February 10 Nha Trang 

A very different day as we were on a boat all day (9:00 - 3:00).  For the first time on my journey the sky was cloudy much of the day.  I was content with that because it kept the heat down.  Unfortunately there was also a lot of mist so the photos aren't as scenic as they might have been.  It truly is a beautiful place and i can see why Vietnamese long to come here for holidays.  With land prices at $5,000 US per square meter for raw land  buying a home here is out of the question for all but the very wealthy.

The boat also wasn't quite what I expected but rather much like the ones we had used on the river trips previously.  Not very big and crowded with the thirteen (two people didn't go) of us on board.  In spite of that we all managed. 

It took us about forty minutes to get to the location where we were going to anchor to snorkel and swim.  In my naive fashion I had imagined a small bay, calm waters and no other people.  Boy was I wrong (again LOL).  We didn't anchor at all but rather tied up to another boat.  Soon after another one tied to us and then another one to that one, etc.  There were people everywhere and it was anything but quiet.  It took a while but eventually everyone, me included, but one person went in the water for varying periods of time.  I didn't hear anyone commenting on what fish they saw so will have to ask around in the morning.  I didn't have a mask so didn't see anything.  The water was cool on first plunge but fine and refreshing after that.

The main excitement of the day was the opportunity to go parasailing and most of the group, me included, took advantage of it (hence the number of photos).  I waited until everyone who wanted to go had gone so I got to go up alone.  Except for the fact that I felt as if the strap under my rear end was going to slip off and turn me into a soprano it was a great experience.  Serene with beautiful views of the surrounding area.  The trip was short, between five and ten minutes, but at $10.25 it was a great deal cheaper than anywhere else I have seen.

Lunch was served on the boat:  rice, noodles, cold squid salad (excellent), vegetables, a fish in tomato sauce dish (didn't try that one), cold prawns, fried spring rolls, fruit, liquid refreshments.

Many of the women had manicures and pedicures done by one of the staff.  As far as I am aware none of the men, other than Vu, did.  He also had a massage but no one else did.

On the way back to shore we stopped to look at a floating fish farm.  They float on empty fifty gallon barrels.  There are a great many small farms in the area.  I think that local fishermen might also replenish their stocks from their catches but don't know that for sure.  There were huge squid in one of the pens and fish in another but I don't know what kind they were.  A few people took advantage of the opportunity to ride in one of the "basket" boats that the people use to shuttle back and forth.  They didn't appear all that stable to me and I think it would be difficult to keep them going in a straight line.

Early morning departure to look at some Chan (or Cham) ancient towers and then it is on to Quy Nhon for one night.