Learning many lessons.....

Vietnam is becoming the land of many lessons learned. We tried to sleep in this morning but it didn't happen, I woke up at 6am and while Alvo wanted earplugs to go back to sleep (that didnt happen) I took the washing to our hotel lady to get done. The cost is $1 per kilo and I thought my pack was getting a little heavy, the laundry was 3kg and would be finished by the afternoon. We thought about visiting some islands tomorrow but decided that we don't really like it here and are going to get the bus to Hoi An tonight. So we needed to fill in the day so we visited the mud and spa baths. A man picked us up from the hotel and took us....god knows where, to the baths. It seemed like such an ordeal to get a locker, get changed, leave our valuables at the desk and get started but it was worth it. We started off with a hot mineral shower then moved on to what looked like an inground spa where the muddiness began. The mud makes you bouyant and it is hard to sit up, you lay there and rub mineral rich mud all over you, including your face, it was great. Then back to the shower, into a water massage walkway thingy and then to lay in the hot mineral water to relax......mmmmmm, nice. We met a couple of cool Vietnamese chicks who were up for a chat which was nice. Ok, so back to the hotel and we weren't sure what to do next so we hopped on a cyclo, which is like a bike that a bloke behind you pedals and you sit and enjoy the view. After negotiating an hour for $8 we had a tour of Na Trang. We stopped at the Big Bhudda which our rider assured us was free to go to....he wasn't totally wrong, there was no entry fee but there is a donation of $10 for some postcards which is pretty well compulsory....so much for them being Bhuddist....they were very pushy. We checked out the rest of the city and when we got back the rider tried to tell us a different price because he got us back late but we weren't having a bar of that so $8 was the final price. Vietnam is certainly teaching us a few things and we are a bit disappointed that everyone seems to try and scam you....something we didn't find in Thailand at all. Oh, Alvo finally got rid of her headache with a can of red bull, I know that sounds stupid but the extra strength panadol here has caffeine in it so we thought we would try something with a heap of it and it worked. We need to be at the bus by 7pm so we had an early rice porridge with chicken dinner along with a coconut shake for me and a mixed shake for Alvo, it was good. We went back and found the crazy desert called Che, it looks strange but tastes pretty good. It is a mixture of different coloured jelly looking stuff each one is quite distinguishable despite being all mixed in a glass and topped up with coconut milk and ice. We have contacted a friend who is living in Hoi An (someone we worked with in Alice) and he has offered for us to stay with him which will be awesome so we are looking forward to seeing him and meeting his girlfriend. Well it is time to get this posted before the bus arrives, will check in again tomorrow. Tanya xx.