Mud and the Russians

Today was our last day in Vietnam and we had a free day. Twelve of us hopped on a plane and flew up to Nha Trang for a day on the beach. I was really looking forward to snorkeling because we were supposed to have been able to do that in Phuket but we weren't able to after all. And today the wind in Nha Trang churned up the water so badly that not only was snorkeling completely out of the question because you couldn't see anything, but the surf was so strong I didn't want to get in the water at all.

So with a day to spend in a foreign city, two friends and I set out to have a great day despite our disappointments. Turns out we had a great day anyway! We started out at the aquarium, which cost us all of $1 for admission, and had a great time looking at the sharks, stone fish, blue and yellow tangs, and shelves upon shelves of pickled fish. We had a great breakfast of blini (mango, pineapple and banana, and chocolate and banana) which cost us only $6, found a cute tour shop and learned about a place we could go for a mud bath. Being forced to eliminate virtually all other seemingly attractive alternernatives, we decided to give the mud baths a try, even though the lady warned us that the road up to the mud baths was in such poor condition that she had to cancel her bus tours up there because the bus couldn't make it. Turns out she was exactly right. She arranged a taxi, instead, and we headed up not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into. What we ended up with was a delightful few hours at the mud baths. The whole thing was a great adventure and we had an especially good time because Hope and I convinced Chad to come along and participate all the way through.

The mud bathing experience starts with a shower in warm mineral spring water, then a 15 min. soak in a tub of mud. Our tub was big enough to fit all three of us comfortably and it was filled up with mud about the consistency of heavy cream. It stuck to your skin just like cream sticks to the inside of a measuring cup. The mud wasn't particularly warm, so we were glad to get out, except that it was windy and the next step required us to sit in the sun until the mud dried. While we were drying, the Russians appeared. First just a mother and her son appeared and then her husband and a friend came in their speedoes, completely bypassed the drying part of the process and started rinsing off in the mineral showers. I chuckled to myself. I was totally not expecting to see Russians at the mud baths, but it turns out there were a lot of them there. I had noticed that at the cafe that morning the menu items had penciled-in Russian translations but I didn't think too much of it. Now it makes perfect sense. I won't share all of the details of the Russians in the showers, but it's enough that you know it was amusing and I chuckled to myself. They alone made the whole experience worth it. I love Russians. They are so.... well..... Russian!

After drying, we rinsed off and boy was that a trick. I had mud absolutely everywhere, and while in the end I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it washed off by skin, my swimsuit was (and is) still pretty gritty. The normal shower rinse was followed by another rinse that somewhat resembled a car wash, with sprayers on all sides. That, again, was not particularly warm so we quickly moved to the mineral spring water tubs where they filled the tubs with hot water. Ahhhhhh. We stayed and soaked until the water started to cool, then dried off, changed back into our clothes and headed back to town.

That was definitely a unique experience! And while I still wish I could've gone snorkeling, all that means is I can look for another opportunity to do that. :) (But probably much closer to home than Vietnam.... I'm thinking Hawaii or somewhere in the Caribbean, neither of which I've visited... yet.)

So tomorrow we leave Vietnam and I am sad. I have enjoyed my time here and wish I could stay longer. I really haven't seen much of the city itself, but it's definitely a place I would return to if given the chance.