Today was our longest bus ride so not much to report. We did see plenty of beautiful countryside in the rural part of Central Vietnam, including LOTS of rice paddies like you see above. Not pictured are the rural toilets that Theresa was introduced to where you stand over a hole in the floor to do your business and flush by dumping some water in the hole. She is thankful for wet wipes and hand sanitizer.
We eventually hit the coast and traveled southward along it. The varied landscapes and beach towns reminded us of the Pacific Coast Highway or Great Ocean Road in Australia, but with a Vietnamese flair. We stopped for lunch at an open air restaurant on the beach serving fresh seafood. Theresa got a hold of some heavy duty peppers in her Canh Chua sour soup and thought she was having a heat stroke.
Peppers or not, it is very hot in Vietnam. The worst August day in Atlanta or even South Florida is pretty much what we've had every day. Highs in the upper 90s and high humidity put the heat index around 115 most days. We've had to take care to apply sunscreen, bug repellant, and drink lots of water which means we take alot of showers and smell pretty bad after a long day of sightseeing.
We finally arrived at our "Royal Hotel" in the late afternoon. We squeezed in a little beach time and caught a great sunset over the South China Sea. Theresa enjoyed watching the guys paddle along the coast in their "coconut boats" (they look like they are riding in half of a big coconut shell - I think they are really rattan and wood, but I don't have the heart to tell her) and I like watching the unique Asian workouts that they perform on the beach. Lots of flailing arms and gyrating hips for 30 minutes is considered exercise.
We finished up with dinner at the hotel and Theresa, Thieu, and I went to karaoke while our parents opted for the $10 massage (45 mins). Just about everything is incredibly cheap here, especially labor intensive services. Another long ride tomorrow before we get to the much touted "5 star Vin Pearl Resort & Spa" in Nha Trang.
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