Nha Trang

So after being delayed a day due to the weather we did indeed manage to get on the bus to Nha Trang the next day. Must have been fate as it was on this bus we met some new friends who in the coming week we were to have some good times with...
Nha Trang is known for it beach and party atmosphere.... but really there are only a handful of bars and lots more restaurants geared for Russian families on holiday here.
We arrived late afternoon so after checking into hotel we found a nice little local restaurant for dinner..

And met our new Irish friends for a few drinks...
Sean, Cieran, Brian and Terry...

Becs Sarah (Brian's girlfriend) Sarah (Brian's sister) and Cathy (not Irish but Jamaican)

Living up to their reputation the Irish are crazy!!

Becs cutting some shapes on the dance floor...

So we spent a few days on Nha Trang relaxing on the beach and chilling out.... The beach tended to be lovely in morning until about 2pm when it clouded over and got a bit windy.

Nha Trang also has Vinpearl Land. Vinpearl land is built on a island about 3000meters from the manland of Nha Trang. Not only is it a 5 star resort with a beauitful beach, it also has a waterpark, an amusement park and an aquarium.

You can get to the Island by ferry, but the best option is the cable car crossing from the mainland. At 3,320 meters its a Guinness record!

For $25 you can spend the whole day at the park, using all the facilities for free. What a great day out we had....

Cable Car....

View of waterpark...

Great view of the mainland

view from VinPearl

We took the Alpine Coaster for a better view...

And then headed to the water park.

After spending hours at the water park, we were exhausted from climbing stairs and speeding down flumes. The park was actually really good. It had a great variety of flumes and slides, with and without rubber tubes, a wave pool and lazy river.

After a spot of not so great fast food, we headed to the aquarium.... which was only small but surprisingly good!

There were some really weird, some pretty and extremely large fish, as well as sharks, turtles, eels and, things that we had never seen before........

outside the aquarium - dolphin training...

As the evening set in, we went to the theme park for a few rides including the dodgems, swings, roller coasters, some horrible up-side-down ride and of course a rodeo....

The cable car lights up at night - looking like lots of little Eiffel Towers. Really pretty.

Needless to say with so much packed into one day we had dinner and a quiet night!!

Although the weather here in Nha Trang had been good, we were well aware of the possibility of storms and bad weather coming from the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, the biggest storm recorded, hit the Philippines, completely wiping out towns, killing thousands and destroying everything in its path... and it was heading towards northern Vietnam. As our route was to head north we decided to wait in Nha Trang a little longer than planned to wait and see if it was safe to continue our planned route.

So as it happened we were still in Nha Trang to celebrate Sarah's 27th birthday.
The 8 of us decided to have a relaxing day at a mud spa - Thap Ba Mud baths (http://www.thapbahotspring.com.vn/hotspring/)
Not really sure how to describe this weird experience...
First of all we sat in a bath full of mud... Yummy!!

Then you lie in the sun until it dries before washing it off under some jets - you feel a bit like a car in a car wash!
Next you have a warm mineral bath.. before relaxing in different temperature mineral pools... and a few small waterfalls..

After a day of bathing in mud Sarah's birthday night out was Fancy Dress. The theme - street vendors - mimicking the hundreds of Vietnamese people selling just about anything on the streets and beaches !

We made sure with the hotel staff that this would not be offensive to the Vietnamese people and were reassured that 'anything goes in Vietnam... it will be funny'. It sure was!
Happy Birthday Sarah..

In our baskets... cigarettes, massage leaflets, water, beer, plastic toys and toiletries!

The girls..

The boys...

The street vendors...

We headed to the bars, where everyone... locals and tourists alike loved our theme!!