Sunshine!!!

We took a bus out of Dalat yesterday and headed for Nha Trang which is on the central coast of VNM. It was a 3 1/2 hour ride, the shortest we've done yet, and on about a 15-seater (they call it a mini-bus) with only 6 other passengers, sounds alright, but it was by far the most challenging ride to count. The roads heading out of the mountains are winding beyond anything I've ever experienced and about 20 minutes in I was feeling a bit queasy. Apparently I wasn't the only one. Maybe 30 minutes in, this tiny little 20-something young lady sitting a few seats up from us started to toss her noodles and didn't stop for more than maybe 10 minutes at a time to break from being sick there-after. I was having a hard time keeping it together before then, so you can imagine the challenge I faced in keeping the contents of my breakfast down after that started, but I did. The fact that I did was really a triumph considering how I felt...and the fact that by the end of the ride, 3 out of the 6 other passengers had thrown up, yuck!

It took me a little while to recover from that one, but I had some excellent help in the way of a thrilling bike ride around Nha Trang, which, it turns out is not only absolutely gorgeous but also apparently boasts beautiful weather most of the year. The typhoon completely skipped the area, and all they had was some light rain while the rest of the coast got hammered.

I have been thoroughly enjoying myself since arriving here. The food is delicious, the water is an incredible clear blue-green, and warm, the beaches are clean, and there seems to be no shortage of fun activities to keep us occupied. This morning Ray and I went scuba diving and snorkeling. It was my first time diving and I really thought that I would have more anxiety over it then I did. I absolutely loved it! We talked about maybe doing a 3 day diving run and getting our certifications but decided to save the money since there isn't a whole lot of diving to be done in the ice cold waters of the Sound. Tomorrow we are going to take a sky car over to a little island called "Vinpearl Island" where there is a water park and a giant swimming pool (I know, hardly necessary with the ocean right there but we're doing it anyway).

All in all we are livin it up and fully enjoying the change of scenery and weather. We have plans to head to Hoi An on an overnight bus the night after tomorrow, and hopefully we will not run into any more nasty weather. We really want to make it to Halong Bay before the end of our trip so that we can see the limestone peaks.