Day 8 - Nha Trang

It was a day full of surprises and scams as we ventured our way to Nha Trang. It started off with a scare as we were stuck in a very bad traffic jam in Saigon. Little did we expect the situation to be that bad, cars after cars, bikes after bikes. Accompanied with the non-stop horns from these vehicles, we were totally on our toes, afraid that we might not make it in time.



Finally reached the airport at about 0955, where the flight was scheduled to depart at 1015 and we were supposed to reach 30mins before departure. As soon as we arrived at the domestic airport, we raced to the nearest entrance we could, with the aid of a few helpful locals who pointed to us the direction to go. Its like 4 idiots rushing for time, sprinting around in the airport, seemingly likely to miss their flight. Feels a lot like the amazing race and we finally understood why they were so anxious if they were to miss their scheduled flight.



At the end of the day, we still managed to catch the flight and arrived in Nha Trang at about 12 noon. The airport had a special system of transporting its passengers to the city area. A ticket had to be purchased and paid at the counter before one could board any taxi. We were a little wary of the taxis here having read a lot online beforehand. The scary part was that the taxi's meter was still on throughout the journey and for a moment we thought that we had been scammed by having to pay twice!



Nonetheless, Nha Trang is a very beautiful city right beside a long stretch of beach linking the South China Sea. The road towards the city area is a scenic view of coconut and palm trees, sand and the sea. It feels very much like the tropical regions of US, especially when the country music played in the cab perfectly matches the view in front of our eyes.


Song broke the glass while trying to 'squeeze' the ice into the glass. What a joke!



Just as we were praising the relaxed atmosphere (the traffic was a huge contrast to Saigon), a walk down the beach was rather disappointing. The coarse sand made it rather unfavorable for beach sports like volleyball or soccer to be played and the beach thrives mainly on water sports like jet ski, parasailing, windsurfing etc. We strolled down the whole stretch of beach before returning to our hotel to rest for the big event tonight.







Changed into shirt and pants before we proceeded to the Crown Convention Hall for the Miss Universe 2008 Presentation Show! There were about 4 to 5 road blocks along the way in order to filter off vehicles with no tickets to the event. Had purchased the Silver ticket but as the hall was not full, we actually managed to seat at a place that cost about USD100 more..! It was a wonderful experience as we saw all 80 contestants in their swim suits and evening gowns. Each and everyone of them is tall and beautiful, confidently performing catwalk on stage and displaying their excellent figure and talent. It felt good to be part of this grand and wonderful event, Miss Universe 2008.

We were almost stuck at the Convention Centre after the show as our pre-arranged taxi driver gave us a no-show. As roads were blocked on the way there, there wasnt a single taxi around. Even though the show ended at 10pm, it wasnt till 11pm that we caught sight of the first taxi. Managed to return back to the hotel at about 12am. A truly disappointing act by the taxi driver.

Diving awaits tomorrow. Cant wait!

Day 9 - Nha Trang