Sitting on the beach in Nha Trang

We had probably our worst bus journey to get to Nha Trang - the only seats left were at the back and slightly raised so that when people in front pushed their seats back it squashed our knees. I was also sat next to a Vietnamese guy who kept falling asleep on my shoulder. We also had an unknown person (no-one took credit) who threw up in the middle of the aisle and we all had to gingerly step over it at the first break stop.

Got a fair bit of sleep though and arrived in Nha Trang at about 6AM. Our hotel was only a block and a half from the bus stop though so it wasn't too much of an effort to get to. Dave crashed and I went for a wander round the place. It was much more modern than Hoi An and sits right on the beach. All the Vietnamese get up early and were already leaving the beach by this time.

We headed down to the beach about lunch time and were finding a spot to sit when we bumped into Shana and Fernando yet again! We've decided they are stalking us. Although technically they get to places before us.

We set ourselves down with them - the loungers and umbrellas are free but you have to buy food and beer from the people who own the loungers.

We spent the afternoon sunbathing, drinking and eating with the odd dip in the sea. We also got chatting to two American guys and a Dutch girl sat next to us.

Fernando and I roped some Vietnamese kids into playing football with us on the beach and found it hard work as instead of just passing it round with fancy flicks and the like they ran around like duracell bunnies making sure that by the end Fernando and I were knackered. For the record, my team won 4-1!

We had dinner with them that night at a fancy restaurant on the beach front. We balked at the prices before realizing they were still really cheap - just a little more expensive than we had been paying!! It was both of our last nights in Nha Trang although they were flying to Saigon the following morning and we were following on an overnight bus. We made arrangements with them to catch up in Saigon and stay at the same place.

The following morning we were up early for an island trip. We were taken to the harbour and there was complete chaos. Thankfully we were guided through it all and stuck on a boat. It was a fairly small boat with benches fixed facing forwards. It had a cover but nowhere to sit up top. There were about eight white people and the rest were Vietnamese and Chinese.

We got chatting to an Aussie girl called Caz traveling on her way to the UK. She had had a moto accident and was sporting some seriously impressive looking bruises.

We eventually got going but then turned around just out of the harbour because we had some people on the wrong boat. Eventually we got going properly and headed out to sea past an impressive looking Cruise ship. Our first stop was the island of something or other, which was our snorkeling stop. After diving off the top deck we spent about forty minutes snorkeling around. It was better than Hoi An although a lot busier as there were a few other boats around too.

We then cruised around the corner for lunch which was a mixture of veggie spring rolls, various squid and pork dishes and, of course, rice! We got chatting to the other non-Asian tourists: an English couple called Chris and Anna, a Swiss girl called Laure-Anne and an older Aussie couple whose names I didn't catch it.

After lunch they got out the entertainment which was a guy on guitars, a guy on home made drums and our main guide singing. He did a mixture of Vietnamese, Chinese and English songs. Because Dave is Canadian (and everyone in Asia seems to know that Canada is part French) we got a French song: a bizarre rock and roll version of Frere Jacques!

Once the entertainment was complete it was happy hour. This was seriously bizarre. It involved our guide getting into a life ring with a crate of wine tied to the boat (the life ring, not the crate) and the rest of us on life rings drinking wine, whilst floating in the sea and trying not to let the current take us away. Firstly, it was the most disgusting wine I've ever tasted. Secondly, every time you got hit by a wave it became part sea water. All of this didn't stop a lot being drunk!! It was amazing we all got back in one piece although when we eventually stood up back on the boat it was with wobbly legs.

Next stop was another island (OK so I can't remember any of the names) which was just a beach stop. Except it had pebbles instead of sand. We hired some deckchairs and after a quick swim (and nearly getting run over by a boat) I promptly fell asleep for our entire stay.

Our final stop was another island whose name I've forgotten which had an aquarium which was made to look like a kind of pirate ship. It wasn't that impressive a place and the moray eels looked kind of pissed off which isn't surprising given how small their tank was. We lost a drunk Caz and found her later wandering around. Chris, Anna, Dave and I almost planned a turtle breakout but didn't fancy Vietnamese prison.

We headed back to the harbour in time to see the cruise ship leaving. More chaos ensued as we disembarked and were met with about forty advertising leaflets, lots of moto and taxi drivers. Thankfully our bus was there to rescue us.

We pretty much had time for a shower, dinner with Laure-Anne and to catch our bus to Saigon and our last stop in Vietnam.