Seven o’clock and chainsaws started up directly outside our window — even more surprising considering we are on the fourth floor! The trees next door in the grounds of the large yellow utilitarian Vietnamese government building are all coming down. Some young kids have got up onto the roof and are running around hiding from each other, strangely at odds with the guard-post on the road and the military look of the rest of the building and grounds.
An early morning start, down to the tour office to wait for the bus to the boat. The staff from last night walked straight up to me and asked for their extra $10 change back. Happy to overcharge, but no chance of getting any accidental change out of them!
Down to the docks to find the right boat, the boats are everywhere, standard tour goes to a mix of the standard places. Bus-loads going out for a day of islands, swimming, drinking and partying.
Nowhere near as hot and sunny as , probably a good thing or we’d all be sunburnt badly! Swimming around in the sea, wonderfully warm, but nothing very interesting to see — despite goggles and snorkel, there were only a few small fish in the water, and the water was murky. Every piece of interesting coral and shellfish has been taken and sold to the tourists.
Remember; Do not use the toilet when the boat is not moving says the sign — except someone forgot, or didn’t care. Vietnamese tour boats’ toilets drop straight into the South China Sea, as a result, large turds can suddenly appear drifting through the frolicking tourists as they swim back towards the boat. Not pleasant if you’re in the water, kind of hilarious if you’re in the boat.
Enough of the swimming, stage two of the trip was to cruise to another island, drop anchor and have a huge lunch. The seats all fold up and become one huge table, masses of fruit and seafood appear, and everyone tucks into a magnificent feast. Then its time for music, dancing and foolishness. The crew are determined that its a party boat and you will party!
Off to another island, this one is a government-run resort. An enforced stay of two hours. You can windsurf — if you pay. You can lie on a deck chair — if you pay. You can have a pedicure — if you pay. You can jet-ski — if you pay. You can go kite-surfing — if you pay. You can just sit and drink beer — if you pay. If you don’t want to pay, there isn’t very much to do — and you have to pay to get on the island!
The last island of the day is almost cultural by comparison. There’s a chance to be paddled around in one of the round woven boats, even to paddle one yourself. Two ladies seem to effortlessly make the boats move across the bay with a load of tourists, when the tourists paddle, the boat merely bobs up and down or spins in a circle.
Towards the end of the day the loud French Canadians gradually became louder, obnoxious, drunk, French Canadians. The rest of us were just waiting for them to fall off the boat, or start punching each other. Eventually one of them tried to be smart, smacking his mate in the face as he climbed in over the side of the boat. Back he went into the water, skull barely missing the edge of the dock. The Party Boys manning the boat seemed to get real serious real quick, the drunkard was lifted back on board and the young boy of the crew donned snorkel and goggles to dive back and forth looking for a missing pair of glasses. Amazingly, the glasses were recovered, then we were all on our way back towards Nha Trang.
