Christmas Eve, Hoi An, Vietnam

Well, it's been an adventure since I last wrote.

My trek north started on the 19th (I think). I took the new express train from Saigon to Nha Trang (the Vietnamese are quite proud of this train). The trip started off on a bit of a bad note simply because, a) It was 6:15 in the morning and, b) the minute I got out of the cab at the Saigon train station, I was assaulted by touts. For most of this trip I've been very patient with the constant stream of people in my face giving the hard sell for everything from postcards and motorcycle rides to prostitutes and pot. However, in the morning, still dark outside, brain somewhat on the fritz, these guys are just a bit too much to handle. Needless to say my frustration broke it's bounds a bit. I mean really, I had just gotten out of a cab at the train station. Why in the hell would I need a goddamned motorcycle taxi! Once I finally figured out how to get INTO the train station and then on the train, things calmed down a bit. I had great hopes of being able to watch the countryside go by from the train (one of my favorite ways to travel anywhere), but the minute the train got going I was out like a light. I slept almost the entire seven hours. I must have been snoring quite a bit as well because eveytime I woke up, the people working the train would give me these amused smiles that said, "You are a funny guy when you sleep."

Once I got to Nha Trang, I checked into Le Suisse Hotel. I highly recommend this place to anyone traveling through Nha Trang. The people who work there are fabulous. They are extremely helpful and friendly. One of the women there basically got me set up from there to Hanoi with train and plane tickets, plus hotel reservations in Hoi An and Hue. The beauty of it is, it all cost about $60 (including the flight from Hue to Hanoi). I LOVE this country!

After settling in, I went wandering around Nha Trang looking for something to eat and a cold beer. At first, I thought Nha Trang wasn't really all that, just a bunch of bars and hotels. That all changed the next day when I went down to the beach. I love the ocean, always have. But in the last few years, most of the beaches I've gone to have been protected by reefs or harbors. This means there are no waves. Nha Trang Bay is open to the elements. There have also been a number of storms recently, so the waves were HUGE! I walked down the beach for about four hours listening to the crash and boom, and feeling the surf flow around my feet. With each wave, I could literally feel the stress washing away. It was glorious. Apparently the water of Nha Trang Bay is a pristine turquoise blue, but at this time of year, the run of from the rains into the bay turn it a kind of greenish brown color. This, however; simply is...who cares, lol. It was windy and cool, and the water was warm.

After my day on the beach, my whole attitude towards Nha Trang changed. I was completely revitalized. I went out that night and had a great time stopping for food and various places for beer and some pool. One place I stopped in is a bar called Crazy Kim's. This is a cool place for a number of reasons. The atmosphere is quite mellow, the food is good and the beer is cold. I even met someone from Daejeon while I was there. The really cool thing about this bar is how active the owner and the staff are in the community. Kim, the owner, has been running a one woman campaign in Nha Trang for the last few years to help eliminate child prostitution in the city. Her campaign, "Hands Off The Kids", has gained international recognition. The bar also runs free English classes for street kids staffed by western volunteers (both vacationers and people that live there). 15% of all the proceeds from the bar go to her various charities, plus all of the money from t-shirts and other souvenier items. It's pretty impressive. I didn't buy a t-shirt, but did put in about $20 for a Christmas toy drive they had organized at the bar. Figured it's the least I could do.

My last day in Nha Trang was spent doing the touristy things like going to the Po Nagar Cham Towers, and the monster sitting Buddha, both of which are pretty cool. I did get totally suckered at the Buddha though. I got out of the taxi and was greeted by to kids with tour guide badges who were quite friendly. They offered to take my picture in front of the Buddha for me, all the while saying that because they were orphans working for the site, they wouldn't run off with my camera or anything. For some reason, my normal suspicions of, "what's the catch" (there always seems to be a catch), left me. Needless to say, by the time I left I had an abundance of postcards and a bit less money. The girl who led this little tour had enough English to appreciate my joke at the end that she'd hooked a great big fish.

The next day, I got on another early train (5:40 am) for the 12 hour trip to Hoi An. This was not the express train. I was booked in what is called a "soft sleeper". This is a four bunk berth which is supposed to be great because it has a door. I felt a little weird as I plopped my stuff on the bunk with two people sound asleep across from me. After the initial weirdness wore off, I laid down and fell asleep (worried even more that my snoring would wake the others in the berth up). However, it turned into a fairly pleasant trip. My companions were a nice Vietnamese couple on there way to Hoi An for Christmas. They spoke enough English so that we could have a conversation. I also was awake for most of this trip, so I got to see some of the countryside.

Getting to Hoi An was the easiest part of my trip because the woman at Le Suisse had arranged for a car to pick me up in Danang (where the train stopped) and drive me to my hotel. Hoi An is a pretty quiet place and obviously the tailoring capitol of Vietnam. Yesterday I spent some time getting measured for shirts and a pair of shorts which I'll pick up today. I constantly get comments on the size of my belly, but even I had to laugh when the tiny seamstress tried to reach around to measure my waist. She had to get pretty up close and personal and still couldn't do it.

Anyway, I'm off to find some breakfast and then wander around some more.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.