Day 18 - the big-chill

Alarm rings at 7, and we decided we must press on regardless of the never-ending rain. We were glad to check out of that gross hotel, one night was all we could bare. So we hopped back into our soaking wet clothes from the day before, mounted our bikes and set off into the storm. We had about 80Km left to cover and we didn’t enjoy a single metre of it. Driving in a tropical thunderstorm, with little or no protection from the elements is the worst thing I have had to do so far, something I'd rather not repeat. But we had to reach our destination. The roads were filled with large trucks driving like lunatics, so much so we passed several that had rolled over at the side of the road. The rain was just never ending, actually getting heavier as we descended from the highlands down snaking mountain paths and approached the coast. It was painful. Our faces were red from the pins & needless sensation of the rain pummelling our faces. Eventually we arrived in Nha Trang, and after some more getting lost and head-scratching, we found out way to the beach and found a suitable hotel. SOAKED TO THE BONE! I'd gone completely wrinkly – like sitting in a bath hours, and had half a pint of water in each boot. We checked in, clothes off, hot shower! Arghhhhhhhhh... Slipped into some dry clothes, handed over our laundry, got some food, necked some booze and snoozed for the afternoon.

A view from the (currently) stormy beach. Has the largest ski-lift in Asia transporting guests to a luxury resort island offshore.
 

This place is pretty cool. It's THE tourist destination to go to in Vietnam. Great beaches, loads of hotels, & Italian restaurants as far as the eye can see ;). People on every street corner trying to sell you something, or entice you into a restaurant. The storm has mostly passed, but it's been overcast and showery of late.

After staying for half a day in the hotel recovering with some b-movie’s on TV, we decided we had to go out. Food was first thing on the list, I had a full-English, the lads had burgers - tacky, but good to eat it while it's available; rice & noodles does get tiring. We ventured by foot to see the local pagoda and giant Budah statue, then hit the local markets.

Pagoda
 

Budah inside the temple

Tomorrow we hope to take a boat tour and see some of the islands we can see from our balcony. But without the good weather, the beaches on the islands (the main reason to go) have little appeal. We like it here, and there are elements of the culture that give us little tastes of home that we find comforting while sitting out the rain. Better here than stranded in the middle of nowhere where options would be far more limited.