Nha Trang

Nha Trang is located on the coast of South Central Vietnam facing the South China Sea. In contrast to sleepy Phu Quoc, there was a big hotel strip and the beach had giant waves. Gianna commented, "the water is too loud", but she still enjoyed making sand castles away from the water.

On Christmas Eve, we got dressed up for the hotel's Christmas gala. The whole strip was alive with Santas on motorbikes and little kids all dressed up to get their pictures taken. Santa was at the hotel handing out presents to the kids and two guys with a violin and guitar were playing Christmas carols with Frank Sinatra's "I did it my way" thrown in for good measure. The buffet was excellent with fresh seafood grilled to order and a large dessert table featuring a Bûche de Noël. The best part, we got to meet other adoptive families on vacation just like us.

We wanted Christmas Day to be special, so we booked a trip to Monkey Island. After all, what says Christmas more than a monkey circus and hand feeding a bunch of wild monkeys? We had a personal tour guide and driver for the whole day. First stop was Monkey Island, where Gianna commented "Monkeys do not ride bikes". We didn't feed any of the wild monkeys, especially since we had a small child with us. The monkeys came very close and were quite interested in my camera. It was all a little unnerving since we were highly outnumbered. We spent a little time at the Monkey Island beach with the monkeys watching us from lounge chairs. Then we went back to the mainland for lunch at a Vietnamese family restaurant, which Dan described as, "the best meal I've ever had". After lunch we hiked up a mountain to a waterfall. The spring-fed creek was much warmer than any I've ever swam in, still quite refreshing in the tropical heat. On the way back to the hotel, a huge funeral procession passed our car. At the center, there was a temple on wheels with women riding on the back throwing out paper money. Our guide explained all the intricacies of Vietnamese death and funeral customs.

The rest of our time in Nha Trang was spent on the beach and sampling local cuisine; then we headed back to Saigon. Before hopping on the flight home, we picked up a few áo dài, saw a lion/dragon dance, did a little sightseeing, and took advantage of the New World Hotel Saigon pool. It was a wonderful trip, probably the best vacation we've ever taken, especially since it was with our beautiful daughter Gianna.