Tauchgang
So the clothes from Hoi An were a great sucess, even if they are probably synthetic. We also had an interesting afternoon at the beach. Immediately after arranging yourself on your towel about 10 different vendors surround you like flies: fresh mango and pineapple, foot massage, pulling out hair with a thread, you want manicure etc. etc., the last being a particularily hot idea, wwhat with the wind blowing sand everywhere. My personal favorite however was the lady who told us everyone had been lucky except her and we needed to make her lucky.
Yesterday we boarded a Vietnam Airlines plane to Nha Trang. The flight takes about an hour, the bus would be 12 hours. But 12 hours in an overnight bus has me feeling nauseous just thinking about it, train ok, bus no way. We arrived around noon all excited by the beautiful views from the air and were immediately contacted by a hotel. Apparently the hotel in Hoi An had called ahead and given them our names. Only we hadnt even decidedto book there yet. As it turns out we probably should have gone there, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So we decided to be really clever and share a taxi. According to the guidebook the airport should have been close, next door so to speak. Alas a new airport has been built (in one year) and is now 40km away (equals 15$ taxi ride). Turns out this is symbolic for the rest of the city. Restaurants disappear, new ones pop up and high rises everywhere you look. Think spanish Torremolinos and that's what it will probably look like in a year. A pity, from my point of view, because the location is really beautiful, but it will probably bring a lot of money and get rid of those pesty, cheap backpackers!:)
We landed in a cheap hotel for6$ a night. In Hoi An we got a really beautiful room with fan for 8. Here we got a hole in the wall. It was the first place, where I feel compelled to sleep in my own sleeping bag. So needless to say not happy at all. But at least we got to go diving. According to H. its not as nice as Egypt, but I thought we saw a lot and we had an excellent service for only 30$ and 45$. It was a first for me and I really loved seeing the marine life. But also a teensy weensy bit scary, cos I had difficulty adjusting the pressure on my ears. They're still popping! :). Then some sun at the beach again. All in all quite nice day, but I'll be glad to leave this place tomorrow.
We are taking a three day tour up into the mountains and also to see some villages. Roughing it so to speak, and horrors of horrors no free internet. :) Then on Tuesday if I haven't been bitten by a snake, fallen of the elephant or sucked dry by mosquitos (I must be some kind of rare delicacy here (sushi perhaps), because I will get bitten even when covered from head to toe in Antibrumm, while H. stands next to me with no protection whatsoever. If I am to contract malaria or dengue fever, I am resigned to my fate, there's just no preventing it. If there is a mosquito in the region, it will find me.) back to the beach in Mui Ne, a more quiet sort of place renowed for sand dunes and kite surfing... guess you's already planning to go? If you guessed Mr. Cannot Keep Still Unless Sleeping, you guessed right. This attitude sometimes clashes with my more I need to relax a bit and lets see when we get there attitude :) So probably H.will go get his daily dopamin fix and I shall get mine simply listening to the waves and nodding off over a good book. Pretty good system if you ask me. Anyways I'll keep you posted!
