Trains are not really a big thing in Canada like they are in many parts of the world. I know you can get across the country by train quite easily, but it's not something that is used as a frequent method of transportation like it is in many other places.Therefore, on Sunday night I was relatively excited to have my first overnight train experience from Hoi An to Nha Trang.
It started out pretty well. I was sharing a cabin with two Vietnamese men, and a woman with her daughter. Unfortunately, after about an hour the woman and her daughter got off and one of the train workers came in to sleep in the empty bunk. And man... did he ever snore loudly. I put in headphones to try and drown it out and I could still hear him. It was horrible. And then, to make matters worse, the two Vietnamese men got off and my compartment became a revolving door of train workers coming in to take a nap. And of course, being the lovely people they were, they would leaving the door open everytime so I had to deal with loudly talking Vietnamese people in the hallways. It was absolute bullshit, considering I paid for my bed and I should have been able to sleep in it without so much hassle. Suffice it to say, I was more than tired when I finally arrived in Nha Trang the next morning.
Not that it matters anway, because Nha Trang pretty much sucks.
I read in all of the guide books and heard from so many people that Nha Trang was just Vietnam's version of Spring Break, yet being the idiot that I am I planned two days here anyway. I mean yeah, I like to go out and have a good time and occassionaly get a little crazy, but the way people get on here is ridiculous. I think another thing that really ruined it for me is that there was a big group of unfriendly Russians staying in my room who had a well developed group mentality that took away from the usual "communal fun" feeling of hostels. Tonight, there are a bunch of really nice people staying in my room (an X alumni included, believe it or not!) and they invited me out with them but I just couldn't be bothered. I leave pretty early for Dalat tomorrow and I'm so sunburnt I can barely move.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Yesterday when I first arrived I met a girl from Quebec in my hostel and the two of us spent the day on the beach just checking out the water and trying to de-porcelainize my skin. The beach was nice, but it was hard to enjoy because we literally had people coming up to us every two minutes trying to sell us things or hand out flyers. We had dinner and went out in the evening, which was pretty fun, but like I said before I really felt like I was at Spring Break and that is totally not my scene. The good thing was that we got like a million free drinks because like every bar on the street by our hostel is willing to give you one to get your business.
Today I did a snorkelling tour of the coral in Nha Trang bay, and I have to say that was a lot of fun. Unfortunately the only other younger people on the trip were three of the aforementioned Russians and they annoyed the hell out of me the whole time since I think they had the combined maturity of a four year old. But there were some really nice older travellers and couples, including a couple from the States that I got on quite well with. The coral was beautiful and I saw a good number of amazing tropical fish. It was my first time actually snorkeling in the ocean so I was pretty excited, and I'm definitly looking forward to doing more of it in Thailand.
The only bad thing about the trip was the awful sunburn I have all over my back. I mean, it's my own fault for forgetting suncreen... but man it's killing me right now! Oh well, at least I'm finally getting some color.
Anyway, I suppose that's it for me now. I catch my bus to Dalat early tomorrow morning, so I hope when I arrive in the afternoon I'll still be able to fit a lot of stuff in.
Until next time, if a guide book says a place sucks, it probably does.
Sarah
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