16th Feb 2010: Down the coast to Nha Trang

We decided to be smart about our travels the next day, so instead of taking a taxi we hired a bike for the day and set off on our adventure back to the beach. We had a coach to take that evening, so we had to check out, leave our bags behind reception and set off for a bit of beach action before our trip that evening.
Cycling doesn't come that naturally to me (apparently I look like a bit of a donkey on a bike) but I have to say that, despite the traffic and motorcycles, I felt fairly confident cycling in Vietnam! Maybe it was because so many people cycle, that I felt some sort of safety in numbers on the road..
We got to the beach which was absolutely packed (again) and searched for another bargain restaurant and deck chair combo. Unfortunately this time round we weren't as lucky. Yes we did manage to secure free deck chairs in exchange for a promise that we would have lunch in the restaurant, but, when we received our grilled fish it was completely off! Chewy, smelly and rather similar to cat food, Leon and I had no choice but to complain and return the terrible fish. The manager did give us some amazing garlic prawns in exchange but we were a little upset that they tried to pawn off some old fish to us. Some people never learn.
After another glorious day of sun bathing and swimming in the sea, we cycled back, grabbing some baguettes on the way, all ready for our journey for the evening. We had to wait in the travel agency for hours until the bus eventually arrived, and the scramble to get onto the sleeper coach was one of the funniest sights I have ever seen. About 25 people were following this coach around as it was trying its best to turn round in the road, almost knocking people off their feet because they were just following it so as to get onto the coachh first. Luckily we had learnt the trick of getting one person to man the bags, whilst the other one queued, so we secured some ground floor beds next to each other. The man who conducted the coach was evil however, and kept shouting at everyone (including me!) to take off their shoes, not use the toilet etc....we could tell this going to be VERY long journey!