Update: View our most recent words and photos from Hoi An here.

Ahhh Nha Tang. So much pasta and beer. Let me start with an admission: yes we had three Italian meals but I regret nothing. 6 weeks away, a girl’s gotta have some pasta! The two Italian restaurants that we chose to eat at were unfortunately situated right next to each other. Slipping into the different restaurants each night without the two feuding (“I may-a have the best-a pizza in Nha Trang but I just-a not say I have the best.”) Italian chefs spotting us was a difficult task requiring the highest level of stealth. Thankfully, I think we got away with it and as a result we got to have the best coffee and pasta we have had since being in Vietnam.

We spent the majority of our time in Nha Trang doing some more scuba diving with Rainbow Divers. We did 2 days out on the boat at various dive sites and it was absolutely stunning. However the water was a little colder than we were used to; 23 degrees! We thought, oh that’s nothing, just a little colder than bath water, but when you’re 17 metres below the surface, the goosebumps really start to set in.

The dives all left pretty early in the morning so on both days diving, we opted to have breakfast at the Rainbow Cafe which sits right next to a morning and after school care group. Watching all these tiny, tiny kids getting dropped off by their parents each morning, some crying, some so excited to get inside they barely wait for the motorbike to stop, is highly entertaining. One boy (~2 years old) would hop into the driver’s seat of his Mum’s motorbike and was allowed to ride it forward one metre with Mum holding onto the handles. He enjoyed this immensely and would hysterically cackle ever time the bike lurched forward. Endearing or scary? A little from column A and a little from column B.

On one of our days off between diving, we thought there would be no better way to spend the time than going to an amusement/water park! That’s right, just a short 3.3km trip in a cable car ACROSS THE OCEAN until you hit Vinpearl Amusement Park; an island home to rides, arcade games, underworld aquarium and a water park.

The entrance fee is $20 and that includes all the fun you can handle, even a 4D Aladdin magic carpet experience. Yes, you heard correctly. (pretty sure Disney doesn’t know about this). We spent the day on dodgem cars, hilarious circus themed rides, arcade games and then we hit the water park.

I am, unfortunately, a fairly boring person compared to what the kids call an “adrenalin junkie” and I prefer to sit and watch passively then to go on any ride (clearly I am an AWESOME companion at an amusement park) but I rallied and told Tim that I would accompany him on one slide. Unfortunately for me, I picked the scariest, stupidest ride they had. Aptly named the “Tsunami”, it is a 13m drop in a rubber tube down a running stream of water into a halfpipe which forces you up and down until you run out of momentum. After what seemed an endless flight of stairs, all colour drained from my face as I approached the ledge. The man operating the ride stopped to ask if I was doing ok. “I’ve been better”, I managed to squeak. With Tim already in the tube, I hopped in the back and braced myself. Two seconds later I was freefalling and there was no time for my stomach to even drop, it had already called it quits back at the stairs. I was screaming maniacally. Tim was laughing maniacally. Eventually you come to a stop and as we tried to navigate the tube down the final ledge, we gracefully capsized and flipped into the water. As I was shaking like a leaf, I left Tim to conquer the rest of the slides on his own, which he did but returned at the end of the day with blood blisters and bruises down his back from the poorly joined slide segments.

We were also in Nha Trang for ANZAC Day and as we couldn’t be drinking beer, playing 2-up or watching any marches back home, we went in search of some Australian beer to celebrate.

On our travels we came across the Louisiane Brewhouse which was started by an Aussie a few years ago. It is a micro-brewery that specialises in six or so beers and is situated right on the beach with a poolside setting that gives the place a whole resort feel. Take away the beach and you could easily find this place in the inner west of Sydney! A very good find for some nice beers at a pretty cheap price.

Having spent five days in Nha Trang, the majority of it in the water, we are now aiming to make tracks and head further north to Hoi An. Shopping paradise. Is this ideal on a backpacking budget? Short answer: probably not.

Getting there: a 3 or so hour journey from Dalat, including some off-roading where they had just decided to stop building the road.

Staying: Carpe DM Hotel. Fantastic rooms for the price and great location. However breakfast not included and reception was a little lacking.