February 9 Dalat to Nha Trang 

Out of the perfect weather and back into the sauna.  The weather in the mountains around Dalat was perfect for me, cool and dry.  Here in Nha  Trang it is once again extremely hot and humid.  Yuck.  The drive through the mountains to get here was beautiful with many lovely vistas.  As usual however we didn't stop at any of them and at the one we did stop you could barely see anything for the mist.  Some parts of the road were quite fun with switchback after switchback.  Our gutless wonder bus had difficulty on some of the uphill portions, particularly if it had to go from a standing start.  We stopped once for a toilet break and the toilets were of the squat variety in a plastic tarp covered contraption hanging over the edge of the cliff.  Believe me that was about as rustic as I am prepared to handle.  Going into the bush would have been a better option if that had been possible.  For the pleasure of using these fragrant abodes you had to pay 1,000 dong (about $0.06 maybe).

I inadvertently made a faux pas by buying beer from one person and then trying to sit in another's stall area.  How you are supposed to tell the difference is beyond me because there is no space between them.  The other day I caused an economic argument when I tried to buy a carton of cigarettes.  The guy, who spoke no English, had to run off to three different places find someone to ask the price.  Eventually he quoted me 1,300 dong for one package and 250,000 dong for a carton.  I told him that a carton only contained ten packages so should be no more than 130,000.  He stuck to 250,000.  Meanwhile everyone was on the bus waiting for me.  When he wouldn't budge I walked away in the midst of much loud conferencing between the workers.  One woman followed me and offered a carton for 180,000.  No deal.  LOL

We descended out of the mountains into ever increasing temperatures and flatter land.  In the central part of the country it is quite arid and there are cactus everywhere.  The Chan people, another minority group I guess, live in government built houses.  Trouble is the houses are all precisely identical, bright yellow and blue and there are rows upon rows of them.  I was on the wrong side of the bus to try and get a photo.  I thought we had done a bad job with housing in some communities but we did better than this dehumanizing effort for sure.

At one point we came upon a man riding an elephant along the side of the road.  Naturally the driver stopped the bus so those on one side could take some photos.  I think that it was a set up because we had no sooner stopped than the police were there to issue a ticket for stopping in a no stopping area.  In order to avoid having to pay a fine which includes the police holding your license for a period of time a bribe of 400,000 dong was required.  We all contributed to the bribe fund because it was only for us that he had stopped.

After we checked into the hotel and then had lunch we headed off for the mud bath.  I had every intention of having the mud bath but when I found out that we had to pay for it and also had to make numerous choices I decided that I didn't want any part of it so took my book and sat in a cafe for the two hours those who were partaking were in there.  By the time we finally got back from there it was almost time to go for dinner.

Breakfast was fried noodles, bread and coffee.  Lunch at an Italian restaurant, called "Good Morning Vietnam", was carpaccio di spada (swordfish sashimi in olive oil and fresh garlic) and gnocchi gorgonzola.  Both were fantastic and the Saigon beer wasn't bad either.  The service was very slow but eventually got the job done.  Many of the group had small pizzas.  It was my most expensive meal so far at $15.00 but well worth it and still far below what I would have paid in Canada.  For dinner, my second mistake of the day, we were taken to a Vietnamese barbecue restaurant.  The noise was deafening and if I had felt safe taking a taxi back to the hotel I would have left before even sitting down.  Unbearable, hot and smoky to boot but I could have handled the latter two.  It completely spoiled the meal and the experience for me.  Once you had ordered what you wanted (prawns, beef, squid, chicken, tuna, vegetables) they bring you the raw products and a charcoal brazier is placed on the table in front of you for you to cook.  I had one prawn, one piece of tuna, a few pieces of squid and a few of beef.  The rest of the group of four with whom I was sharing the brazier (there were three or four distributed along the table) didn't barbecue their food, they cremated it!  None of my pieces were on for more than a minute or two at most while their's were there for up to ten minutes or more and were black lumps by the time they finished.  Must have been like rubber as well.

Because I had such a crappy room last time Vu made sure I got the best of the rooms this time.  It is large and has all the amenities I want including a dream broadband internet connection and a view of the South China Sea and a few mountains.   Right outside my window is a roof or a patio or something but sadly there is no apparent way to access it and right in front of the spot where the sun comes up is some sort of structure like an elevator housing.  Oh well, one can't have everything I guess.  I am thankful for what I do have.