Thursday 7 March 2013

Nha Trang: Dead-Pigeon-spotting, lie and fry, free shots - same same but different I guess!

So upon arrival in Nha Trang, we stepped off the bus into total chaos and heat - even at 6am! As some people were meant to be staying on for Mui Ne and Saigon and some were getting off here, bags were being thrown on and off left, right and centre and frickin' motorcycle taxi drivers, hotel touts and taxi drivers were everywhere trying to get you to go with them. We decided to heed advice from Lorna and Iris who I'd met in Hanoi and headed towards HQ Cafe which came highly recommended. We got a taxi...who took us to Sinh Cafe the tour seller NOT HQ Cafe the hostel, but after locating some locals who could help direct him he found his way... and we realized it was literally round the corner and could have walked it - sigh!

Turns out the girls were so right in their recommendation! We decided to skip the dorms for a couple nights as we needed our own space after a week in Hoi An in them, and for an extra $1.50 ($7 each) we got a private double room, ensuite (the bathroom is as big as the room!), and guess what - it even comes with it's own fully-equipped 'lounge room'! Complete with flat-screen TV, another bed which doubled as a sofa, our own computer with 24hr internet access and an extensive film collection, fridge, free water tank, kitchen right next door, breakfast included! We couldn't check in til 1pm though so we needed to waste some time, so headed to Same Same but Different Cafe for breakie, just down the road, which the girl had recommended was cheap - it was! So far we're winning, but it got even better... there was fresh fruit, muesli and yogurt on the menu!! This made me super excited as I hadn't seen any in Vietnam so far and it was my fave breakie in Thailand and I was sick of having eggs or noodles for breakfast. Then we went on a walk to the beach, and down the same road as our hostel, realized all the top night spots were literally on our doorstep - score again, and the beach was just round the corner, perfect!


Spent the morning chilling on the beach, dead pigeon spotting (for those unaware, it's a description of all men who wear speedos - normally Russians, and Nha Trang is loaded with Speedo-wearing Russians!), we then headed to Luisianne Brewery which the Lonely Planet stated had a private section of beach and a free beach-side pool to use - which they did, so we decided to have a drink, then head back to Same Same for lunch, check in, then head back to the pool for the remainder of the day. On the way we picked up some alcohol and red bull for tonight - we'd decided it was a theme night, and we'd be doing Army night, in Vietnam, bit risky but hey ho! Headed back to the pool where we sunbathed, did some more dead pigeon spotting, swam in the pool, lazed on the loungers etc before heading back to Same Same for dinner, via the French Hairdressers to see if I could get my hair coloured, as my roots were down to my ears and it was newly opened, and as it was owned by a French hairdresser, surely it couldn't go too wrong? So I booked an appointment for after dinner, went and had some Thai curry at Same Same, then headed to get my hair done, while Maura went back to shower and chill.

Had to spend ages telling them they needed to wash my hair first, as I'd put lemon juice in it that day and bleach and lemon juice do not mix! Finally agreed to wash it, then I had to mimic that I wanted weave foils, which wasn't too hard for them to get, then it was down to business! Turns out that for 20 quid, a French Salon, with Vietnamese staff, gets colouring perfect! I was sweating there for a bit but it's a job well done!


Went back to the hostel to get ready, necked some red bull and vodka and proceeded to walk towards Why Not? Bar, which we thought we'd go to first as it was the furthest away. Were highly amused by all the looks we got in costume and the amount of Vietnamese that came up to us saying 'oh wooooow! what happened to u?! You're dirty?!' No don't worry, it's just make-up, we reassured them. First thing that greeted us at Why Not was a whole load of dirty free shots, ok, won't be spending much tonight then. Then got some drinks in for happy hr and sat down with a couple of girls we just met. We'd decided to play the 'Mine' game again (anyone who says it has to do 10 press ups) so got the ball rolling with our first targets - some guys who'd come dressed up in dressing gowns and ghastly hats! The guys that worked at the bar quickly targeted us all and were openly passing us shot after free shot. Maura got her first kiss of the night from one of the guys who worked there who was handing out free kisses to anyone who would have one (and we're not talking about a quick peck on the lips here!), which was promptly followed by another free shot.



