Nha Trang - I don't care if it's not "charming."

Nha Trang is a a beach town in the Southern Central part of Vietnam. It's a city, and in the guide book, it's said to be not "charming."

It's not.

It's loud, not much culture, but has a beach. Most people have recommended going another 4 hours away to a beach town called Mui Ne, which is relatively unspoiled and remote and all that other stuff that backpackers like so much.

And then I remembered.

I'm not a backpacker.

I am the quintessential city girl.

I am two blocks from a beach, which by the way, is fantastic. It might not have the bluest waters, nor the fewest number of people, but compared to a lot of beaches I've seen, ESPECIALLY those in NY, it's empty. There are so few people, and most of them are Vietnamese on holiday. The water is completely clean. And when I'm done with my little R&R beachside, I have only to walk a couple of minutes to my hotel, a restaurant, iced coffee, and, oh yeah, the INTERNET. Skype.

I hate being in remote places. I hate losing touch with the outside world. Maybe for a day, with someone I particularly like.

However, I'm not with anyone I particularly like. So I like to have distraction about me.

Breakfast, free at the hotel, was a banana pancake and some iced coffee. The pancakes in vietnam are called "crepes," but really, they're neither. Too thin to be a pancake, too thick to be a crepe. Tasty anyway. I spent some time on the phone, talking to people from home.

I went for a bike ride to the center of town and went to some random "com" restaurant that looked good and busy. Everywhere in vietnam, there are little set-ups, some are carts, some are the front room of someone's house, that sells one or two particular dishes. "pho" is noodle soup, "bun" is some protein over cold vermicelli, and "com" is some protein over rice. In this part of the country, it seems that rice wins. This is particularly good for the non-viet speaker, because you just have to look and point. Today, it was squid stuffed with beef and rice (Nha Trang is all about seafood.) Delicious. There was some disturbing soup served with it that I avoided. All for about $1.25.

I spent most of the afternoon crocheting at the beach and underestimating the power of the vietnamese sun. I had a very small conversation (in my very shitty Friench) with a man and his wife, who were on vacation from Paris. He was Vietnamese, but moved to Paris after the war. At least, that's what I think he said. His wife offered me apples. At least, that's what I think they were.

I think that another massage might round out the day quite nicely. When they're $7 an hour, it's really hard not to spend your whole time doing it. I found a place that puts you in a steamroom that smells delightfully of lemongrass before the whole thing.

Tomorrow, I'm off on a 1/2 day boat tour to the surrounding islands, where I'll be snorkeling.

This, to me, is about all the nature and tourism I can handle.