We cannot have the lie in that we probably deserve, because we are going on a day trip today. Breakfast is included in the price of the hotel, so we eat that before waiting in the lobby for the mini-bus to pick us up. It takes us to the sea and we get in a boat. It's a boat tour to four islands around Nha Trang.
When the boat is full, we all set off to the first island. We don't actually step foot on the island; it's for snorkeling purposes. I bought my own swimming goggles in Hoi An when we were at the beach, and I use those. Rachelle borrows the snorkeling mask provided by the boat tour. In we jump.
The boat had to anchor a little way away from the corals, so as not to destroy them. I'm a strong swimmer, but Rachelle has never had lessons and is not as confident. She decided to turn back just before reaching the coral reef. I continue, diving down and seeing lots of Lion fish as I make my way closer to the shore where the coral thickens on the sea bed. I'm looking down at the coral, where there are more Lion fish, when I feel something touch my foot. I assumed it was just a fish and turned around to see it. It wasn't a fish. It was a jellyfish. The one thing I have always been afraid of since I was young is jellyfish. Some people hate snakes, heights or even tight spaces, but I hate jellyfish. My eyes widen, I swim around it and head back towards the boat. I'd seen enough of the corals.
Back on board, there's an English man who was stung by a jellyfish whilst in the water, and he didn't go back in for the rest of the day. I wasn't going to let the risk stop me from enjoying the beautiful, turquoise waters, and spent the rest of the time at the snorkeling island doing flips off of the boat's roof. I like doing flips.
At the second island we park up again. We don't go on this island either. Instead, it serves as a backdrop for our lunch (included in the tour). We get noodles, omelette, wontons, rice and vegetables. The guide said afterwards, that it is not healthy to swim after eating, and to pass the time, the crew would do a show. They brought down a make-shift drum kit (made from plastic canisters and bowls) and someone started 'rocking out' on it. Out comes another guy on electric guitar and the guide becomes the front man. After the first song, the guide asked one of the Australians on the boat to get up and sing an Australian song with him. After that, he was looking for a British victim to sing a British song. There were three British couples. That means there was a one in three chance Rachelle or I would have to do it, and a one in six chance it would be me. Of course, with no surprise, it was me. I sang Yellow Submarine by The Beetles on a boat full of people.
After the show there was a floating bar: A crew member in a rubber ring in the sea, serving grape wine with pineapple chunks in small plastic cups. Everyone jumps in with rubber rings and gets free drink. I've never been to a floating bar before. It was hard to keep the salty sea water out of the cup. Once on the boat again, there was fruit for desert.
The third island gives us time to relax. We go onto a pebble beach to catch some sun, and swim in the sea. A crazy, old Vietnamese woman started shouting at us Vietnamese. Something to do with the deck chair we were sitting in. We put the deck chair back in the end and she stopped shouting. Moving onto the final island, there was an aquarium. We took our time to look around, seeing sharks, eels, Lion fish, sea urchins, and the like. We had ice creams whilst we waited for everyone else to finish looking around. Then we went back to Nha Trang and to our hotel.
We go for a drink at a bar before dinner. Double vodka cokes for the equivalent of 50 pence. When we try to decide where to go for food, we end up back at the Indian restaurant from last night. It was so good and filling and we needed a good meal. Afterwards, we haggled down the price of a book for Rachelle and went for cocktails at another bar before bed.
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