Wednesday, March 14, 2012–Day 68; Nha Trang Vietnam

We woke up shortly after 5:00 to catch the sunrise, but it was too foggy. Nha Trang is the capital of Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. We docked at Nha Trang at 8:00 and our tour “Nha Trang Countryside” began at 8:45.

We headed through a busy commercial area and we noticed that business here was simple indeed, with many small stores running for blocks on both sides of the road with no department stores or malls.  Traffic was filled with motorcycles and bicycles.

(She’s pushing him with her cycle!)

We headed just a few miles inland to an area that the terrain was dotted with palm trees and fruit orchards and many, many rice fields.  Our first stop was the rice fields.

The people here are very hard workers and were friendly toward us.  We continued on after the rice fields to a private home of a family whose business entails weaving mats from the rushes that grow abundantly nearby. Two people working together are able to weave just 4 mats per day, which they sell to the few tourists or barter at the local market for food and other essentials.

Inside their traditional village house, ancestor worship is an important part of the daily life in Vietnam. A large area of their small home was reserved for a family alter.

After saying our goodbyes to this wonderful Vietnamese family, we headed toward our next stop. The kindergarten class where the welcoming party was made up of adorable children who were quite thrilled to see us – kids are kids no matter where they live in the world, they can sure make your day!

 

Our next stop was XQ Embroidery workshop where we admired their handy-work. Beauty comes in all forms in Vietnam; from the rice patties, the beauty of the mountains; the families who cherish their elders; the school children with their giggles; the beauty of the embroiders – it’s amazing how the simplicity is so beautiful.

We had one more stop to make, the beautiful white sandy beach with magnificent six foot waves. It was so peaceful here.

The tour bus dropped us off at a market about 2 blocks to the ship.  We bargained for several items, and ran into our friends Mike and Wenndy. They suggested we head back into town for a spa. We took our things to the ship and hopped a shuttle to town where we found the Sheraton Spa.  Here Wenndy and Nan enjoyed pedicures and Jerry and Mike enjoyed massages.

We noticed it was 4:05 and the ship’s “All Aboard” was 4:30.  We quickly got Jerry and Mike out of their massage; hailed a taxi (for security reasons can only get 2 blocks near the ship) and then WE RAN!

We just made it; they were already taking apart the gang way – it was 4:28 – now that was too close!

Thoughts of our day as we were blogging was that Vietnam had two contrasting images.  One of the old, simple life with people very content and happy in their ways of their ancestors. And a new prosperous younger generation that seemed very happy and accepting of Westerners.  We have found all of the people in the world, so far, very kind and loving.

On to Saigon tomorrow.