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Nha Trang, Viet NamMar 6, 2008
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resort island and small view of Vinpearl resort area
colorful junk working boat of the many fishermen found in this seafaring...
the harbor of Nha Trang
Phil's entry: With an early (6:30am) entry to the islands and harbor of Nha Trang, some of us awoke to a rainy, overcast day; but the fishermen had been out all night trying to get their boats full. Nha Trang is a calm, resort city on the southern coast of Viet Nam. large developments, resorts and hotels are being built or have already been built. Our berth in the harbor was across the bay from the Summer Palace of the last Emperor of Viet Nam and across from the island where Vinpearl resort is located. Upon getting clearance, I got the 1st shuttle to the center of town and Ellie relaxed, still recovering from our ventures in Hong Kong. The center of Nha Trang is a large market where everything and everybody that had something to sell was found. I walked around for about 2 hours just looking at all the things these people were trying to sell, from seashells to motorcycles and many tourist type things (postcards, handbags, watches and baseball caps). After seeing and photographing so many things, I went back to the ship to get Ellie and get ready for our tour to the Summer Palace event that our cruise line is providing for all our guests.
We all got on board(about 400+) our buses to the location. The people at the hotel/Summer Palace really put on an extravagant display of foods, skits, performances, costumes and party favors for all our guests. Unfortunately, the high humidity and hazy skies gave way to a slight sprinkle and then to a steady drizzle. The festivities had begun for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours when we all started running for the high hill we had to come down to get out of the drizzle. Those who were mobility challenged had a difficult time getting into the two vans that were provided to get those people up the hill. The rest of us just toughed it out and walked up to get on our buses to go back to the ship. Such a wonderful event was spoiled by the opening of the skies but we were relieved to get back to the ship with only a little soaking and not a complete flooding as is usually expected in the afternoon in the south of Viet Nam's humid climate.
Tomorrow will be another venture up the Mekong delta and the Saigon river.
