September 29, Nha Trang, Vietnam
This was a day on the water on a tour boat and basket boats, then in the water. The rest of the afternoon was laid back until we went to the train station to take our overnight train to Hoi An.
The morning has gotten into a sort of routine, even if we’re in different cities. By the time we get to breakfast, another couple is usually either already there or getting their food, and the same was true this day. After eating and chatting, we went up to the room to repack things for the day. We would be checking out of the hotel but leaving our bags until the afternoon, letting us pack lightly for our boat trip for the day.
We hopped onto our bus to go to the port, and soon, the Turtle Dive arrived. We boarded and put on life jackets, but once we were out of the bay, the life jackets were optional, a testament to how many boats crowd the bay.
Our boat worked its way into the Nha Trang Bay and headed to Mieu Islet. Some basket boats (called that because they look like a big basket) approached, and we split into three different ones. The other six members of our group went into two different boats, each with two people with oars, while Melody and I went into one by ourselves and one woman with an oar. We went among other boats in the bay and one of the other basketboats started spinning and the group members in that boat began laughing. After we had gone quite a way out, we started heading back to our boat. We got off the basketboats and waved as they went away.
Next, our boat went to the north side of Tam Islet where it stopped so people could get out and snorkel. Some of us opted to float around, while others put on fins and masks and quickly dove off the back of the boat. The water was at a good temperature, being warm but not too warm. I tried taking photos under the water, but the water was a bit blurry and green; later, someone said that’s what it looked like through a mask, too. One of the boat operators said that he saw some clownfish a way out, but I don’t think any of our group saw them.
We next went over to the west side of Mot Islet to do more swimming. This time more people decided to just wade on floaties. Bao said it was fine to dive off the top of the boat in this location, but only away from the islet. Two people did and had a great time doing so. One of them also tried doing a flip off the back of the boat.
After people were done swimming, we rested on the boat until another tour boat came up and started transferring food to our boat. Just before, the boat operators had converted a few of our benches into a large table and covered it with a tablecloth. The plates went onto this, and they kept on coming. We filled up on the food and rested some more. Soon we were on our way back to the port, then onto our bus, and back to the hotel.
We had already checked out but had two rooms available for us to shower, We were paired with the couple we usually have breakfast with, so we decided that Melody and I would go first, and let them know when we were done. That worked smoothly, and Melody and I headed to a bakery to buy dinner for the train, then to a café to get something to drink and do some computing.
Back at the hotel, we were a bit early, so decided to play the piano again. People started gathering soon after, and we all got back onto the bus for the short ride to the train station. Once there, we found our car, then our room. Since our train was going to arrive a bit before 6 am, we didn’t stay up too late before turning in.
