To Vung Tau or not to Vung Tau...

...that really was the question. As we near the end of our month in Vietnam, the question on our minds is if it is worth heading to Vung Tau. This coastal city is a couple of hours from Saigon, our final destination. With a few days to spare we decided to head over to the domestic tourist hot spot to see what the hype was all about.

Sadly the place didnt live up to the "googled" hype. After making the short journey from Mui Ne on another local bus we arrive in what feels like a town that time forgot. For a city there is no one here. We counted about 10 western faces in three days. A proper vietnamese experience I hear you say? Well unfortunately the place was a bit dirty. The beach is pretty much non existent with large rocks and boulders blocking any sort of beach fun.

Our first hotel was something out of a horror film. The place was abandoned so the huge corridors and grounds gave off a very eery feel. Our room unfortunately already had someone in there. A family of cockroaches made the first nights sleep quite tense. I managed to capture three of them under glasses. But ran out after this, out came the flip flop! This coupled with the dirt in the room and the midgies, who absolutely loved feasted on my legs, made our stay in this hotel very short. In the morning I cut our stay short and checked us onto a better hotel that had a sister resort and pool we could use.

With the place being a bit of a domestic tourist hotspot the prices reflected that. Food seemed to be more but didnt reflect any increase in quality.

When it came to attractions there didnt seem to many. We took full advantgae of the pool which no one else used. We hit up a vietnamese cinema, making a change to UK prices, all in with popcorn 4 quid. Bargin.

Today we are on another local bus heading to Saigon Otherwise known as Ho Chi Mi City. I've heard good things. We are both looking forward to getting back on the backpacker trail before our adventure takes us into Cambodia.

Nha Trang with a bang...

So if you have read the last two posts you will be pleased to know the smell of food has diffused in the air con now. I am still flat out on my back and my arms are starting to ache from holding this tablet above my head.

We have just left, what I believe to be the best place we have visited in Vietnam so far, Nha Trang. The beach here is amazing. It has the softest golden sand and stretches the length of the whole city. The sea is warm yet refreshing and offers a load of water sports.  We rented jet skis here and bombed across the sea, if only we had the go pro on this day.

We are staying in a cool little hostel recommended by some people we met in a bar. At 3 quid a night its great value, and has a great location just 5 mins walk from the sea front. Oh and did I mention it has a free breakfast!

The area is famous for its mud baths and mineral spars. Being the big lad I am, I just had to try this! We spent a day in the mud and mineral pools sitting in water that was 40 degrees plus! Hot in this weather. I tried to save some dignity by having a few beers but safe to safe this was a girls dream day out.

Back in the city there are a range of night and day markets selling anything from "hello kitty" toys to crocodile handbags. There is a host of restaurants and street food outlets on the sea front. I think I've had my best value for money meal here paying 5 quid for 6 courses including beer!

We have spent a few days lounging out on the beach after some decent nights out with people in our hostel. Some of the local bars offer 50p beers and stay open for as long as you drink!

The highlight of our time in Nha Trang was a day spent on Vinpearl island. You start by getting a cable car (The world's longest over water cable car!) from the beach across to this island. The island has a water park, theme park, aquirium and private beach. All this can be bought for 20 pound! The water park was great with loads of rides including a wave pool. Our favourite was the double dingy half pipe, our weight distribution meant we flew down this ride!  The theme park was good we went on one roller coaster that sounded like it was going to break when it turned you up side down, generally holding on for dear life! In the aquirium we were able to pet sharks before chilling on the beach to dry off after an exhausting day.

All in all a great place to stay, loads to do and a cracking beach. The Russians love this place too. Almost everyone there is Russian and shops and locals have even catered for this with Russian signs in all the shop windows.

Our next stop is Mui Ne; it is a small fishing village on the beach, we only have two more stops after that before we are in Saigon and off to Cambodia.

And we're off

...And so it begins. The bags are packed, my clothes are creased and I'm already a flip flop down...

Tonight signals my last day in the UK before I embark on a 10 month trip across the globe!

I've packed everything from my sunnies and mankini, to my girlfriend and what seems like half the local pharmacy! All said and done, the zips have finally closed and i'm ready to get cultured! We're heading out to Japan first and will be making our way across China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and down into Singapore and Indonesia. A huge dose of Asian Culture as we work our way through South East Asia for the next 4 months. After that we head up to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji; and finally down into the US of A and Mexico before heading back to the UK!

I've never written a blog before, so bear with me. I'll be writing about a whole host of things; but don't worry I wont be chatting about my feelings, or how I stared into a goats eyes and found enlightenment! I'll be uploading a fair few photos on here to, so do come back and check on the progress of my beard!

I cant wait to get out there now and start the adventure! Look out for the "snapchats" on a Monday morning, and I'll see you all Next April, with a hopefully a beard, tan and cultured compass.

...arrivederci Ladies & Gents...

CJ


Errrr, he wont be coming home with a beard if I can stop it!  I am packed and ready to go too. Fitting 10 months worth of stuff into a backpack is a very difficult task, especially when you have a zillion clothes to choose from and several factor 50 suncream bottles -I have a feeling this high a factor may not exist outside of Europe. At least I have my cheer bow loud and proud (special thanks to my amazing cheer stunt group for my bow).

I am definitely excited to touch down in Japan and get this adventure rolling and I cannot wait to go back to Zoo Negara in Malaysia where I volunteered for a month back in the day, when I was a youngen. There will be loads of photos, scorps (for the cheerleaders) and possibly a sky dive video (yes, apparently I'm doing a skydive somewhere along the trip) so this blog is going to be packed full of stories.


Gaahhhhhh, we are now officially backpackers!


Sam
xx