Day 84 - Nha Trang
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Sunday 31st October
When I woke on Sunday morning, I wasn't sure if it was the air-conditioning or rain that I could hear. Looking outside through the window, it was rain - albeit lighter than yesterday. That wasn't to last long though, as the heavens really opened again. We waded through ankle deep water on the way to breakfast, where Kym again managed to get me in free.
Since it was still so wet, I decided it was safest to stay at the resort. I found a cheap rate online and asked if the hotel would match. They advised me to book online, which is stupid - they're effectively earning less because they have to pay out commission to the website! Although it was more expensive than my normal hotels, I figured I'd had (almost) no expenses the previous day and the rate was all inclusive of meals, Internet, airport transfer etc. Another lot of Aussies were negotiating at the reception so I jumped online and booked their rooms for them too - they were so happy at the 50% saving I scored them, and told me to find them at lunch/dinner if I wanted some company.
I've never seen somewhere so wet, and that was just in the resort. Here I was, staying in a beautiful resort with tennis courts, huge pool etc, and I couldn't make use of the facilities because they were underwater! People we had spoken to the previous day had been in Nha Trang city but had returned because they were worried about being stranded (rightly so, as the road soon flooded). They told us how they had seen rats and maggots floating down the street, and showed us pictures of the roads, motorbikes near submerged. I also heard a tourist bus, similar to the one I had travelled in the previous day, had been submerged, with the tourists inside feared dead. Scary!
The ladies from Moree decided that rather than continually calling the airport and airline, their best bet was to head to the airport, as they would be more likely to get on a flight to Ho Chi Minh City by 'being in their face'. We'd confirmed that the airport was open, but no one at the hotel could confirm when they could fly out - they were waitlisted for a 3:55pm flight. At 11am, Kim, Debbie, Donna and Julie all departed to the airport, leaving me on my own - it had been so nice, 'stalking' them over Vietnam! The Aussies I've met in India and Vietnam have really made my travelling experience great.
I needed to fill in the rest of the day, in a resort I couldn't get out of yet couldn't really make use of. I ended up at the spa, getting my hair straightened again (what am I going to do when it costs more than $1 to have my hair done?), before vegging out in my room, intermittently falling asleep.
In the evening, with dinner provided by the resort again, I headed to the buffet, where I had dinner with the Aussie group that I had scored the cheap hotel rooms for. They were all in their late 40s/early 50s (2 couples), who had been at a tyre convention in Cambodia and were now holidaying in Southern Vietnam. They were lovely as well, and I had a nice chat to them during dinner.
I spent a while on the internet once I finished dinner (you may have noticed this blog is quite out-of-date, thanks to the intermitten internet access I can get here. Facebook is almost never available, and I can't upload photos because I lost my camera cable somewhere ....) before heading to bed, for another early start the next morning.
When I woke on Sunday morning, I wasn't sure if it was the air-conditioning or rain that I could hear. Looking outside through the window, it was rain - albeit lighter than yesterday. That wasn't to last long though, as the heavens really opened again. We waded through ankle deep water on the way to breakfast, where Kym again managed to get me in free.
Since it was still so wet, I decided it was safest to stay at the resort. I found a cheap rate online and asked if the hotel would match. They advised me to book online, which is stupid - they're effectively earning less because they have to pay out commission to the website! Although it was more expensive than my normal hotels, I figured I'd had (almost) no expenses the previous day and the rate was all inclusive of meals, Internet, airport transfer etc. Another lot of Aussies were negotiating at the reception so I jumped online and booked their rooms for them too - they were so happy at the 50% saving I scored them, and told me to find them at lunch/dinner if I wanted some company.
I've never seen somewhere so wet, and that was just in the resort. Here I was, staying in a beautiful resort with tennis courts, huge pool etc, and I couldn't make use of the facilities because they were underwater! People we had spoken to the previous day had been in Nha Trang city but had returned because they were worried about being stranded (rightly so, as the road soon flooded). They told us how they had seen rats and maggots floating down the street, and showed us pictures of the roads, motorbikes near submerged. I also heard a tourist bus, similar to the one I had travelled in the previous day, had been submerged, with the tourists inside feared dead. Scary!
The ladies from Moree decided that rather than continually calling the airport and airline, their best bet was to head to the airport, as they would be more likely to get on a flight to Ho Chi Minh City by 'being in their face'. We'd confirmed that the airport was open, but no one at the hotel could confirm when they could fly out - they were waitlisted for a 3:55pm flight. At 11am, Kim, Debbie, Donna and Julie all departed to the airport, leaving me on my own - it had been so nice, 'stalking' them over Vietnam! The Aussies I've met in India and Vietnam have really made my travelling experience great.
I needed to fill in the rest of the day, in a resort I couldn't get out of yet couldn't really make use of. I ended up at the spa, getting my hair straightened again (what am I going to do when it costs more than $1 to have my hair done?), before vegging out in my room, intermittently falling asleep.
In the evening, with dinner provided by the resort again, I headed to the buffet, where I had dinner with the Aussie group that I had scored the cheap hotel rooms for. They were all in their late 40s/early 50s (2 couples), who had been at a tyre convention in Cambodia and were now holidaying in Southern Vietnam. They were lovely as well, and I had a nice chat to them during dinner.
I spent a while on the internet once I finished dinner (you may have noticed this blog is quite out-of-date, thanks to the intermitten internet access I can get here. Facebook is almost never available, and I can't upload photos because I lost my camera cable somewhere ....) before heading to bed, for another early start the next morning.
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