Here's mud in your eye!

There is a bar here in Nha Trang that gives street kids lessons for free. You can volunteer to give them free English lessons in the morning. This was just one of the things that we thought we might do over a bottle (or five) of wine the other night. We didn't do it and judging on their persistence they don't need any help with their English. But we did make two other decisions which we did carry out. Yesterday we went on a one day boat cruise around four islands and today we went to the mineral mud baths.

The boat was fun but my throbbing head wasn't. We had spent the whole of the previous night at a Mexican restaurant (I have lived in Asia for the last three years so really feel no guilt at taking a break from Asian food) until we had finished all the wine there. Seemed a good idea to go back to the hotel, buy some beers, and sit on the roof. We made it up there but really didn't manage much of the beer. Ah well.

The bus to take us to the boat was late but we made it in the end. There were many Vietnamese on the trip- including one little kid who I played with for the first five minute or so and who then screamed his little head off for the next two hours. Not my fault, honest. WE cruised, we swam, we snorkelled but my favourite part was the floating bar. Which was basically a guy on a little float giving out free wine (well, he said it was wine but I have never tasted wine quite like it) while we floated around in life rings. It was cool and relaxing and no-one tried to sell us anything which made a change. Unfortunately I was having too good a time to notice the sun slowly making its mark on my back and across my shoulders.

Got back to the hotel and bought some much needed after sun cream to the amusement of the girl there- I don't know if she was laughing at my sunburn or this often happens to people who have been on the boat trip. Last night I refused even one beer over dinner to make up for the damage done earlier.

Today we rewarded ourselves with a lie-in and went off to the mineral baths around 11. We hired three motos there and even after four days on the back of a 125 I must have looked like a novice as the guy grabbed my ankle and forced my foot onto the pedal. Once inside we went outside again to a bunch of showers and showered off. Then onto the baths which were open air pools. We bathed in one bath and a guy came over to take souvenir photos. At least we think that is what he wanted and not for his private collection. He wanted us to pour mud over each other while he took photos. We imagined that any minute he was going to try and get us to wrestle.

This was the first time that I have had a mud bath since being a grown up (not sure playing in the back garden as a kid had the same health benefits that this place claimed to). The mud was thinner than I thought it would be. And it was a mineral mud bath so pretty salty which meant that we floated around all over the shop. We hippoed around in the mud for a while before moving onto the high pressure showers. Then a hot bath. Then the swimming pool. Even after all that I was still finding mud in my swimsuit and ears.

We came back to Nha Trang and had lunch before I went back to the hotel room for (another) shower which revealed more mud in places that I didn't know I had places. Goodness. Now the girls have gone to the beach while I have, sensibly, decided to rest my sunburn for a while and blog instead. Tonight we are on a bus to Hoi An which will take around 11 hours. Not looking forward to it much. I'll catch up with you all there.