We continued our way down south via the coast. From Danang, the closest big city to Hoi An, we took a 9 hour train to Nha Trang, a popular beach resort right on the South China Sea. Nha Trang may be the ideal spot for some people, but it was not the charming beach town we'd expected, so we only spent one day there and decided to continue south to another town called Mui Ne (pronounced "Mooy Nay") since it was on the way to Ho Chi Minh City, our final destination in Vietnam.
The day we took the train was Jenna's birthday. What better way to celebrate than be forced to sit upright for 9 straight hours, with Vietnamese soap operas, Vietnamese Star Search and B movies dubbed in Vietnamese blaring at levels that would make your ears bleed? It was such a treat. We reasoned that since we're really a day ahead in Asia, it wasn't technically her birthday and that we would properly celebrate it in Nha Trang when she can actually eat something other than morsels of bread and La Vache Qui Rit (Laughing Cow No-Need-To-Refrigerate-Cheese) and stale Oreos left over from the Shawshank. So we called off the surprise birthday cake from the restuarant car and spared her the embarrassment of us singing Happy Birthday in a compartment full of strangers.
Mike and Val ate same bread and cheese, waved away the free trays of train food but sprang for train chicken that you had to pay for. And train ramen which was not bad, considering.
We rented beach chairs on the beach in Nha Trang and tried to ignore the persistent beach vendors selling more postcards, cooked crabs, T-shirts, massages, necklaces, drinks, snacks, tours, and other crap we didn't want. That night we celebrated and splurged on an excellent dinner and drinks at the Nha Trang Sailing Club. The comfort barometer was measuring high that night.
The next morning, we resumed our backpacker ways and boarded a 6 hour honking bus to Mui Ne. Not all of us could sit together. 2 passengers in the back of the bus vomited. Good times.
We found our charming beach town in Mui Ne, thank god. All we wanted was a place we could stay in for more than one night, and preferably three. The boys did an excellent recon job of finding a great hotel for us. Beach front, pool, breakfast included, and for Michael, a convenient little swell we could see from our balcony.
Mike got to surf, Angelo got his pizza fix, Jenna indulged in a spa treatment, Val got devoured my mosquitoes but worked on her tan and everyone got some R&R and spent some quality time together.
We spent 3 days in Mui Ne, then took another four and a half hour bus ride south to Saigon (we stopped saying "Ho Chi Minh City"...too many syllables.)where the Capobiancos parted ways with the Chamorros. A short, dry-eyed goodbye with promises to meet up in Cambodia after a few days. Val and Michael were picked up by Val's aunt and uncle who recently moved here and whisked off to District 7, where for a few days, life does not resemble backpacking in the least.
As suspected, the food here is much better than in the North. The farther south we've traveled, the more relaxed the country and the people have become. Saigon is all capitalist, all big city, ten times more chaotic. We spent our first day here running errands, missing our travel buddies (so much so we went in search of them, found them and managed to squeeze in some more time togather.) We're grateful to have a few days to spend with Val's family, eat home cooked food, regroup, and make plans for our next stop, Cambodia.
For most recent photos, go to:
Map of Vietnam:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/vietnam_pol92.jpg
