Holidays

     We have returned from our journeys!  Yes, a little early.  We had some wonderful family time,  certain adventures, and learned oodles about ourselves and traveling as a family.  I am so proud of the girls - they are getting so much older and were great travelers, not always in the most comfortable of circumstances.  

     Paradise Resort was a little bit cabin, a little bit camp.  The older French guy who runs the place with his Vietnamese wife is quite a character - very welcoming and charming.  He had a little bit of Grandma Riley in him and looked more like my dad than anyone else we have seen in Vietnam.  The girls ran to embrace him. It was funny.

   The view from our bungalow at Paradise Resort.

   Lesson #1:  The Waughs have decided that we are a flying family.  

The train ride to Nha Trang was an adventure indeed.  Packed to the gills with locals, the train car that reminded me more of New Jersey transit than Amtrak provided a long ride. We were told that we did not need to buy a ticket for Sophie so Charles and I juggled her on our  laps for seven hours.  Don't ask about the bathrooms- let's just say that Sophie mastered a pretty awesome stand on the toilet and squat.

   Lesson #2:  Buy a seat for Sophie.

    When we arrived in Nha Trang, there was not a car to meet us.  (Never did quite figure out what happened there.)  It was pouring buckets and my friend had explained how dangerous and far the trip was.  We decided to not risk it, and stayed in Nha Trang for the night.  Good choice.

    The next morning we set out for Doc Lech beach.  A long but very cool taxi ride.  It was wonderful to get out into the countryside and away from the din of HCMC.  We enjoyed the beach, the amazing shells.  

     Meals were fun - family style as we met people from around the world.  I especially enjoyed talking with a young Dutch couple traveling throughout Vietnam.  A pair of women were there from Finland and staying 10 days!  I felt badly for them.  They hadn't yet seen the sun when we arrived and it was what they were counting on most.

    Maeve loved swimming with her dad in the waves most:

What is your favorite part at the beach?  I asked her on paper.  Playing in the waves.

     

 Here's an intimate glimpse of Charles' and my laying in bed conversation...

     "You know honey, I used to lead two week trips in the middle of nowhere and not be phased at all by lack of clean water, not showering, and sleeping on the ground.  I think I am getting a little soft.  I want a hot shower, fluffy towels, and clean sheets."

     "Yep. You're getting soft."

     " And the beach would be gorgeous and wonderful if it were not for the trash, cow poo, and sharp shards of glass."

     "Oh, now you are just being a snob."

     Needless to say, with the chilly weather, and the feeling that any moment someone was going to get gashed, we headed back to Nha Trang on the third day.  Did I mention that we never had enough toilet paper at any point on our trip?

     Lesson #3:  Julie Waugh had now surpassed the time of great joy from roughing it and  adventure trips. 

Maeve and Charles share a spot of tea on our porch.  Although 70 degrees and cloudy was not the best beach weather, it was glorious after our life in sweaty Saigon.  We all actually donned long sleeves.

Some of Sophie's treasure from the beach were leftover Styrofoam floats from the fishermen at the local village.

The beach is breathtakingly beautiful, even on a cloudy day.

Maeve and Sophie loved jumping the ferocious waves in the South China Sea.

Sophie spent extensive time making sand creations.

The shells were abundant and incredible.  Many were unlike any I have ever seen, and I have never seen so many in one place in my life.  We have beautiful collection of them at home.

Sophie especially likes the coral pieces.

A local fisherman in a traditional Vietnamese basket boat.

A tropical storm in the Philippines made the ocean very rough.  Maeve did enjoy her first lessons from her dad about wave surfing and riding.  Sophie had a chance too, but did not last as long.  They were the roughest waves I had ever been in!

Coconuts right outside our bungalow.  

     After three days at Doc Lech, we went back to civilization and treated ourselves to a nicer hotel room for one night.  Nha Trang is a huge tourist destination in Vietnam with beautiful beaches right downtown.  We enjoyed the restaurant Louisianne, with western style food,  a pool, and beach side umbrellas and lounge chairs. It felt a little like Grandma Sundberg's Ocean Club. We ate there more than once.

     We ventured on cable cars over the ocean to Vinpearl resort - a very upscale resort but also aquarium, and small amusement park.  A couple of hours of good ol' tourist fun.  The cable car trip alone was awesome.  We enjoyed the family car bumper car session too.  The place was empty because it had rained all morning and was "chilly".  It was our best spur of the moment decision on the trip.

     

The view from our hotel room in Nha Trang.

Nha Trang rainbow.

The very cool aquarium on Vinpearl resort.  It had one of those moving conveyor belts that went through a large tank.  We got to see rays, sharks, and huge sea turtles up close.

Maeve the climber, at the Vinpearl kids play place.

View from the world's longest cable car ride over ocean.  This was a cool part of our trip.

     After unsuccessfully trying to secure plane tickets back to Saigon for us (It is a big travel season as we near Tet, the Lunar New Year and Vietnam's largest holiday.), we settled for the blue train.  It was much nicer and cleaner.  Maeve and Sophie loved the novelty of sleeping on the top bunk of the train.  That was until Maeve felt "trainsick" and had a hard time.  It would have been fine if I could have slept at all on a moving train.  Coming home to our own beds was a treat.

     Lesson #4:  The Waughs have decided that they are a flying family.

Top bunks on the improved train ride on the "blue train".

     In all, we had some good times. Cool weather, quiet and ocean, seeing new places. Was it the incredibly relaxing getaway I longed for?  Sorry.  But we are learning that living in a foreign country is often like that.  You are never quite sure what you are going to get.  We did get a good sense of what travel in Vietnam is like, and will make smarter decisions about our next trip.  (Flying within the country, for example, is not that expensive and we could probably budget for it.)

     We were also incredibly proud of the girls and what good travelers they are becoming.  If we were moving, be it train, taxi, or cable car, they were pretty happy.  We will work on their picky eating habits which provide a travel challenge. (And life challenge!)

      Tomorrow morning we head to the known fun place Dem Sen water park for a  last yahoo before we go back to routine on Monday.

     Happy New Year! One of my resolutions is to write more and keep up with this blog. Tan biet for now....