A Day in Nha Trang

Yesterday I got a "liberty" day and spent the day in Nha Trang. We took the boat over to the dock and loaded on a bus for a half day tour of the local temples and a Catholic church. I know I use the word incredible a lot in this blog but that's what it was. Our tour guide was a young man whose name translated into Pine Tree. He was great, he taught us how to say "Oh my god, that's too expensive!", really funny and helpful. First we went to an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. It's on a hill that over looks the river that empties into the South China Sea, it overlooks a fishing village. I love the way they paint their boats, much more creative and ornate than what we would have. Then we went to a Buddhist temple with beautiful dragon sculptures and a very beautiful inside temple area where people were chanting, all the monks were in a procession going past this ornate gold and red alter chanting while a huge gong was occasionally sounded. Up on the top of the hill is a huge white Buddha, but what is even more amazing is the Sleeping Buddha on the way up to the hill. Just amazing. After we went to the Catholic Church built by the French, it had beautiful stained glass, and when I was outside I could hear the women reciting the Rosary in Vietnamese. For lunch we went to the Sailing Club, a resort on the beach and had a Vietnamese coffee which was killer, and an asian dish, sort of an egg foo young stuffed with sprouts and seafood, very fresh and delicious. Ran into a young couple from San Francisco and New York. Then the girls went to the market and did some shopping for silk and trinkets, got a red Vietnam ball cap with a gold star on it, I wonder what would happen if I wore it to a Padre's game. The food markets are amazing, dried fish, shrimp and other seafood, rices, fruits, vegetables, flowers. I could have spent a lot more time there. The Vietnamese currency is the dong, and the rate is about 16,000 dong to the dollar so I did a bit of "Christmas" shopping.
Tomorrow is the first International Cricket Match between Australia and India,two of our partner nations on board, on the beach in Nha Trang. They are quite excited about it. At the Operations brief the Aussies announced it and gave a little lesson on cricket for the cricket challenged U.S. folks. The funny story about this is a few weeks ago, a couple of the gentlemen from India and Australia were talking about having their first match on the flight deck and I suggested they announce it, and have the fun boss post it so the rest of us could watch and have a little cultural exchange. Well, they got rained out that day and now it's gone really international by having the first game on Vietnamese soil. Wish I could watch but don't think I'll be able to.
Take care all,