A damaged Ecology

Grilled corn and yams

For a long time now I have been eyeballing a beach way off in the distance I can see from my hotel lobby. Well, I finally decided to check it out. I hired a small tourist boat to make its way to my beach and pick us up. You see…… My idea was that I could offer a tour from my beach instead of having to be herded like cattle to the busy port on the far south of the city. The plan was to put guests into those basket boats and deliver them to the boat moored close by. Take an hour to cruise to the island and then supply equipment for snorkeling. After a bit of swimming, I would fire up the BBQ and offer a beach side supper as the sun set over the city. After dark, we would set out with free drinks and enjoy the city view at night as we approached the shore. I think it is a grand idea and so do others. Lloyd and Lee, two brits decided to

The only Dim-Sum Items I have seen in Vietnam

 accompany me and we headed out in very choppy waters to see what the island was like. I was informed that somebody had bought it, but that was OK…. A few bucks can go a long way here. We arrived at the island and I dawned my snorkeling gear eagerly anticipating a great swim to the sandy beach. Below us were large masses of dead coral, something I am getting used to here. 

Bread to make the ice cream sandwich out of

There are coral reefs both to the left and right of my hotel. It could have been another big piece of paradise. A person can go swimming in front of my place and experience warm sandy beach, but if a person wants, a 10 minute swim in either direction will bring you to coral beds. One of the sad facts about the NhaTrang bay is that almost all of the coral beds have been destroyed. The fish populations were also wiped out and this is what I have been told is the reason. Most of the American soldiers here were little more than kids. At 18 to 20, they had no thoughts of

More tasty roadside food

 environmentalism or endangerment of species and could have no idea of the consequences of their actions would be. I do not blame them…. How could they know the extremes the Vietnamese would take things to. The Vietnamese are a very resourceful people and the environment is the last thing they think about even to this day. Soooooo… Some dumb ass soldier showed a fisherman how a single concussion grenade could stun a lot of fish. A fisherman could just row his basket around and scoop up the profit. Well…… that was the end of a lot of marine life in this area. Grenades were used everywhere killing whole generations of fish and thousands of years of coral development. To this day

A busy evening in front of my Hotel

the coral in most places remains lifeless, and there are so many nets and traps that a fish cannot grow more than 4 inches before it is consumed. It is sad…… Back to the story 

The three of us were in the water and enjoying a bit of a swim. I however, wanted to investigate the sandy beach. The water was too shallow for the boat to get much closer, so I headed off for quite a distance to check out the place. To my utter disappointment, I found that the choral beds ran right up to the shore and there was no place a person could walk or swim without the fear of being cut by the sharp coral. Back on the boat we circled the island in the bucking seas but could not find any other access. Also, this island had a few small buildings that had prying eyes to watch for birds flying the coup. (Sorry to the Viets for the idiom) My mission accomplished, we had the boat operator take us for a bit of a sight seeing tour of the coast visiting some abandoned Russian resort and having a heck of a time

A deserted and unfinished Russian resort

 avoiding nets and fish farms that have been set up. One day perhaps the government will decide that the ocean is a great natural resource and rules will be put in place to protect it…… but not yet. We arrived back at my beach about 4 pm. The local Vietnamese had come to swim and play. When our boat came close to shore to drop us off, the local kids went wild!! A diving platform!! We did not have the time to disembark before dozens of kids had scaled the side of the boat and were diving back in.

Diving and snorkeling in NhaTrang makes for a pleasant day but please do not expect the splendor of diving off the coast of Australia or Egypt. Just enjoy the water and what you can see. The snorkeling and scuba trips are fun and relaxing…. I will be going again with any group of my guests that will have me.

Water, water, everywhere

Meet my friends Beverly and Richard. Beverly is a fun lady I met last year while traveling, and as luck would have it, we have met again. She is from Vancouver, retired, and loves spending time in NhaTrang. Who can blame her. The man next to her is Richard from Washington State. He is a man as fast as me with the one line comebacks… maybe even faster…. But nhyaaa.. that can not be possible!! The photo’s were taken at the Ha Van Hotel where they were celebrating their Employees, a great bunch of people. A funny thing happened yesterday, I was sitting in the lobby working on the computer and Mai was in the kitchen working when a well dressed man on a motorcycle pulled up, he reluctantly parked his bike in the parking area. To

Brad in his new high fashion duds

 Mai’s surprise, a woman came roaring into the kitchen on her motorbike through the kitchen door. It seems they were a cheating couple trying not to be seen going into the same hotel. We politely informed them that we no longer rented by the hour, and they left. This got me to thinking. Maybe I should still offer a room, but at the overnight prices. Why turn away somebody with money. As long as the room is registered to one person, there should be no trouble with police, and they will be gone by the night. Hmmmmmm Besides, there are probably a lot of legitimate lovers that have no

New external paint job

place to go because of multiple families living in the same household. Maybe I should rethink my policy of no short timers…… We will see. I was out taking a couple of shots from in front of the hotel to put on the website I am developing. I think I hit the time perfectly. The shots looked very good and here they are to share with you. Things are coming along nicely. There is confusion, language barriers, and good old Vietnamese impossible thoughts, but I am slowly breaking through those barriers. How about a little bit on water sports? Back in the days, there was no such thing.

Beach in front of hotel 1

 Swimming was the only thing you used the ocean for. Nowadays there is almost any kind of activity that one can imagine. If swimming is your thing, the best location is on the beach where we are located. It is somewhat more sheltered so the waves are gentler and the water is cleaner. The

Beach in front of hotel2

southern beach is still good for swimming, however, there is a lot of activity. A person can rent Sea craft, go parasailing, windsurfing, and of course scuba diving. I have not gone diving yet, but have been offered to go for free in exchange for computer repair services. I may take them up on it one day. There are supposed to be a few decent choral reefs here but sadly many of

Beach in front of hotel3

 them were destroyed after the 1070’s.You see, the Vietnamese being ever the quick learners found that fishing was much more efficient using concussion grenades instead of nets. The fishery was destroyed as was a lot of choral reefs. To this day the fish do not get a chance to grow and fishing although

Beach in front of hotel4

available, is limited to tiny 4 inch fish. The water here rivals any other place on the globe. It is warm, multicolored, and gentle. However, sometimes the main beach may wash up a thing or two a person could do without seeing. The main river that flows through the countryside is also the main disposal place for many towns upstream. Unfortunately sometimes refuse washes up on the main beach area. To their credit, the Vietnamese have cleaning crews out cleaning the beach area and the government is trying to clean up the upstream problems. Our beach used to have a similar issue, but the polluters upstream were shut down and now the water quality is good. The majority of what washes up on the northern beach is simple, harmless, seaweed. Lastly, I stopped at a pub I frequent to use the wifi and do some computer work. He and only one waitress working and he was swamped with customers. I have no idea how hit books will fare, as he was drunk as a skunk and had no clue how much my tab was. I was honest and paid the correct amount hoping that my customers would do the same.