Benjamin and Eva, Per and Nina, Fiona and I boarded a bus at 7pm last night for the 12 hour overnight trip down to the beach town of Nha Trang, catching up with Dan and Georgie who left yesterday. The ride was very hard, the road full of giant potholes and bumps, not allowing most of us to get much of a sleep. Eva and Nina laid right down on the floor in the aisle of the bus, assuring us that it was much more comfortable than the bus seats. These women can come backpacking with me in the Rockies back home anytime! They just stretch out on the not so clean floor of a bus in the middle of the night, somewhere in Vietnam and get up looking like a million dollars? incredible.

After arriving in Nha Trang and getting a room and a quick meal, we headed straight down to the beach. The waves were enormous; some reaching 2 or 3 meters. As they moved into the shallower water near shore, the would break and come crashing down with incredible force. The only way to get in for a swim was to dive underneath each wave as it moved closer, towering above and then over you. Once out past the breaking point of the waves, you could just leisurely bob around in the them, or catch one and body surf it right into the shore, where it would break and send you tumbling as if you were in a giant washing machine. To finish you off, it would grind you into the sandy ocean floor and recede calmly away, leaving you splayed out in the wet sand like a worn rag doll. I?m certain we?ll all be leaving a trail of sand behind us for months as it works itself out of every nook and cranny in our bodies!