Hi everyone!

First of all Merry Christmas I hope you are all enjoying yourselves!

Pieter and i are in Nah Trang aand we have been in Vietnam for a week now. we travels by bus to Ho Chi Minh City.  WE stayed there two nights and then too a bus to Dalat in the central highlands. Ho Chi Minh was pretty crazy, there were sooo many motorbikes and scooters! And one night we took a walk to the river which ended up being a big mission the traffic was tooo heavey and the streets and pavements were thick with people night shopping and visiting shops and centres with huge christmas decorations and snowy christmas trees!

The Bus trip to Dalat was 4hours  but it was comfortable and there was alot of jungle and country side to see. The temperature in Dalat was cool compared to anything we had felt  because its 1500m above sea level which also made it windy too! The town has a real european feel about it! And it produces a huge amount of fruit, vegetables and flowers. WE discoved there dried fruits at the market and had a feast on strawberries etc.  

The Dutch have actually had a bit influence here too, they use alot of glass hoses and irrigation systems and processes adopted from the dutch to grow and farm there flowers and crops!

On our second day we meet River and Lam they were "Easy Riders". Dalat are famous for their Easy Riders. The are tour guides that take you on motorbike trips of your desire. So after looking at his photos and have a few laughs we spent the day visiting waterfalls and a few interesting places to see in Dalat and then decided to do a 2 and a half day trip with River and Lam.

We left at  traveld through the minority villages with many many coffe plantations! The Vietnamese love their coffee Strong and dark! its some of the best in the world apparently.

The first day we saw traditional silk work farms, silf factories,  mushroom farming, tea platations, flower farms, and some pretty country side. WE stayeed in a hilltribe village, which was still kind of touristy a bit. But it was next to a big lake and we saw a beautiful sun set there and watched an elephant grazing and bathing in the lake. WE had a wonderful feast that night with Lam and River. All traditional Vietnamese food. And we even got introduced to the minortiy rice/banana wine! a ceramic cask full of fermented dried bananas, leaves, rice and spice, you pour water in it and let it soak and then drink from bamboo straws, It was soo strong! but interesting , it tasted like nothing we  had ever tried!!

We left on our second day and the wind was soo strong in the exposed stretches of road that we had to travel 20km or even stop! Rivers motorbike even had trouble with the ignition wires becasue th wind was so strong! crazy! Alot of the time were were riding through school children on there way home  or past small villages and little kids would smile and wave saying hello! hello!  that was kind of cool, they dont see alot of westerner's  or blonde hair !

we saw alot o water falls on our second day. WE stoped off at a ceramic pot company, a 20yr old boy was there he earnt $1500 USD a year working there Every day. it was interesting to see how they were made. We had a picnic lunch of fresh spring rolls and fruit at a bit waterfall that day. They went for a walk into the national park a little bit and visited a farming family, they grew cashew nuts, vegtables, corn and all sorts. Food is the most important part of life for them, its there income and they rely on it alot. So two sisters (15yrs) and there brother (20yrs) were working while we were passing through, hand ploughing the ground to plant chillies. Pieter had a race with River to see who could plough the fastest

We had another vietnamese feast for dinner it was so good! then in the morning we said goodbye at the bus station and went to Nah Trang. The bus was so crowded and we both suffered really sore back sides after that trip!!!!!!!!

Our guest house in Nah Trang is near the more touristy area of the city. Theres a long sandy beach a block away from us and we are 5mins from the local market. We arrived on saturday the 23rd so that night we ate dinner from the market and bought a botlle of vietnamese vodka and some mixes for about $2 and relaxed at home before we ventured out into the night! Nah Trang has alot of bars and clubs and there are alot of westerners around this area so chritmas is pretty decorative and commercial here. We played pool and had made our way around several different bars before going to Nah Trang Sailing club which plays good house/dance music  sowe stayed there for a long time!!... Dancing dancing dancing! till 4.30am??

Then the weirdest thing happened. maybe 100m from leaving the club a group of vietnamese girls slowly came around us as we were walking, giggling and then hug and sweet talking to Pieter and I!!  They had therir hands all over us. Checking pockets and tryin to find money on us. I was holding our camera and case AND our small money bag over my shoulder so i had about 3 g irls sneakly trying to open my bag and camer case! Pieter had a bout 4 on hime but his pockets etc were empty so he dint have lot to hold on to! WE just kept saying we are going home see you! bye! While holding on tightly to our possetions!! We were able to have a laugh about it after but it just goes to show that it can potentially be very easy to loose everything! and i think if it wasnt that there were two of us it could have been different. But they werent violent, they are just very huggy and touchy
! :S trying to sneak there hands into your wallet! So after 50 metres  we got rid of them. And i think we were both very proud of the way we handled the situation.

My birthday was really special. One of the best ive had despite waking up with a bit of a head ache Pieter and i went to the market abd brought fresh in\gredients for bagette sandwiches and fresh spring rolls. We spent time at the beach, i wrote in mmy diary, read and watch pieter play some soccer with the local kids.

We went home for a rest and then i got a special birthday surprise from Pieter presents and a red rose! xo 

Thank you very much for the lovely card and earings Theo, Mieke, Jan, Frank, Anne and Monica! I'm so excited about Pieters present, im starting to learn dutch, so soon i will be able to read Theo and Miekes  part of the card by myself! pieter didnt translate it for me!

(Christmas Day) Pieter and i went to the beach, played soccer, relaxed in the shade and now we are off to the Mineral Mud pools! mmmm Mud!

Lots of love to you all i hope you all had a safe and happy christmas.

we are traveling by bus to Hoi An tomorrow

Nina & Pieter

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