Nha Trang

Nha Trang is a black hole. In a good, you-don't-want-to-leave way. Some guy warned me about this, and while I got out of there yesterday, I really wanted to stay at least a couple of more days. It's supposed to be a big party town, lots of foreigners because of the good beaches and diving, and I suppose it is, but I didn't party at all, and I was loving it for entirely different reasons. Firstly, I bought a new guitar when I got there, so I'd have something to play while travelling, and suddenly every Vietnamese person in all creation wanted to be my friend. That's not necessarily a non-annoying thing, but it did gain me entry to some cool places, like the houses of some nice people, and some music-making with new acquaintances. the point is, Nha Trang may be known for lots of foreigners coming to scuba-dive and party, but that doesn't mean that's all there is there, nor does it mean that the people of Nha Trang aren't still keeping it real. Plus, I got to swim in the ocean.

-I saw a cock-fight in a back-alley. Eww. they looked like vultures. And one guy was trimming all the feathers off his champion bird's chest and telling me he was the Mike Tyson of local cock-fights.
-Went to the Cham towers (Hindu-Buddhist, see picture.) Here again, I snuck in for free, but I more than made it up for it in the donation box, no worries.
-Lots of gambling. You put three dice under a cup, shake it around, and people guess what numbers come up. Sophisticated entertainment, I know.
-Went exploring in the harbour, with the help of the boat-man pictured below. Took lots of pictures and smelled the (mostly bad) smells of the harbour. The fishing fleet was all moored because they work at night here. On the night horizon the fleet looks like another city out over the water. -I didn't go to the big Lonely-Planet-recommended pagoda here, because in exploring the back city, I found some stairs which led me to a smaller Buddhist temple. No tourists whatsoever. No one, except the grey abbott, two very young apprentice-monks, a man in brown robes who was may have been a servant, and two women, occupation unclear. And a dog who barked at me, then the abbott smiled and asked "le chien?" It seemed to be the only French he knew. They taught me to sing a chant in Vietnamese. It was a ball.