Nha Trang: Christmas spring rolls

My taxi dropped me off in the backpacker area of Nha Trang and the fare was legitimate.  Not a lot was open at 5:30AM, but I finally found a small hotel just off the main street and was able to check in.  I got cleaned up, had some breakfast at a bamboo interiored joint that serves museli with bananas and pineapple mixed in, and visited a few travel places to get the next train ticket.  The journey to Hanoi is a 3 night train ordeal, but given how comfortable the tourist trains are, I figured it would be a lot of fun.  Well no fun for the 2nd leg, as all they had were 2nd class tickets--I was trying to get a ticket for Xmas day, on Xmas Eve day after all, so I couldn't complain.  After breakfast I snuck down the road to the Spa shop to surprise my friends there.  Only Phuong was there, but she was surprised.

A few minutes later Kieu showed up--also surprised.  Kieu gave me a ride to the oceanography museum, where I spent the afternoon looking around what seemed to be a cross between Sea World and Ripleys Believe it or Not.  There really didn't seem to be anyone working there, except a guy in the lab that looked like Captain Nemo.  It was one of those places that Neil Gaiman talked about in American Gods--places that don't completely make sense as a tourist attraction but strangely draw lots of visitors.  Modern Temples.

I hung out at the Bia Hoi place next to where my Spa friends work for Xmas eve.  I met a pair from London, cousins, of Vietnamese descent--one spoke Mandarin, one Vietnamese, and both, of course, Brittish accented English.  There were some local children dressed in Santa Claus outfits too playing on the street. I couldn't stay awake very late because of the 5 AM train arrival, though.

I had just half of Xmas day in Nha Trang, then I had to catch the train to continue my Northwards escape.  I  hung out for the day and contemplated what I would do once I got to Hanoi--would I keep my original plan (or original adjusted plan) and head to Laos for the new year to meet Luke and Jo, or do I head home, defeated by my allergies, or do I do something else, like go back to Shanghai to see John and perhaps have another interview with that company?  Then Japan popped into my head--I had talked to Roh about possibly meeting there, and I really want to see Japan, despite how terrible the Yen is beating the dollar, which already compounds the expensiveness of the country.  Either way, I was enjoying myself and the free wifi at Lousiane Brewhouse and failed to make a decision.  It was this Brewery that had so much beach property you couldnt walk by it from the beach without going through it, in other words.

  I said my goodbyes and got my arranged ride to the train station with the ticketing company I got my ticket through.  The ride, however, turned out to be a ride on the motorbike of one of the girls who worked there without a helmet.  Vietnam is not the place to ride a motorbike without a helmet.  The lady who took me to the train station was nice though, and she sat in the waiting room with me to make sure I got on the right train.  When I got to the platform I noticed that there was a crowd of people around a young red headed lady on the ground.  It looked like she had fallen down and hurt her ankle.  She also had a lot of white powder all over her legs.  Our train arrived and her friends helped her into it.  She ended up in my cabin and I took pity on her pain and offered her a beer.  This was before I realized she was probably 15 or 16.  I was in a 6 bed cabin with 4 other people from the same group--a school group from New Zealand--a high school group rather.  At first I just assumed that if you are a foreigner backpacking around Vietnam you are probably at least in college.  These kids were going through Vietnam doing some community service of sorts.  The girl had tripped on the train tracks and because she was carrying a backpack that was easily 50 percent of her own weight, she fell in an awkward way and hurt her ankle.  They said some local Vietnamese lady sprinkled the white stuff over her cuts on her legs, which the suspected to be salt or flour. I still think she deserved a beer though.  I played some cards with them and then we all went to bed.  Our train was due to arrive in Danang at 7 AM.