Hmm. Well yesterday started off fine but ended with a bit of a downer at nha trang. I caught the bus from Da Lat to Nha Trang which was relatively uneventful - We had a better bus driver this time so we actually made it to our destination by the proper time - 1.30.
With Tet coming up (I realise this is a frequently occurring topic here..) they mentioned that we needed to book sleeper buses asap. My next destination is Hoi An, a 10hr drive (if there are no problems on the way) which ideally is conducted at night on a sleeper bus which is basically a big bus with beds in it! I went to the travel agent and the next sleeper bus isn't until friday night this week so I am now 'stuck' in Nha Trang until then, we will leave at 7.30pm on friday and arrive i believe 6.30 or something on saturday morning, just in time for TET to begin on the sunday.
So.. I thought to myself what am I going to do with 3 full days at a beach which is Vietnam's premier diving spot?? Naturally I decided to go diving and promptly joined up with one of the diving companies here - rainbow diver's to do my PADI course open water diver. I then had to spend the next 3-4 hours in the afternoon watching videos on the techniques, equipment and some skills I'll get to cover today (its 8am wednesday morning now) in the pool. While I"m here I also plan to hit up the hot mud centre and get a little bit dirty!!
Anyway, so Nha Trang is a bit of your typical beach town and there is quite a good night life here. Went out and met some more travellers in the area. I'm travelling for only 11 weeks - that is nothing compared to some of these guys who have often been in one country for that amount of time!!
Anyway, so I was on the beach at some late hour (yes silly I know) with some of the people I know and I must have put my bag down while we were sitting. One of the guys happened to turn around and a vietnamese guy had crawled up to us and was just about to grab my bag and took off. I promptly chased him all the way off the beach and almost caught him, but he jumped on a scooter who had a driver waiting and bolted with my bag. Quite an inconvenience. :( I initially thought I had lost eveyrthing that was in the bag (which thankfully wasn't all that much) however as we had startled him, some of my stuff had obviously fallen out of the bag. I recovered my camera (just a little one I've had for years which doesn't have heaps of photo's on it) and the torch I'd put in there for the dark. But he managed to get away with my phone (which I had newly recharged), some lipgloss (which i'm sure will do him a world of good) and the bag (which had originated at an op shop for maybe $5.).
All in all, really it was just the phone that is a pain. I did like my phone, but it was also things like the photo's I have on australia that I have been showing people along the way on the phone, and the ability to contact friends and family on it. Ah well. Honestly, I'm not that bothered by it. It's just a phone! I was thinking and praying about it this morning actually as I was trying to sleep - remembered that I had probably 20 different bible verses saved onto the phone, that have been some of my favourites over the past years. Here's hoping that this annoyance might come to some eternal good benefit!
Just remembered a couple other things I have been up to over the past few days I think I've forgotten to mention - when I was at cu chi tunnels I got to shoot an AK47 hehe :), and while I was in Da Lat I saw a rice wine distillery and got to try a bit. Pretty easy to make, its basically rice fermented with yeast, boiled in a big pot and then condensation and cooling and all that stuff between pipes that i can't remember the names of! It has bite let me tell you, should be called vodka more likely, think its about 40% alcohol..
I have learnt: don't take bags anywhere, they are prone to be stolen.
No comments:
Post a Comment