Nha Trang 2nd - 8th August 2015

Nha trang 2nd - 8th August 

We decided to stay in Nha trang for a week as we assumed there would be a lot to do, there was not. We filled most of our days walking around and chilling on the beach, it wasn't as polluted as Mui Ne was but there was still a slight prescience. Nha Trang to us was a big tourist place, we saw many westerners around the time we were there and for once there was quite a few British. We arrived in Nha trang by bus, a similar bus we had used to get to Mui Ne from Ho Chi Minh but we weren't dropped off at our hotel we were just left at a bus stop not knowing where to go. However, two seemingly nice taxi drivers saved the day saying they could take us to our hotel, I was relieved thinking it would be an easy journey with not much hassle. We were wrong. The "taxis" turned out to be motorbikes which at first I wasn't too sure about as both me and Daniel had quite large backpacks between us and we wondered how the hell they would fit them on the motorcycle along with us but we managed and off we went. It was fantastic, an experience I would do again but please remember to agree a price before you get on the motorbike because when we arrived at our stop they really ripped us off! They charged us 500,000 dong which was 15 quid each for a 10 minute drive that was only supposed to average out about 150,000! Needless to say we were very careful with anyone after that. 

Generally both the hotels we stayed at were good, lovely location as the beach was easily accessible and we could get to many restaurants quite easily. The downside however was that both places had an incredibly bad noise problem, we had both building work and disturbing neighbours that didn't let us get much sleep! Otherwise it was a very pleasant stay in both places. ( we stayed at Ha Thu Hotel and Jennie Jenns apartments. 

We tried to vary the restaurants from night to night but our favourite had to be a place called Lanterns, the staff were friendly and the food at dinner and breakfast were delicious! We never had a bad time there which is why we went back so frequently! 

Activity wise we only did two major things: snorkelling and the mud baths, both very touristy things I know but both definitely worth doing! 

We felt like we stayed a bit long in Nha Trang but I was glad to top up my tan and chill out on a real beach! Nha trang is worth a visit in a backpackers eyes. 

Love Tam ️xox

Mui Né 30th July - 2nd August 2015

We arrived in Mui Né after a 5 hour bus ride from Ho Chi Minh City, the bus we took was a sleeper bus so we had the opportunity to relax and not be stuck in a cramped seat where we weren't able to move. The journey went quite quickly due to the surroundings we were able to see, driving through Vietnam is a very eye opening experience if you haven't been in a developing country before and you become fascinated with their culture because they work incredibly different to westerners. 

Mui Né was a bit of a disappointment for us due to the pollution in the sea, the lack of restaurants and also the lack of people. It was great to relax for a while after having a busy few days in the city but you struggled to even find fresh fruit, it was a bit of a struggle for me to adjust to greasy food but the people were friendly enough. I did have a problem with their attitude towards the sea, walking down the road you saw constant stream of tanks filled with stingray, turtles, frogs and eels that were taken from the ocean for the benefit of so called tourist. I hated it, I did consider buying a few turtles and stingrays to let them go but doing some research on the subject it would of just made matters worse as the animals would of just been replaced and in the end you are funding them to carry on the trade. 

All in all Mui Né was a disappointment, it was picturesque at times but the atmosphere was 0% as it was off season and the place is completely run down.