Brew Pub again and I met some FABULOUS Aussies who invited me to join them for dinner. We went to this great restaurant where they gave us some marinated meat, calamari, and veggies to cook on a BBQ that was brought to our table. It definitely took the #1 spot on my asian favorite food list to date!! SOOOO DELICIOUS! Afterwards, I went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and met them for what I thought would be A DRINK, at the Sailing Club... A DRINK, turned into many drinks as one of the girls was celebrating her birthday... After Jager bomb #2 chased by Mojito #4 I turned into a dancing queen... It was super fun, and I realized that's the first time I've been drunk since Jen Eely's wedding!! HOLLAAAAAA! I spent the next day getting nursing an epic hangover.... buuuut it was worth it!

Last night I took the overnight 12 hour bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An. Not fun. Buuut, I made it here finally! I love this city already!! It's very french looking, with loads of old architecture and hundreds of tailors offering custom suits, dresses, shoes... you name it! "Heaven... I'm in Heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak! And I think I've found the happiness I seek..." So, that said, I'm gonna blow this popsicle stand and head out to do some shoppin!

I also have to find a new hotel for tomorrow night as just before leaving my current one I noticed there were dozens of ants crawling over the second bed!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW So disgusting! They are going to spray my room with some bug stuff, but still, it's gonna be a rough night of sleep for me there now that I know I'm sharing a room with them.

This is Christy, signing off!