Sunday, September 05, 2004
Nha Trang
Just got back from three glorious days in Nha Trang. We flew in to Cam Ranh Bay's airport, then hopped in a friend of a friend's Land Cruiser for the 20-mile drive up the coast on a new highway to the port. We went by an area where farmers harvested a special kind of bird's nest that fetches up to $5,000 a kilo in China. Took a a 20 minute speed boat to the island of Hon Tre, where the VinPearl Hotel is its only occupant.
The following day we went snorkeling around the reefs, saw rainbow fish and had lunch on a floating restaurant. My friends coaxed me into trying a local elixir...the restaurant owner stuck a knife into the heart of a giant prawn (the size of a lobster, really) and juiced out the poor creature's clear, coagulating blood, and then the owner mixed it with a bottle of potent rice wine. I sipped it gently. Good thing there were cracks in the flooring in case any accidentally got spilled.
Had dinner up on the hill overlooking the hotel. Two Philippino guys serenaded us with John Denver and Freddy Aguilar covers, but then they did a really unusual acoustic version of that old Spandau Ballet song, "True."
Yesterday, our last day, a car dealer friend drove us around town. New hotels are going up along the corniche, and our friend says he will have the first Toyota dealership in town (he imports Kias and Daewoos now, but he says the market is ready for more upscale cars)
Next time we will try staying on the main shore...need to get around to the local restaurants and sights some more.
The following day we went snorkeling around the reefs, saw rainbow fish and had lunch on a floating restaurant. My friends coaxed me into trying a local elixir...the restaurant owner stuck a knife into the heart of a giant prawn (the size of a lobster, really) and juiced out the poor creature's clear, coagulating blood, and then the owner mixed it with a bottle of potent rice wine. I sipped it gently. Good thing there were cracks in the flooring in case any accidentally got spilled.
Had dinner up on the hill overlooking the hotel. Two Philippino guys serenaded us with John Denver and Freddy Aguilar covers, but then they did a really unusual acoustic version of that old Spandau Ballet song, "True."
Yesterday, our last day, a car dealer friend drove us around town. New hotels are going up along the corniche, and our friend says he will have the first Toyota dealership in town (he imports Kias and Daewoos now, but he says the market is ready for more upscale cars)
Next time we will try staying on the main shore...need to get around to the local restaurants and sights some more.
