Romancing Nha Trang, Vietnam Adventure, Part 4

Nha Trang: If I could always be next to water, I would die
happy.

After three nights in Hue, I thought it was time to move on. I was starting to get this nauseating feeling of routine, of waking up and seeing the same things and visiting the same places. So I knew if Hue was to stay in my good books, I would have to leave ASAP. My travel mate and I seemed happily fed on the sights and sounds of Hue, so we bought a one way train ticket to Nha Trang. I have to admit, I wished we stopped off at Hoi An, but I have a new place to visit if ever I return to Vietnam.





The Reunification Express is dubbed the slowest locomotive in the world, but it wasn't too bad. It was a little unclean and rundown looking, but what more could you expect. And there was air conditioning, so much of it that I was freezing and had to use Henry’s jacket as a blanket. We left around 7 pm at night, and I managed to sleep through most of the trip, waking up morning time to see some pretty scenery. It took 14 hours to get to Nha Trang, but after some rainy and cloudy weather in Hue, we needed some heat, some sunshine, and some sand in our pants. I remember stepping out of the train station in Nha Trang, I was unbathed, sticky, teeth unbrushed, messy hair in yesterday's clothes, and I felt so unsexy. I remember the heat on me and my growling stomach. The sky was brighter in Nha Trang and the air a bit dreamier. I was instantly in love.

So here begins my four day fairy tale adventure in Nha Trang where I had the best pho in my life, fell in love with a French boy on the beach, stayed at the nicest 12$ hotel, and got my tongue pierced.

Okay, so after spending all my time in Hue site seeing and exploring, all I wanted to do was lie on a beach under the sun with no itinerary, just be sloppy and relaxed. Everyone complained about Nha Trang beaches saying they were “Shit,” but I loved it anyways. I just love the beach culture in Nha Trang, how the water thrashes onto the shores and all you hear are waves. And then when you look behind you across the road, its city life, the locals are at work. I spent most of my days walking along the coastline, feet in the sand, reading, talking to strangers, just listening to the water.





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My Beachside Romantic Rendezvous
The first thing I did on my first day in Nha Trang after I got off the train, found a guest house, showered, and had a midday cocktail, was find my way to the water. There I stayed till evening time watching little local boys play football (aka soccer) with Henry and some of the other foreign travelers. It was the cutest thing to see these tiny little Vietnamese boys take off their shirts and do it big against these tall muscular white men. Every time the other team scored, they had to do push ups. The youngest kid had to have been about 12 or something. They were pretty good.

Anyways, I was walking along the beach and suddenly spotted this man, sky high tall with long dark curly hair. He had the cutest scruff and khaki capris on and a buttoned down loose dress shirt on. By far the hottest person Ive seen in Vietnam. In all of Asia. In all of Canada. Maybe the hottest boy I have ever met.

So I walked past him totally awestruck at his perfect existence and found a nice cozy spot in the sand about ten minutes from where he was. It was getting dark out and you can see the couples emerge, young locals off from work, walking hand in hand along the water, giggling and laughing, letting loose. The beach has such a magical power. In the day, it was bombarded with foreigners, but at night, the locals emerged and reclaimed their beach. Families came out at night, chubby toddlers stumbling over chubby ankles, wives sitting in circles playing card games while eating slices of mangos and dried squid and an assortment of other seafoods, and dads sitting on ledges drinking cans of beer sold from sellers.





I was sitting in the sand watching all this magic happen when I see DreamMan come walking in front of me, sandals held in one hand, feet in the water. As I was mindlessly staring at him, wondering about his cuteness and where he was from, a huge wave washes up and soaks him knee deep. He stumbles a bit and does a jiggle and I chuckle at the sight of it; this towering man getting a little supersoaked by the waves. I smile at him. He smiles at me and keeps walking. It was great because I was really peeved at myself for not smiling at him the first time I walked by, for being too shy to even look at him. So I felt I redeemed myself and was content.

As I get up to leave afterwards, I see him come back and we exchange awkward smiles. We carry on walking our separate ways, but he does a double take and reverses, comes up to me and says with the hottest French accent, “Are you here alone?” Well, at that moment I was alone, so he invited me to hang out with him and his French friend who, like me and Henry, had just arrived in Nha Trang that day. So two sets of travelers who just arrived in a new city. We had dinner and explored the nightlife together. It was super fun. Cheap drinks, the sound of the water nearby, and that lighthearted feeling of vacation made midnight walks in the sand with my DreamMan all the more romantic. When we parted ways on the last day, I was feeling bittersweet, excited about Saigon but sad about never seeing him again. We exchanged information, but I have not added him to FaceBook, and I dont think I will. Our romantic three night fling was too perfect, like the happy romances you read in books and see in movies that gives you a brief fleeting feeling of hope. A hope that love really exists. And I believe that love exists in snapshots. To get to know him by email exchanges would ruin the fantasy of it all. And I would rather let those three nights stay untainted in my head and remain the perfect romantic memory. A brief lovestory on the beautiful beachside of Vietnam.
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Because I wasn't up for exploring the city and only wanted to lounge around, sipping cocktails, and flirting with French men, I did miss out on the city’s little secrets. The last night there, Henry and I went out for dinner with a local, a university professor who took us to eat snake meat at a local outdoor eatery where I was raped by a million mosquitoes. And then we went motorbiking down the coast, past the main beach to a restaurant that served amazing seafood, which I could not eat because of my tongue ring. I cannot wait until I get back to Nha Trang and see the rest of the city.


So we wanted to drink snake blood, but because of bad translation, our local friend brought us to eat dead snake instead. Mmmm....


He was really nice. I forget what he teaches but he a professor at Nha Trang's university.



It was hard to leave Nha Trang behind because it was such an awesome place. Warm weather, friendly locals, and the lazy atmosphere of the beaches, but we were creeping on Day Four, and the need to keep moving was there. So we packed our bags again and to the train station we went, picked up a noon ticket, and off we were to the chaos of Saigon.