Adventures with Jack and Julia

Against all odds, we made it to Nha Trang (a city on the coast). Our shuttle bus driver loved to pass semi trucks and cement mixers in the oncoming lane around blind corners on the rainy and foggy mountain road. While it was a bit of a frightening ride, it was also beautiful and the terrain reminded us of Kauai. We saw stunning vistas where people have built homes on the sides of mountains.

After we checked into our hotel, we walked around to find food and immediately were taken aback by the number of Russians that we saw. Jack was feeling more than a bit uncomfortable at first as a Ukrainian. Da Lat was so dominantly Vietnamese, so this was a huge shock for us to see such a drastic change. Nha Trang is a very beautiful place, so it’s not hard to understand why they love coming here. They also have a long history with the Vietnamese, so there was a lot of history to learn here. Part of this trip is to experience how different parts of the world coexist, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow as a result of coming here, however.

One thing that we did like about Nha Trang is that there are more worldly restaurant options as it’s been particularly difficult to find food that Julia can eat. We ended up having some delicious Greek food for dinner.

The next day was a very exciting one for Julia. We heard about a cafe that had capybaras that you could feed and play with, so of course we had to go check it out. It did not disappoint! The cafe also had baby rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs. The owner was a lovely man who explained to us how he takes the capybaras swimming and for walks 3 times a day.

After spending some time with the animals, we took a Grab to Long Son Pagoda, the oldest temple in Nha Trang. The Buddha statue, which is 24 metres high, was a magnificent sight to see.

We returned back to our hotel and walked a few short minutes down to the beach, where we relaxed until a thunderstorm rolled in and poured rain on us! The next day, we went to Thap Ba Mud Baths to spend some time relaxing in the mud baths and mineral pools. The admittance fee was only $15 each, and included time in a mineral clay mud bath, followed by a hot mineral water tub, and then unlimited access to their swimming pools. This experience was so nice, but if they’re open to suggestions, a cold plunge and a swim up bar would’ve taken this place to the next level! We felt great and were happy to have a chill night at the hotel because the next day was going to be a busy one with the island hopping & snorkelling tour that we booked!

The following morning, we were picked up from our hotel bright and early to be taken to the marina. We boarded the “Nemo trip” boat and were immediately greeted by an enthusiastic tour guide wearing dreadlocks and blasting Bob Marley. We knew right away that this was going to be a super fun filled day. Our first stop on the tour was to try snorkelling and we actually saw a lot of fish! Our tour guide blew up a giant slide to go down from the top of the boat, and joined us in the water on a giant party island floatie. The reggae music continued as our guide (dressed up in a coconut bra and Afro wig) was pouring drinks in everyone’s mouths and dancing on top of the floatie. This turned out to be such a highlight of our trip.

The second location was a stop for lunch, where we were served fresh seafood that had just been caught and grilled.

Following our delicious lunch, we were taken to the third and final stop for the day. A beautiful, quiet beach that reminded us again of Hawaii. We read our books, swam in the warm water and enjoyed watching the parasailing. This was one of our favourite days of the trip so far!

The next stop on our journey north in Vietnam is Hoi An, which is a 10 hour bus ride away. We are starting to pick up some key phrases in Vietnamese, such as xin chào (hello), cảm ơn (thank you) and tạm biệt (goodbye).