Nha Trang was awesome. This is probably one of the most fun places I have been yet.
It is Vietnam's premier diving location, so I thought what better place to do my PADI Open Water course. I walked around a few of the dive shops and finally settled on Jeremy Steins Rainbow Divers. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by Vicky who was cheerfull, bubbly and very friendly. I was sold pretty much instantly. Even though thry cost about $30 more than their competitors, I figured it was money well spent. They also took 4 days for the course where others tried to cram it into 2 or 3 days.
The first 2 days were spent with the morning in the classroom watching DVDs and the afternoon going over various skills in the swimming pool. Both these days were quite tiring as there is a lot of information to take in, but due to the character of Vicky, our instructor, we had so much fun.
Clara, another instructor also deserves a mention as she spent a lot of time with us. In fact, all the instructors and Jeremy Stein himself were all approachable and happy to joke around.
The third and forth days were spent putting our swimming pool sessions into practice in the sea. You have to complete 4 open water dives for your qualification, so we had 2 each morning on these days and the afternoon was free to sunbathe on the beach.
We had a pretty big social group, about 15-20, in Nha Trang, so staying relatively sober in the evenings was quite a challenge. Despite this, I did manage it and qualified at the end of my course (with 46/50 on my final exam) with my open water diver certificate, which means I can now dive, with a buddy, to 18 meters. I had such a good time I will probably go for my Advanced at some point on this trip.
Nha Trang has a fantastic beach and the weather was spot on, so I have managed to build up a great base to my tan! There is also some fantastic seafood around, which I really got into, including lobster barbequed on the beach for you. Not bad, since i'm Not a big seafood fan.
Apart from the diving Nha Trang was all about the beach and the partying. We found some great bars such as Guava (chilled), Red Apple (beer bongs), Why Not (dancing), and my personal favourite The Sailing Club (buckets). We always seemed to end up back at the sailing club, which was fine since it had such a good athmosphere.
One night, during my diving course, I was walking back to the guesthouse on my own and 2 prostitutes rode past me on a scooter. One jumped off and walked with me trying to hold my hand as I said "No....No". Then another came upand another and before I knew it there were about 8 or 10 girls around me trying to grab my hands and a whole lot more!
Fortunately I had been warned about these gangs of girls the prevous night, so was expecting it and was also aware of how to handle it.... You just have to be aggressive.
When I decided my polite "No" and "Don't touch me"'s weren't working and I felt hands going over my pockets, looking for my wallett and camera, I turned around and told them to F--- off. This did the trick and they left. Very scary, but one hell of an experience. I am just glad I was not very drunk and had been warned about it. It is one of very few places where girls are safer than guys walking home!
One special night in Nha Trang started off much like the others, but upon leaving Why Not bar we headed to the beach to chill and wait for the sun rise. This was a beatifull moment and an end to a great night. It is amazing how mamy vietnamese are on the beach between 5 and 6 in the morning. The place is rammed! Aparently they are out early and late in the day as it is cooler and they don't want to tan. In SE Asia, it is sexy to have pale skin so the women cover up theur entire bodies during the day.... They must get sooooo hot!
Aside from this, I had the most amazing time in Nha Trang and just wish I had another week there. Oh well, all good things must come to an end.