August 22 to 23—Nha Trang Adventures Continue and We Go Scuba Diving!

Dear Family and Friends,

Wednesday, August 22, HAPPY 37TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TO MARTHA’S PARENTS and 27th ANNIVERSARY TO CHUCK AND BETHANN! Our day started earlier than ever with a 4:15 AM wake-up to try to catch the sunrise over the South China Sea. As we walked the two blocks to the sand, color was already breaking across the horizon and many local and visiting Vietnamese were taking their first swim of the day or lounging on the shoreline to see the show. We have learned that the Vietnamese prefer to keep their skin white, so will swim only at dusk and dawn. A few tourists walked the beach, as well, but most of them were loud and still carrying the beers that fueled their long sleepless nights.

What a glorious sunrise! The sky was half covered with spotted clouds and half open with streaks of clouds that captured the changing pastels and neons as the sun tried to break into the day. Light pink to dark pink to orange and yellow, the sunlight crept across the sky, driving the clouds back. On the horizon just below the greatest concentration of color were two peaks of distant mountain islands. To the left and the right, boats out to catch the early-morning fish created silhouettes that Dani’s camera could capture with its incredible zoom. More silhouettes crossed our path as the Vietnamese people jogged along the shore line, ironically adding to the peaceful feeling of our seated positions. When the sun finally did peek its bright eye out, it was directly over the tallest peak across the sea, casting a path of sunshine from our view all the way to the foot of the mountain. We enjoyed the scene until the sky was blue; close to 6:30 AM we walked back to bed for a few hours. When we rose again, it was after 9:00 AM.

Martha still needed to get clearance from a doctor to do any scuba diving, and the concerns with her health history did make her a bit cautious about wanting to do the full certification (with its lack of refund once one signed up) before trying out the sport first. Nontheless, we headed back to Octopus, and the lady at the desk was kind enough to set an 11:00 AM appointment for us with their French-trained doctor at a cost of 100,000 dong (less than 7 USD) for the consultation. With time to spare, we stopped for breakfast of baguette with sausage ordered by Dani and banana and pineapple pancakes ordered by Martha. Knowing how much Dani would not be enjoying her breakfast choice once it arrived and translated to a hot dog with mayonnaise and raw onions, we switched mid-meal, ensuring that the onions would not be offensive to each other as the day progressed. The doctor was on his own!

The cab ride across town to the doctor’s office cost us 30,000 dong (2 USD), and we settled down in the seats to wait. This doctor was obviously Western trained, as our 10:50 AM arrival quickly turned into 11:15 AM, when we broke out the Yahztee. At 11:20 AM, Martha called that we would wait another 10 minutes before leaving. Five minutes before the deadline, we were informed that the doctor would show up no earlier than noon … and we left. It seemed the fates were trying to tell us not to spend the money for the full certification, right? Our cab ride was not lost, however, as it got us closer to one of the locations that Dani had chosen for us to explore in town: a towering 70-meter tall, white, seated Buddha that we could see from the pagoda at a distance the day prior. When we arrived after repeated refusals to hitch onto motorbikes, we were sweaty monsters, but it was worth it.

The Long Son Pagoda itself presented a great glimpse into Vietnamese worship once again and the Chinese-style adornment on the temple was particularly stunning with tiled mosaic lettering, a billowing-headed horse (almost like the dragons that we have seen), and large pot filled with smoking incense. We realized that we had left the hotel without money except for the doctor's fee, so were unable to accept the 'free' guided tour from one of the local orphans in exchange for our purchasing post-cards at a drastically inflated price.

The steps up to the grand white Buddha totaled 150, and Dani called out to Tony and Donna at our gym for their support as we climbed in the noon sun, wiping sweat from our foreheads as they became drenched. Martha put on her hat to keep from having to constantly wipe her brow and eyes. At the top, we took photos, marveling at the way the light worked from the heavens above the white sculpture. Surrounding the seated Buddha were rows of burial plots 'apartment-style' where centuries of cremated remains were stacked four tall with the photo, name, and life's information on the door to their box.

Back down the steps, we walked the several kilometers back to town and to our hotel. Along the way, the heat-of-the-day crankies began to set in, and we eventually found water at the price we’re used to paying for it in VietNam, and our moods were soothed. Back at the room, we continued our discussion of whether we would try scuba. As this was a big part of our reason for coming to Nha Trang and a dream of Dani’s for some time, we decided to look into the day-long Discovery Scuba Diving adventure.

Another of the scuba centers in town had a more attractive day course, so we decided on Rainbow Diving, which is a National Geographic-certified group. The owner had particularly impressed us with some of his rhetoric on preserving the coral reefs in the area, and we felt that if Martha had any problems, this was the group that we’d want to be with to care for her. When we went to fill out the paperwork, as expected, she still needed doctor certification to get onboard.

Kevin had told us about his doctor friend (to whom he goes for his acupuncture to help his back pain) on our first Nha Trang day, including pointing out to us where his office was located. The lady at the counter spoke impeccable English and soon the doctor was on the phone. Although his usual office hours were in the morning and it was close to 2:00 PM by then, he left his afternoon business office where he makes medicines in the Eastern style and returned to help us out.

