Sunshine & Beaches

Instead of doing the twelve hour journey from Hoi An to Nha Trang, Julie and I decided to stop over one night in Quy Nhon. It seemed like a cute beach town that has nice amenities for tourists while not being to touristy. We were right about the last bit. We were the only 'whiteys' on the bus here so when we got off we were literally bombarded with taxi drivers wanting to take us to our hotel. They were literally so close to us trying to look at the book with us so they could point where we should go. We kept telling them to go away, but they would not listen. We picked the guy in the taxi who stepped back and gave us room to decide. We stayed on the third floor of a little hotel just across the road from the beach. The room included a balcony with a sea view which was amazing at night. For dinner we went to a little restaurant called 2000. We were the only people there. All the girls were fawning over how beautiful and white our skin is. (That is something we learned: They don't cover for modesty, but for looks. The girls will say out right that they wear layers because they don't want to tan.) As we were walking through the parks to get home a rat darted in front of us! This time I saw it! What a dirty gross thing it was. Alberta is blessed with no rats! It was the size of a large gopher with a very long tail. So terrible. But I did have to see one I guess. A lady on a motorbike with her three kids pulled up to us and the young girl (she was 7 or 8) was so pleased to talk to us. She asked us lots of questions (she knew some English, but her mom had to translate our answers) and at the end sang us a song she learned in school! It went like this: "I want to be a teacher. I want to be a doctor. I want to be a firefighter. I want to be a vet. I want to be a teacher. I want to be a doctor. I want to be a firefighter. I want to be a vet. Teacher. Doctor. Firefighter, Vet. Teacher. Doctor. Firefighter, Vet." We were treated like movie stars here where in other places it felt more like monkeys. In tourist places they take pictures, poke at as, or just point, but here they say hi, wave and love just talking to us. It's really fun being so popular! This morning it is SO hot so we went to the beach and collected some shells. The sea was actually warm! We saw a few crabs and even a jellyfish. We are headed to Nha Trang now. Julie's plan is for us to go out and meet more people so that should be fun. Side note: In Hue I saw a guy that looked exactly like a McPoyle! (Sunny in Philadelphia) I got burnt at the beach, but now it is a gorgeous tan! And my hair is getting so golden. Fun fun!