We then decided to head to Red Apple bar, but simply just used their toilets instead as it was crap and way too full of pack-mentality, uni-style backpackers, so instead headed to Booze Cruise Bar, where we befriended one of the Vietnamese bar-girls, who thought our army dress was awesome, so we blacked her up and caught her out with the MINE trap! It was hilarious watching her attempt press-ups. We stayed for one drink - buy-2-get-1-free JaegerBombs...oh dear! Then headed back to Why Not Bar as we'd heard it had gotten busier and was the best place to head to, but not without accosting a Vietnamese truck and cyclo for some picture opportunities! We were immediately welcomed back with another few rounds of free shots - it was good this - no spending money on drinks! The rest of the night was pretty much Maura and I getting steamed. We met some Aussie and SAfrican lads who we chatted and danced with for a bit. Then Maura's toyboy 'free kiss' dude was back and he managed to corner me and dealt me a free kiss and a free shot. Maura went to karate kick a guy she was talking to, light-heartedly mind, and the guy grabbed her foot...which landed Maura flat on her back on the middle of the dance floor!

I was dancing on tables again, kept getting told off by the bouncer and was almost kicked out for it - as per usual, I have a habit of doing this! However the bouncer later on our way out, came up to me shouting 'you dance on tables, you so good, you have great time, I sorry for shouting but must do my job!' bless him! Maura got chatting to two guys from Holland, then came running up to me across the dance floor shouting - he's GAY! (We'd earlier been saying how we'd love a good couple of gay guys to hang out with), so I ran up to him, jump-hugged him shouting 'oh my god...YOU'RE GAAAAAAAY!' Which his mate found hilarious and the poor gay guy found startling. A few more drinks were had, by this point we were hammered. Oh something I just remembered here; Maura was dancing with Gay bloke and I was chatting to his mate, when I turned round to check on her - and they were kissing?!?! This puzzled both me and his mate, we were utterly confused and when quizzed later gay bloke just responded, 'sometimes I like kissing girls'. LOL! I'm not sure Maura by this point was even aware of what just went down haha.

We danced until the wee hours of the morning, we both somehow managed to break our flip-flops, then Maura was getting to the 'pass-out' point so me, the free kiss dude and some other guy helped walk her halfway home, until she requested a piggy back from free kiss dude, who promptly returned her to the floor shouting that she was strangling him and he was going to go back to the club - lovely gentleman! So I quickly sobered up to get Maura home on my own. We grabbed some baguettes and chips from the food stall to help sober Maura up a little, the food seemed to take an age so in my drunken mood I shouted at the women 'how long do chips take to frickin' cook - are you killing the chicken to put in my baguette I'm fed up of waiting!' the lady, thank god, took all this well and just laughed it off (I did profusely thank her after we got the food and apologised).

Then a motorcycle taxi driver came by and offered us a lift to our hostel as he could see how bad Maura was, so me and another guy managed to lift her onto the back, turned away for a split second, and she'd managed to completely - comedy style - slip sideways off the bike, onto the road!! lol So that wasn't happening! Instead the driver made sure we got home safely by following on his bike slowly, for our walk up the road, assisting whenever needed. Along the way we both managed to fall over - me cutting my knee and toe (why is it when I just stop limping, I damage a foot again!) and Maura cutting her foot but the guy was there to help thankfully. I thanked him when we got back to HQ Cafe, Maura pounded on the door and rang the bell a million times to get let in, then she promptly collapsed on the bed and passed out! At least this time, it was her rather than me, like in Hue! lol
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Then the next day (today) was pretty much a wash-out, we woke for breakfast and had it in bed as the kitchen was next door, then went back to sleep for a bit after trying to piece together the night and running through photos. We had planned to go to Vin Pearl waterpark this afternoon but that swiftly went out the window as I was back to limping, Maura was still drunk from last night and we're not big waterpark people so decided to skip it - extra money saved for our trip to Dalat! Went for pasta for lunch, intended to go to the beach, but couldn't be arsed, came back, did some blogging, booked our bus to Dalat for tomorrow after our planned visit to a mud spa in the morning. I asked about extending my visa, turns out I have to pay for another month but can do it in Mui Ne thankfully or Saigon. If anything eventful happens tonight I'll blog about it, but for now, the plan is to have food, watch a movie in our lounge, pack for tomorrow and chill! 

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