Nha Trang, mud baths, New Years, and water slides 12-31-09

New Years was approaching and we had 6 hours till midnight. Our motor biking group got ready for the evening and Lusa, Gareth, Rich, and I started the night with a nice dinner. Lusa headed to the Sailing Club to meet up with a couple girls from Australia we had met; and Gareth, Rich, and I set off to find some cheap drinks.

We walked into a convenience store and figured the best way to start New Years Eve would be to buy a bottle of booze, some coke, and red bull to make our own cocktails. We needed cups and ice and the little store had neither, so we bought a gallon bottle of water, Rich watered all the potted plants outside, and then we cut the gallon bottle in half and to make two home made “buckets”. The Greek restaurant owner next door gave us some ice and straws, we were three of the happiest backpackers in town.

Down on the beach we started drinking and soon ran into Morika, Sam, and a couple guys who were sporting their own form of “buckets”. We invited them to have a seat on the sand with us and as we listened to the live music playing from the Sailing Club next door, we planned our evening. Our plan was to play drinking games first, then catch a ride up into the mountains to a party we had been invited to, which was hosted by a hostel in town.

As we sat on the beach I remembered I had a dice in my bag I had randomly found on a hotel porch a few days ago. I cleared a spot on the sand in the middle of our circle and explained the impromptu rules. “If you roll and land on an odd number, you have to drink that amount in sips and make up a rule (examples follow later), if you land on an even number you have to drink sips for half that amount and then get to delegate someone or some ones to drink the remaining count. The game progressed and so did our drunkenness. We invited a girl named Milan (from Paris) over to join us, she was strolling along the beach on her own. Soon we had a group of 9, pointing with our elbows, drinking with our left hands only, clapping before drinking from our straws, double tapping the drink as we set it down, drinking more if we cursed, more if we touched our faces, and basically getting more and more drunk by the minute. The rules were a fun twist because we all kept forgetting them as we played.

Bathrooms were a dilemma since we were sitting on the beach and we all needed to get into the Sailing Club to use their facilities. Problem is, there was a 150,000 dong cover to get in, and none of us wanted to pay. I don’t remember who made the first attempt, but we soon learned that if we walked in from the beach side (not the front entrance) and walked with intent, the security guards didn’t look twice or question us. After I used the restroom I walked up the front security guards and made up some story about having dinner here at the Sailing Club and never receiving my stamp (everyone who had paid to get in had a stamp). They stamped my wrist and I knew I was set for the rest of the night if I wanted to come back.

Back in the sand circle I proudly sported my stamp and explained what to do. Again, one by one, our ring of friends snuck in, got stamped, and came back out. Our plan now was to check out this mountain party and ring in the New Year up there… then maybe head back to the beach after.

A 15 minute drive later, we were basically the only ones at this mountain party but it didn’t phase us. We had read the advertisement before we left and knew we were entitled to free shots every hour, a free drink upon arrival, and a bottle of champagne.

The bartenders saw us coming and I could sense their fear of losing all their alcohol. We kindly demanded our free shots and three rounds later were very happy with our mountain party decision. The designated dance floor was covered in white sand and we spent the next hour dancing to really old school re-mixes of pop music on sand, on a mountain. Rich had a bottle of champagne in his pocket and soon we were all counting down the seconds and screaming “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!”

Luckily we had planned to only stay on the mountain party for about an hour or so and arranged for our driver to wait for us (the rides were included with the admission ticket- 100,000 dong). Just like VIP, we walked back towards his van and were brought directly to the Sailing Club back on the beach. In a single file line we flashed our stamped wrists to the Sailing Club security and entered the outdoor dance scene. The place was elegantly decorated with white walls and candles everywhere. The dance floor was packed and we joined in and danced until we couldn’t stand any longer.

When morning rolled around Gareth left for the airport and Lusa, Morika, Sam, Milan, Rich, and I went to a mud bath spa nearby. For 100,000 dong (about $5) we spent 3 hours soaking in warm muddy water, laying and drying in the sun like lizards, washing off the dried mud with power jets, relaxing in hot tubs, cooling in large pools, and lounging in the sun. It was a very stress-free day.

In the morning Lusa hopped on a motorbike and took off on a tour towards Dalat (a town in the mountains). Sam, Milan, and Morika left on a morning bus and Rich and I were the only two left in Nha Trang. We spent the day at a water slide park just 20 minutes away by motor bike and cable car. The slides were great and in no way met American standards. We got a little beat up by the bumps on the slides, but nothing that the lazy river couldn’t fix.

All in all, Nha Trang was good to me. Started with a sunrise on the east beach, ended with a sunset on the west and in-between were days filled with scuba diving, hiking, waterfalls, motor biking, partying, and mud baths. I’ll miss this place.

Next stop, Dalat.