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Well hello, Mark here leaving another post. Since we last left word we have visited two more cities in Vietnam: Nha Trang, and Hoi An. These two towns are what I was expecting from Vietnam and am glad that they delivered.

We took the train from HCMC to Nha Trang. It was the loudest train ride either of us have ever been on. The TV was playing Vietnamese movies, and the speakers were cranked. Even I had to wear ear plugs. Once we arrived in Nha Trang we walked to our guest house, and pretty well went immediately to bed after showers. Upon waking we went to the dive shop to book our night dive. Don't know if I've mentioned but Liza and I have been trying to do a night dive since we left Canada. We are looking to satisfy a dare (put forth by Steve Bell) as well as our own curiosity about marine night life. After booking that for the following evening we wandered around the town and enjoyed a culinary experience (Pizza), and then relax the day away.

The next day we went to a place to do a mud bath. You sit in these large concrete tubs and they fill it with mud. After that you dry in the sun and then shower. Following this you sit in a hot mineral spring bath, and soak. Quite a nice experience, and well worth it. Only downfall the two local teens being just a bit inappropriate. Kinda reminded me of the Takhini Hot Springs:). That night we went and got geared up for our night dive. We walked across the main road with tanks and weight belts (quite a work out). Upon getting to the beach the waves were coming in pretty hard. We tried anyways but were rejected by the sea. The dive company agreed to let us try again the following evening.

So we went to a little french restaurant. The chef (a young vietnamese woman) apparently won the best young french chef of 2004. I don't know if that was local, national or international, but the food was excellent. Liza had been planning this special meal for a few days - We were served up a nine course meal on one plate "for darlings to share." The meal was complete with a bottle of french wine. The pate was incredible and the meal was finished off with a vietnamese coffee and rice liquor.

The coffee here is so good. I have been looking for this coffee they have called Weasel coffee (Ca fe Chon). Apperently the beans are fed to weasels and then regurgitated. This gives the coffee a distinctive taste and is apperently considered the best coffee in the world. It is difficult to find and quite expensive. Apperently only 400 pounds of the stuff are produced a year and 1 pound costs more than a hundred dollars. An alternative is the gold legend coffee. It is not real weasel coffee, but with careful bean selection and roasting, they are able to reproduce the flavor. I saw one package of this, but figured I would find it elsewhere... I haven't. I can order it online but it is way more expensive. I will keep my eyes open today.

The next evening we walked by the beach on our way to the dive shop and the waves were just as mean looking. We went to the dive shop and as soon as they saw us they were already shaking their heads 'no.'. We decided that I would go for a day dive the next day and Liza would have a quiet day of her own. Liza is getting a bit bored of the coral diving (she wants something new!)and it's important for us to have seperate days on occasion:). At 7:20 am I took off for the boat and sailed to the dive spot. It's a small protected marine park about a 45 minute boat ride away. I befriended a british couple on the boat and we shared stories of our travel. The first dive was just okay. I didn't see anything too interesting and it seemed I was on the begginer team. The other divers kept kicking up silt and were not controlling their buoyancy well. I was the same when I started. The second dive was much better as I decided to venture off a bit and explore the many corral formations more closely. I did almost lose my dive master a couple of times but really enjoyed the freedom anyways. After this dive I began speaking with one of the two guys I was diving with only to find out that he was from Greece. I was able to practice my greek and was pleasantly surprised by how easily it flowed. Thanks Dad. It was really a great day of diving and I was able to see a Cuttle fish that wasn't on my dinner plate, the largest eel I have ever seen, and christmas tree worms(beautiful).

After the dive I returned to Liza and we went shopping. We found an art gallery that had silk stitching. It was all very nice but the shipping would have been very expensive. Some of these pieces took 3 years to make. We were taken to a work shop to watch people learning to do this. It seemed like painstaking work. Before we left Nha trang we stopped at a brew pub for a pint. It was very good beer. (Darcy I took pictures just for you). We returned to our hotel and then took a sleeper bus to Hoi An. It was difficult to sleep in this thing as it was so top heavy it felt as if it would flip on every corner.

We arrived in Hoi An at about six am and walked to our guest house. The town is really small and has streets lined with silk shops where you can get a tailor made suit for about 70 usd. Silk lanterns and pillowcases, everywhere on these old thin roads lined with french colonial buildings. It is quite a scene, and really is stereotypical Vietnam, for the first time. We were able to do some shopping at a fair trade cooperative, that employed disabled vietnamese people. They were really lovely people and very helpful. Tonight we are doing a cooking class, and then tommorow we take a bus to Hue. Hue was the capital in ancient times. The following day we head for Laos.

I guess this is a farewell to the chapter of Vietnam. Other than the few scammers, and rude ones, I think the people are the kindest smiling souls. The food is some of the best I've had, and everywhere there is something to catch your eye. Liza voted Vietnam last on her list of favourite places - constantly being ripped off really turned her off. I really have enjoyed my time in Vietnam and would love to return someday. Farewell.