Sunday, 14 January 2007 - Nha Trang

La Paloma is quite a way from downtown Nha Trang and is a pleasant spot - pretty quiet.  Mr Bu is very hospitable, even serving us noodle soup and a banana late last night when we got in.  The room is entirely satisfactory (Guess it should be at A$30 a night, which is a bit more than what we have been paying).  

After breakfast (omelette, mango, banana and tea) we went for a walk around this area.  We were impressed - lots of cute round fishing boats and not touristy. No English signs in sight.   

We located a canvas repair shop, recommended by Mr Bu, for some repairs to one of our backpacks.  Done on the spot for a pittance.

Returned to La Paloma for a short rest and a thorough check-out of our transport from last night (an old US jeep) before being driven into town, where we walked along the beachfront for a bit.  Lots of huge hotels, and people trying to sell us stuff.   Bought rice cakes - huge thin flat ones with the option of chilli or sweet. Yummy!  

Had lunch at Lac Canh, not too far from the Post Office.   Lunch was cooked at the table on a tiny grill - shrimp ("from the ocean, it's better than farm ones"), fish and squid.  It was cooked by the waiter and served with greens (that looked like morning glory) and rice.  It was delicious

Mr Bu's driver picked us up at 2:30 and headed for the mud baths and hot springs.  We had mentioned we wanted to go there but thought we would return to the hotel first to get swimmers, etc.; however, the driver, not having much English, didn't understand, and we went straight there.  Consequently, we ended up hiring swimmers and a towel and in we went. - shower, mud tub for 30 minutes, shower under very strong jets,  hot clean water tub, then in a hot pool for as long as we liked.  A cold dip at the end would have just topped it off but wasn't to be.  Hot drinks at the restaurant, then taxi back to the hotel.

Jennie and Jill then went to have their hair washed, a face massage and nails done. This was quite close by, and Mr Bu's son walked them there and explained what they wanted, as the girls didn't speak much English - were there for more than an hour, and they only wanted 20,000 VND.  J&J gave them 50,000 for the pair of them, and the girls were very happy. Dinner was at La Paloma - noodles and veg, with tofu parcels, a banana, and some orange juice.