From Mui Ne, we planned to take a night bus up the coast to Nha Trang - another beach destination. Due to depart at 1am, we busied ourselves as much as possible with food, billiards and the hotel pool until everything started to close. We waited in the dark with the hotel security guards and were relieved when the bus showed up only a half hour late. Being one of the last pick-ups, we had to go on the top row of "beds" (really: reclined seats with an extended foot rest). From here, you can really feel the swaying of the bus with each curve and enjoy the thrill of wondering whether or not you'll fall out of your "bed" each time. Luckily, neither of us did.
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Sam in his top row bus bed. |
Feeling a bit disappointed by the lack of beach and rainy weather in Mui Ne, I didn't get my hopes up for Nha Trang. After all, it is the low season over here, meaning the weather tends to be unpredictable and usually rainy. Happily, we had some gorgeous weather conveniently around my birthday and I was so excited to be able to spend it at the beach. We rented a motorbike and made the gorgeous 20km ride along the coast to a big, empty beach called Bai Dai.
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View from the drive. |
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Bai Dai beach. |
After relaxing at the beach for a few hours, we headed back to town. Tempted with a sign for a mud bath along the way, we decided to stop and have a birthday spa day. The spa complex turned out to be modern and enormous with very few customers. This worked to our advantage and we had full reign of the pools, jacuzzi and waterfall, not to mention lots of time in the mud bath. Neither of us were familiar with how mud baths worked, so who knows if we "did it right," but it was definitely fun to play around, even if I did end up eating some.
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Muddy me. |
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Muddy Sam. |
Nha Trang exceeded my expectations and proved to be a wonderful place to visit. Take it from the many Russians who seem to be taking over the town with their daily direct flights for holiday-goers and growing businesses here. With the city next to the beach, there was much more to do than just sit in the sun. There is a lively nightlife scene and a fairly large group of expats living there. We got to know some of them when we joined the pub quiz (trivia) nights at two of the main bars. Fun fact: in one week being in Vietnam, we joined 4 pub quiz nights. While we lost every time, it was really nice to talk with the local expats and try to absorb the random trivia facts in hopes that someday, we can win a round.
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Kids in Nha Trang. |
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Main beach in Nha Trang town. |
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US Air Base during the war - right on the edge of town. |
Sam totally spoiled me and we ended up having a "birthdayyyy" celebration that lasted two days in Nha Trang. The first was spent at the beach, mud bath and local pubs to ring in midnight. The second (my actual birthday) was a rainy day, so we spoiled ourselves with a western brunch and more pampering - pedicures and massages - followed by a fancy dinner (no plastic chairs!) Sam surprised me with a birthday cake and beautiful solo rendition of "Happy Birthday." And I was happy to get lots of other birthday messages - words of wisdom, chorus of singing friends, and virtual 'cheers' - from amazing family and friends halfway across the world. Turning 25 has been a humbling reminder of how lucky I am. I can't wait to see what this year brings!
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