Well Alex and I left Mui Ne and arrived in Nha Trang. We booked on this day boat trip. We had deep reservations on it but we had booked it in Saigon. Alex joked that it would be us and a bus full of locals. Well we got to the bus and lo and behold it was full of locals. However there was one Aussie girl, Robbie. We got talking to her. When we arrived at the boat we met another bus that was to be with us on the boat. It also included Robbies friend Kelly (Oz). We went to the first island and realised the snorkelling equipment was below par so Kelly, Robbie and I borrowed some floating rings and just lazed around and gossiped. Alex had brought his own gear but returned to tell us there wasn't much to see and got a ring too. We had a hoot. At the next island we had lunch on the boat. The guys on the boat then brought out their homemade instruments and pretended to be a boy band. Most were in their 40's. It was such a scream. One of the guys had a Aussie rules football cut in half and placed strategically over his chest and was the "lady boy" for the duration of the performance. We then had the floating bar, where the "lady boy" served us some local wine from a floating contraption. The rings were out again and we just floated around with our vino and took the p. The MC just took the P put of these English 18year olds and then out of 3 Japenese guys and made them knock back some of the vino. Bless they failed dramatically. Alex got a taste for the Dalat wine and managed 5 glasses. The rest of us managed 1. It is that bad.
We arranged to all meet for dinner and drinks and along the way met some American girls (Donna and Tiffany). Also Darren, Kelly's boyfriend came and along. We ended up in the Sailing club and got a little drunk on a locally brewed coctail made with local moonshine. Alex and Robbie bonded and sat in a corner observing the world and watching Jonah(Canadian guy, the US girls met) move on the US girls. The rest left early but myself, Tiffany, Donna and Jonah lasted til the end. No surprise there.
On the way home Jonah got accosted by some Lady boys, who we thought were feeling him up but were actually and very brazenly trying to rob his wallet. They didn't get anything.
Road trip to Hoi An
Robbie joined Alex and I, to Hoi An. We took the overnight bus there (a 12 hour journey). Oh my god. Lets just say the song "Highway to hell" kept going through our minds. The bus was absolutely full. We got the back seat but this Vietnamese girl next to Alex kept knocking against him and sleeping on his shoulder etc. I didnt know such a small girl could take up so much space. He had a nightmare to the left of me and then the seat in front of me was broken so the seat jammed against my knees and I had to put a cushion in between me and the seat. Robbie faired slightly better to the right of me, as she was near the window. But we all failed to get much sleep and were roasting most of the way to Hoi An. However, about 4.30am the dawn came and the view as we went, was amazing with the sun rising over these beautiful paddy fields and the locals with their buffalo.
Hoi An. When Robbie, Alex and I arrived in Hoi An, we were knackered, ratty and hungry so decided we had to have an hotel with a pool. So we all got a room together for $12 a night which was really nice. The pool was such a lovely relief. Especially as the temperature in Hoi An is around 36C. Hoi An is the center for tailoring. Boy did we do the rounds. Each of us got loads of stuff made. We each got a suit and shirts/tops, trousers etc. Even got a few boardies made between us. FAB!!. Alex and I got some shoes made for us too.
In Hoi An, it was such a laugh. Alex, Robbie and I have discovered we have a similar sense of humour. At times the tears just run down our faces laughing. It is a very childish humour at times even a bit catty but it's great fun. It's like being with you Shak and Ganesh and Charmonie.
I was in A Dong's tailor and all of a sudden not only did Kelly and Darren walk in (We had bumped into them earlier) but Jonah came in. So it was Nha Trang revisited. We saw a few people we have seen along the way. In fact we met a few more whilst here.
Not getting much sleep however. What with the latenight clubbing then the busride from hell. Then Robbie, Alex and I got up at dawn one day to see Hoi An as the sun rose. This was beautiful. All the fishing boats were coming in with their catch and the locals were busy doing there morning rituals and were totally disinterested in us. We got some fab photos.
Robbie and I went to My Son. A temple complex near Hoi An another 5am wake up. Am soooo tired. But the complex was nice and we met a Dutch guy (Rob) and Swiss French guy with the most beautiful blue eyes I've seen in a very long time. We had a great chat with them and kept meeting Rob in various tailor shops in Hoi An along with a fab Norwegian couple and their kids.
We discovered 2 tailors that we liked. Em ma's, where the Matriarch Em ma was a total character. Robbie had a burn on her leg which she got when she hit the exhaust of a moto she got off on the left side. Pretty gross as it was weeping and we were getting concerned about it. But Em Ma saw and went off got some bandage etc. She then washed the wound with bottled water, then opened an antibiotic capsule and sprinkled the contents over the wound and bandaged it up. Robbie's leg is now very thankful for Em Ma's ministrations and is healing nicely. Em Ma was amazing. She also had a great team of tailors.
The last night was a major rush around, as we tried to collect our remaining bits from various tailors and shoemakers. I was taken around by one of the girls in the other of our favourite tailor shops (Lai's). This necessitated me hiking up a tightish skirt to get on the back of her moped. Entertaining but fun as I was delivered to my hotel and the restaurant where the others were waiting for me.