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Other entries in Nha Trang

at the beach again!

haven't been on one since sihanoukville, cambodia. it feels great! booked a snorkeling trip, got a room with a balcony with a semi-obstructed view of the ocean, but also a TV and mini-fridge -what luxury. the english sports chanel is running all old world cup matches so I'm furiously trying to get educated.

the main beach is pretty nice - huge stretch of sand, only a few touts trying to sell things. one was a really touchy woman - she counted the bracelets on my wrist, touched my necklace, held my wrist (vietnamese women tend to be touchy like this). but of course immediately left when I told her I had no money (oh, you didn't just want to be my friend?).

the snorkeling was excellent except for all the tiny jellyfish. I'm reading a book about australia - it goes on and on about all the things there that can kill you - including jellyfish. so to actually see some made me semi-freak out. never mind they were the size of small coin purses, I wasn't feeling ANY stings and our guides didn't give any warnings about 'things that can kill you in our waters'. logic has nothing to do with this. the first dive wasn't so comfortble. but the rest were great.

I had cocktail hour on my balcony at night. a family runs a sidewalk food stand across the street and I had a jane goodall moment watching them set up. if you've been to asia, you know about sidewalk food stands - they're everywhere. a person (or family) probably rents the sidewalk space and every night they offer their specialty. most will be known for the type of food they make. want selection? just go somewhere else.

during the day they leave a few things out (things that are too big to steal), but at dusk, they start setting up for the night, every night of the week. the one across the street from me started with the dad and a bicycle push-cart full of the grill, cooking pots, etc. over the span of 2 hours his daughters show up with vegetables, meats, soup bases, the wife shows up with tables/chairs, plates/bowls; an ice guy shows up with a huge block of ice that he chops down and puts in coolers (cold beer is served with a huge ice chunk in your glass); the beverage guy drops off something carbonated; they clean out the glass display case and fill with veggies and whole, plucked chickens; they poach water from the construction site behind the fence to fill buckets for washing (the dad was "manning" the spiggot which meant he took a nap while the hose was running :); they string flourescent lights; and old lady stops by to sell them dinner (funny they don't eat their own stuff); the first customers show up while they're still chopping, but that started a night that lasts the next 5 hours. when they're done, they clean up, pack up, take it all back home.

after seeing so many of these food stalls, it was great to watch how it all comes together and how no one sits still the entire night.

I planned to catch a day bus to hoi an but they were all booked, so made a game-time decision and decided to hop the night bus that left in 3 hours. at least I can pack up pretty fast these days. and night buses were not so bad in south america. hope I can say the same for asia....

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