Exploring beyond Nha Trang

Today was a mud bath day! The whole group went to the mud baths and spent 5hours in mud and thermal pools. Since I'm not a big fan I decided to hire a moped and go explore a little more outside the city.

My first stop was at NHA THO NUI Cathedral which I saw yesterday when I was on the moped ride. The cathedral is at the top of a little hill and has a pretty cool architecture! I have been impressed at how many Catholic Churches there are in Vietnam! I don't think there were so many in Cambodia!

Then I headed towards BO HA WATERFALLS! 

I saw this as an attraction on trip advisor and I thought it would be a cool thing to see! It took about 45 mins to get there but the view was well worth the drive and the butt pain!!

We went through mountains overlooking the water, it was truly beautiful and magical. Along the water we saw many many boats and we even stopped at the local fish market and I was able to see some men fishing in their little round bamboo boats! I was impressed with their balancing! It reminded me of the little boys in their round buckets on the floating village in Siem Reap!

After a long time we finally arrived to a sign that says "BAHO 2km"... Oh my! Those are probably the longest 2 km of my life! It took approximately 15 mins because the road was made of dirt and rocks! We bounced our whole way into the entrance!!!!

Once I got my ticket we had to walk for about 20 mins up hill until we reached the huge rocks where the stream passes! The only way to go up is to climb the huge rocks and go through the water so I had to take my shoes off, put camera away, and try my best not to fall on the water! It was not at all an easy task, it was actually extremely difficult!!!! Plus I didn't have the right pants! I was scared that they would rip when I jumped from rock to rock!!!

On our way back to the hotel we stopped by NUI HON CHONG which are some pretty cool rock formations that were a good opportunity for pictures... Nothing too special for a whole bunch of rocks !!!

Once back at the hotel I had some time to relax before we had to leave for yet another night time train!

Moped ride through Nha Trang

This tour has been the most fun so far! Nine of us got into moped and rode around the city for a couple of hours. It was CRAZY going through traffic, hearing all the honking, cutting people off, having huge trucks honk on your ear and pass you! At the beginning we were all holding super tight to our bikes but little by little we all relaxed and were able to have fun and not be scared! By the end we were high fiving each other from moped to moped! It was amazing!

Our first stop was at a place where they make the clay pot for the Vietnamese barbecue!

There was an older man doing the clay work and an older lady finishing it. This man has been doing this kind of work every day for the last 35 years!

He told us that he does approximately 50 a day and they sell for $1.25 each! We couldn't believe it! So much for it to go next to nothing!

It took him about 3mins to make the pot and then it was passed on to the woman and after that it goes in the oven for 48 hours! All that for a buck?!?!?!?!?

Anyway, our guide for the day asked if anybody wanted to try and of course I said yes! Haha

I got next to the guy and started doing my own BBQ! I got many compliments in Vietnamese from some older guys sitting behind us! ... I got yet another career just in case! 

Our next stop was at a weaving place where two older sisters make mats out of dyed dead grass. These two women have been doing this job for 50 years! They do everything from beginning to end, they grow the grass, cut it, dye it and make the pieces!

I did not try it but most of the other people did and thought it was a lot of hard work!!! Those old ladies must be in great shape! Haha

After not buying anything from the ladies we went to a bar by the water but the main attraction was the man made bridge right next to it! Apparently the bridge is private property and everybody has to pay for toll to go through. Our guide also told us that during bad rainy season the bridge gets washed away and they have to build all over again, therefore they have to charge to re build a new one.

Then we went to LONG SUN PAGODA where I was able to get a better understanding of pagodas and what to do when you get there.

Many pagodas ask you to take your shoes off, then in front of the altar you put your hands together and bow three times and then make a wish! Our guide explained a little more on the history of pagodas and Buddhism. Many of us noticed the nazi sign all over and it was explained to us that they were unrelated and It had been a sign of Buddhism for a long time.

The best part of this pagoda was the huge Buddha on the top! We had to walk 500 steps to get to it since in Buddhism it is well known that one has to work hard to reach what they want, so up we went to see the giant Buddha. Half way up the steps we encounter a super cool sleeping or laying down Buddha... It was massive!!!!

Then we headed towards the CHAM TOWERS, a red temple made out of bricks that I saw during the bike ride. In there, there there was a small prayer tower that is supposed to bring you love when you pray in it so Sophia, Dini, and I went in... You never know ;-)

After some praying we saw a show with traditional dancing, girls were holding pots made out of clay and then putting them on their head and dancing around:

Welcome to Nha Trang

By 6:30 am we arrived in Nha Trang and thankfully all our rooms were available and we were able to freshen up before going for breakfast.

Oleang, our guide, gave us two choices for breakfast: American or Vietnamese. Only 5 of us decided to go for Vietnamese and for the first time in my life I had Phō!

The phō was pretty good to be a soup! I did ask for vegetarian but only god knows what the broth is made of... I decided not to even ask! 

I really enjoyed my huge pot of Phō and what I like the most was putting basil and spicy sauce on it which gave it a great flavor :-) 

After a quick breakfast we had to go back to the American cafe and wait for an hour for the others to get their food and finish eating. While waiting Oleang told us about our Christmas dinner and gift exchange. We need to buy a present that can be for either a boy or a girl and has to have either red or green in it! And it also has to be wrapped with whatever we can find and the price range should be a minimum of $3 and a max if $5! This should be fun!

Once breakfast was over we went for a quick tour of downtown Nha Trang to get ourselves acquainted with the area. 

 The beach was beautiful, you could see mountains at the back and it looked very peaceful!

 

Since I'm not a beach kind of person I decided to go rent a bike an explore the city a little more before our 2pm moped ride. Beck, my roommate, decided to come along and explore with me.

First, we rode next to the water and just admired the view! It was really really beautiful!

What I enjoyed the most was seeing the colorful boats along the water... Many times I've seen them in pictures or magazines so it is a pretty amazing feeling when you realize you are there! You are seeing Vietnam and its beauty with your own eyes!  

Here is a warning sign not to get in the water because it is dangerous!!!! So people can only rent a chair and lay on the sun all day long!!! (Fun?!?!)

I loved seeing this man fishing on a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean

Then we turned around and decided to go explore the city and how people live!

I saw the local market and decided to go inside and look for my Christmas present! It was extremely scary because we went in with our bikes and riding inside a market full of mopeds honking at you is no fun! I did my best not to fall!

I got the idea of getting a "Vietnam survival kit"  so I had a great time trying to find all the objects for my packet in the market! And in the meantime I got myself a hat :-)

After a long time shopping we decided to go back since it was getting closer to my moped tour time! The market was so confusing and big that we ended up getting out in a totally different place and we had a hard time finding our way back to the hotel!

I really enjoy getting lost because you get to see things that you didn't plan or even didn't know existed! This time we ended up going through the tiniest street that had a little stream of yucky water in the middle! I didn't even know how to ride my bike through it and was afraid I was going to fall and get all dirty with yucky water!

Anyway, while riding I saw two men holding a naked dead duck upside down and burning its skin with a blow torch!!! I knew I had to stop and take a picture of it... How random is that? I loved it!

I kept riding through the very small street and saw a moped full of dead chickens coming my way and I quickly got my camera out and apparently it scared the guy because we were pretty close to hitting each other!!! But I got a great shot out of it :-)