I think I've found paradise.

I find it somewhat ironic that my last entry finished with me saying it was nice to be moving again.  I’m alive and well in Nha Trang and I have been here for two weeks and to be honest, I’m almost hesitant to ever leave.

Killer bomb to killer whale in Nha Trang.

The trip to Nha Trang was an eventful journey.  I left my hotel in Quy Nhon with clear skies but leaving the town was no easy task.  At first I got a little lost.  Then, Oscar started choking.  I pulled over and got him started again but after a few metres the same thing happened.  It was fortunate that I was travelling uphill as I was able to (reluctantly) roll down the hill to where I was hoping I could find a mechanic.  At the bottom I met a group of guys sitting around on their bikes and after a brief and broken conversation about Oscars short comings they presented a phillips head screw driver and managed to fix my rattly and popping exhaust.  This however raised another concern as although the exhaust was now fixed something else still rattled.  The guys seemed to think it was low on oil but I only had it serviced in Hoi An.  None the less I took their advice (the oil cap was jammed on tight so we weren’t able to get it open to check) and rode all over Quy Nhon looking for a mechanic.  Eventually I found one and what I found incredibly surprising was that Oscar was near dry!  I’m not sure how this happened but I’m starting to conclude that whoever rebuilt this engine is an absolute monkey and should stick to knitting.  The bike started ok and the rattles were gone and I’m hopeful that no ‘serious’ damage has been caused.  So, at midday I FINALLY left Quy Nhon.

The road to Nha Trang was beautiful and for the most part dry.  Infact, it only started raining 30 minutes from Nha Trang.  Bliss!

What's not to love?

Coming into Nha Trang at night is no real easy task.  I would have been arriving in day time had I not had the issues in the morning but riding through peak hour and in the rain in a foreign city was not ideal.  The weather was so not ideal infact that I crashed Oscar as I was slowing down and pulling over to pull out my map.  No damage to me mind (+1 to proper safety gear) but the slide across the road that Oscar endured did leave him a little battered and bruised.  The left side foot peg had been bent (amongst other things) and I was unable to change it out of first or neutral so I pushed him to the nearest hotel and crashed for the night.

So now… it’s been two weeks and I’m still here.  Why?  I love this place.  It’s paradise.  I probably shouldn’t have left this blog entry so late to update because so much has gone on that I almost feel it a chore to write and particularly so when I look out my hotel room and see a bright blue sky.  I guess in short a lot of what makes me love this place are the people.  Sure, the constant touts offering me ‘massage’, cigarettes, sunglasses, ‘boom-boom’, cocaine (yes, that was a new one!) and marijuana was tiring at first but I feel that’s really only a very small part of Nha Trang but for the most part if you only come here for three of four days that’s all you’d see.  The ex-pat crowd here is colourful as are the locals.  People from all walks of life and with all sorts of stories.  Travelling musicians, dive instructors, guys with business back home that they run from Nha Trang, teachers, law clerks, resturant owners, you name it. 

Clearly the coolest Vespa in Vietnam!

A few days ago I was saying I’d leave in a few days.  I’d been saying this for a week but I think I’ll just be honest and say I’ll be here for atleast another week.  Maybe longer.  Maybe I’ll even extend my visa and simply rush down to Saigon just before Christmas.  Thanks to Rainbow Divers I’m now a certified open water (scuba) diver so maybe I’ll spend some more time swimming around looking at fish.  It’s a whole new world down there and it’s by far one of the best things I’ve done on this trip.

Anyway, I need to leave and pick up Oscar from the mechanics.  I had everything from the crash fixed (plus some more) but this time Oscar is leaking fuel.  A whole tank disappeared in less than three days with less than thirty minutes riding.  The staff at my previous hotel (I keep finding better hotels for cheaper so I keep on moving) didn’t like bringing in Oscar to the foyer at night.  Now I know why!  He’s one smelly bike!