A Blast of Wind in your Ear

Arrival in Nha Trang was probably the best thing ever to happen to us..10 hours or so in a cramped space was horrible and being stuck so close to the lads made me feel claustrophobic…personal space is definitely one thing I have learned to appreciate since arriving in Asia..the Russian and Chinese don’t think twice about standing so close to you that you are physically touching them… Anyways we had decided to hit Nha Trang due to the New Year festival of Tét (pronounced tit so you can imagine that we had fun with that one), which meant that everywhere was closed and as its considered a time for families to be together, it can be nigh on impossible to get a bus or a train ticket anywhere.. we were decidedly suspicious on arrival as some aussie lads we had met that were there before hated the place. One of them got mugged and the weather was overcast and they just were unable to feel the love for the place..thankfully our experience was completely different.

As I mentioned due to the new year celebrations there was not a lot to do but go to the beach and socialize..we found a little restaurant from which we based ourselves…the group now had by grown pretty large… Team Ireland (John, Jonny and I), Team North America (Jaime, Jamie and Jess), Team South West UK (Dan), Team Italia ( Gea and Marta), Team Norway (Inga and Pia) and Team Central Europe (Bai Da and Seline) not forgetting team Oz (Turtle)..so as you can imagine we were safe as houses from any dodgy elements….John did have a close call but being a big tall angry Irishman can be quite scary to even the most hardened Vietnamese wannabe mugger. We spent most of the first day relaxing and taking it easy…I can’t stress enough how tiring the bus journey was..especially when one of the Chinese girls beside us thought that hacking up her lungs every 20 minutes and then spitting into a bag was enough to wake you from any depths of slumber…we also discovered the best drunk food ever…an lady that goes by the name Mama Tae sets up a stall with little plastic tables on the side of the street from midnight to 6am. She then serves up on a sizzling platter pieces of steak and a fried egg and if you ask her nicely she will put the whole lot into a baguette for you all for the princely sum of 35,000 dong (£1.30)..she then sits down telling stories..of what..well..the alcohol put paid to those memories…I do remember one of them was about her taking in a wee boy that was 8 years old…he slept on a rug on the ground behind her stall.

The next day whilst sitting around, a group decision was reached that we had to do something productive..so an excursion to the local mud baths and hot springs was deemed the best way to get over hangovers and relax…John declined on the ground that it was for faeries..it was great craic..for 4 pounds you got into mud baths..cold but weird.. the mud actually did feel quite good, it was greasy and gritty and they only filled it up just above bellybutton level when sitting down so you had to pour over yourself..sat there feeling strangely good for 15 minutes then off for a shower to clean up..then the fun part..walking through a corridor of jets getting pummeled by hot water and then into a hot tub…the water was roasting…they recommended staying in for 45 minutes but after about 15 everyone was pink and from my perspective if you stuck a fork in me I reckon it would have shown that I was cooked. Then under the waterfall for a wee while , finishing off in the swimming pool that had a jet at one end that was extremely powerful..it was like a massage the way it would pound your back…back then to the beach for a tan top-up..I know, I know…it’s a hard life..but I am sure you’ll be glad to know that I am making the best of it and struggling through it 

That night was new years eve. It has to have been the more impressive celebration I have ever seen from a people perspective. In Vietnam Tét is seen as a family celebration..on walking down to the beach just before midnight we were greeted with a crazy scene…the streets were wall to wall with motorbikes…thousands of them…most parked up..until we got to the main street..there on a street about 2KM long was a 100 metre clear area into which we walked..the rest of the street was a sea of motorbike helmets… motorbikes with 4,5,6 people upon, entire families.. the fireworks starts and then continued for what felt like an hour…then at the end it finished and the motorbikes started up..it was crazy…there is no louder sound than a couple of thousand motorbikes starting in unison and all the families dispersing to go and have a celebratory dinner together…as they flew by us they all wanted to high five the foreigner whilst shouting Chuk Mung Nam Moi (happy new year) at you..

We headed down to the Sail Club where we were the night previous..the owner met us on the door and recognizing us from the night before took us in a side door..free entry…it was a great start to the new year..its also the best night club I have been to, due to the fact that its right on the beach…a dancefloor inside with steps down onto the beach..the most intense waves you are ever likely to see…they would break literally 4-5 metres from shore and churn up the sand as they hit..it was surreal but every club should have one…the night ended with our new tradition of a feed from Mama Tae..

On a more serious note, Vietnam has a serious problem with child labour. Most of the kids from 5 upwards are put out on the streets selling postcards and books. We were warned that under no circumstances should we buy anything from them as it would just perpetuate the problem. They wanted people to stop buying and then maybe the parents would send the kids to school rather than out onto the streets as if a kid was good at selling then school would be neglected..one in particular seemed to have a grasp of everyones heart strings and was quite literally swinging from them…Dú was her name, she went away at one stage and brought back her little brother, Gú, who was about 2-3 years old…her English was excellent for a kid of about 8 years old…it was soul destroying..her day consisted of getting up, going to school from 12 to 4, home by 5. Homework done and food eaten by 6.30 and then out onto the streets from 7 – 10 selling postcards…just to make a small change, we handed her the food menu and got the waitress to explain to her that she was to pick something to eat..whatever she wanted…she wanted it for takeaway but we made her sit and eat..she said she would share half with her brother and then bring the rest home to her mother…but when she got started eating..nothing was going to stop her savaging the lot…Gú sat on my lap and was fed chip after chip..he would look at it..take it from me and then stuff it into his mouth whole…we may not have been able to make a long term difference in their lives but one thing for sure is that those kids went to bed that night and were not hungry…after that everyone at the table was in a great mood especially myself…I was as high as a kite for hours afterwards…saving the world one child at a time might not work but it feels good..another one of them…a real cheeky monkey she was with a strut like a catwalk model..stopped by and called out to one of the girls..hey lady lovely jubbly..we had some craic with her and she decided to christen me Buddha…it made me the brunt of many jokes for the rest of the night!!!

As we were freewheeling through Vietnam without any onward plans per se.. along with the Canudians a plan was formed…hit Saigon and burn a path through Cambodia..this would allow us to reclaim 5 days which we could use to go to Laos. ..new years day was relaxing on the beach and ended with a sleeper bus to Saigon…the scary part of Vietnam was awaiting us with War Museums and the Tunnels to be seen..I think we all know that the mood is definitely going to slide over the next couple of days…

Happy New Year
Hughie
www.hughie.eu