We’re back in Nha Trang to extend the visas one more time before we head for home.

We were originally going to spend the last month of our trip chilling in Thailand, but we decided to stay on in Vietnam due to the political protests going on. We have to fly out of Bangkok to get home so fingers crossed that all will be ok with our overnight stay near to the airport. The airport hasn’t been targeted by the red shirt protesters so far, but we do remember the chaos caused by the yellow shirts in November 2008.

Nha Trang seems so big, noisy and bustling after the relative calm of Quy Nhon. The place was packed on the Sunday we returned and it was difficult walking along the beach promenade as it was blocked by people, bicycles, and motorbikes. We are both getting really frustrated by the lack of consideration given to pedestrians so have decided to hold our ground when a bike is coming towards us on the pavement beeping for us to get out of the way, or driven at us or cut across us with the driver completely oblivious to the danger. Neil has even grabbed hold of bikes and their passengers to make sure they notice and this has shocked a number of bike riders so we suspect the locals just give way at all times. We have been surprised at the lack of accidents given the chaotic state of the traffic and some of the idiotic behaviour of both drivers and pedestrians we have seen.

Accidents do happen though, and we got chatting to an English girl in her twenties who was unlucky enough to come off the hire bike driven by her boyfriend as he skidded on gravel. Travelling at only 30km/hr she was wearing shorts and lost a fairly large strip of skin along her elbow, lower arm and all along her leg. It didn’’t look too bad on the first day, and we were impressed with her positive, almost cheerful attitude despite her injuries. As the wounds dried up it started to look at lot worse and she was obviously in a lot of discomfort. Added to this, it turned out her travel insurance company, Insure and Go, were being really unhelpful and it appeared that they were looking for a loophole to avoid paying the claim. It didn’’t help that the hospital doctor was cheerfully adding lots of expensive treatments and fictitious overnight stays to the bill!

There was no ‘hire agreement’ as the bike was rented from a guy on a street corner so we suspect the insurance company will do all they can to ‘prove’ they were not on the 50cc bike they hired, as most will not cover for more than 125cc. On her last day we found out the insurance company were sending an agent to look into it. We took her email address and will follow up to see how it all turns out.

We have enjoyed our last few weeks as there is a relaxed pace to life here. It’s hot during the day so we are doing as the locals do and getting up at 6am for a 6km walk along the seafront. It’s relatively cool at this time and the locals are out swimming, walking, running, Tai Chi, badminton etc. The beach is very quiet during the day, apart from the mad dog westerners frying in the sun. At 5pm it cools down and we join the locals once more for another long walk before dinner.

• 

The food here is very good, especially in our favourite Italian restaurant, so it was a surprise that the dreaded holiday tum has struck……and Neil is suffering! I suppose it was about time. The very hot curry at Omar’s Tandoori Cafe probably didn’’t help matters. Omar’s does have a slight reputation for dodgy food, but, there is a real Indian chef, the smells wafting from the restaurant are fabulous, and Neil had a craving for curry that got the better of him. Looking on the bright side, if this bug is anything like the one he picked up in Goa a few years back, he will lose about a stone in weight.

Neil writes: My dodgy tum, fortunately, comes without the sickness. However, “Vietnam’s Vengeance”, as I have named it does have one or two quirks. The first trip to the bathroom at 01.30 was accompanied by really chronic pains in the abdomen. After that, it was regular business as usual until dawn. That was the time that I started to ache and develop a fever, just like flu, so this is more than just a bad curry!! The fever lasted about 24 hours and left as quick as it arrived. During the following night I woke up around 05.00 to find myself lying in what appeared to be a river…..I had been sweating out the fever so much that the bed was very wet. Well, my side of the bed was wet but Cheryl’’s was very dry and that was the way it was going to stay! The fever had completely gone and the next day went well, back to normal, walks along the beach, exercise etc. It’s now 24 hours later and whilst the fever has gone the regular trips to the bathroom have come back. Oh well, still looking on the bright side at the weight I’m going to lose.

Finally, after weeks of endless sunshine the rain came last night, thunder, lightning and heavy, heavy rain. But it is warm rain unlike our return home when we know the rain will definitely NOT be warm!

• 

Next stop Ho Chi Minh City, (still called Saigon by most locals), for a couple of days before heading to Bangkok…..and Home……volcanic ash permitting!!