Dr. Tung checked three spots on Martha’s wrist, listening to the pulse of her lungs, heart, and kidneys (according to him), and deemed her lungs to be a little weak, but strong enough, he thought. He was more concerned with Martha’s quick heartbeat, which has been that way as long as she can remember. Martha wrote a short two-sentence permission stating that the doctor believed she would be okay to scuba, and before signing it, Dr. Tung took the extra step of listening to her lungs with his stethoscope, just to be sure. We spent quite a bit of time thereafter with the doctor, talking about his practice and how it helps the poor in the area through its Catholic heritage and about his training and teaching time in Denmark (where he learned most of his English skills).

We explained our jobs and a bit of American life; Martha was happy to share her knowledge of recent medical research papers that show the pain-relieving merits of acupuncture. And Martha took further advantage of our time with the general practitioner … showing him her dastardly spots on her legs! He confirmed finally that it was an allergic reaction, prescribing her a five-day cocktail of antibiotic, antihistamine, and prednisone to knock it out once and for all. But going to the pharmacist alone would be costly, as they would most-likely charge extra for being foreign. Would Dani like to wait at the office while Dr. Tung and Martha hopped on his white motorbike so he could escort her through the pharmacy? Of course!!

So, we broke the barrier to riding the motorbikes of VietNam. Dani said later that Martha’s face as we took off was embraced in terror. But, Martha was elated to be riding on the back of the motorbike with a ‘trusted’ driver! The pharmacy was close and the medications cost just 70,000 dong (less than 5 USD) with Dr. Tung’s presence. As we were about to depart from the doctor's office to return to Rainbow with our golden ticket to scuba, we asked how much we owed for the consultation. He said that because we were friends, we owed him nothing! After some discussion, he finally took the amount that we were going to pay to the other time-insensitive doctor, at the very least to help someone else who might not be able to pay for their medications. We learned that he works many hours in the day, yet is still sweet enough to want to be a good host and not take money from new friends; what a kind, kind man!!

Before returning to Rainbow with Martha's doctor's note, we realized that we hadn't eaten, so stopped at the stand where we had first run into Kevin … ‘his family.’ The BBQ fish on white rice was divine with cups of ice coffee; they cost just 10,000 dong (0.66 USD) each. There were no problems with Rainbow accepting the doctor’s note, and our next step was to the secure funds to pay for the day. The Western Union office next door exchanged some of our travellers' checks at a decent rate so we were able to pay the 57 USD each for the day, which included the boat ride, lunch, equipment, two dives (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), and the aid of one of the master divers, each of whom would stay with we fledgling divers for the entire dive, holding onto their jackets and pointing out the scenery along the way. Much to look forward to on the morrow!

We took a short walk by the sea, and as dinnertime approached we returned to the room to freshen up. We arrived in plenty of time to meet up with Kevin and Dr. Tung. When Dr. Tung picked Kevin up on his motorbike for the evening, boy was Kevin surprised to learn that the good doctor had already met his American friends earlier in the day!

Down two blocks, Dr. Tung led us to one of his local hangouts, which comprised a short stretch of street where a man sat. He went to one part of the block and found a plastic table; at another he collected four chairs; and down an alley, he filled a pitcher with beer from the local San Miguel brewery. Four glasses, some ice, and Vietnamese tapas from the lady at the cart up the street: kim chi, pickeled onions called o-k-o that Dani adored, peanuts, and dried squid. We enjoyed a few hours of chit chat about the Vietnamese economy, especially how about 70 percent of the population wants to change the communist/socialist format to open the market even wider, which upset our Cuban Kevin rather greatly as he holds onto the ideology of socialism in the Cuban example heroically.

When Dr. Tung's cell phone forced him to leave briefly to attend to a foreigner taken ill at one of the local hotels, we three agreed to split the bill for all the kindness the doctor had shown to each of us. When the bill came, totalling just 58,000 dong (less than 4 USD) for a couple of pitchers and the yummy treats, we practically had to hold down Dr. Tung’s arms to keep him from paying for it all. But, once Martha saw the amount he had taken out to pay the gentleman, she slipped the same into his hands, and we were able to thank our new friend in this small way. As we departed company once again, the gentleman who ran the streetside dining establishment welcomed us to return another day. Early to bed for scuba the next day!

Thursday, August 23, began with a 6:30 AM arrival at Rainbow Divers for our Discovery Scuba Diving one-day adventure! On the boat … a man named Viet told us the basics about the equipment:
• One aspect of the suit inflated to keep you buoyant and was slowly deflated to allow you to descend. In our case, the dive master would inflate or deflate this device to help us find our way down and back up again.
• Two mouthpieces were included in case one should fail (not that Dani let her instructor use it when he ran out of air on her second dive; Dani held all loose tubes tightly as she floated so close to the coral so as not to damage it, but Duc was the best on the crew, so he managed just fine to complete her dive and get to the fresh air safely).
• The proper inhaling technique was through the mouth.
• How to get water out of our facemask.

Finally, we were fitted for our sexy wetsuits. (We will not be posting those photos, but thank goodness we’ve been losing weight these last few months!) On the coral reef surrounding Ebony Island, known as Hon Mun, the experienced divers suited up and headed out first. Next, the three people working towards their scuba certification, including the only American we spoke with during our entire time in VietNam. (Her name was Samantha, originally from Hotlanta, Georgia; she is finishing her first stint in law in Manhattan before working on a more global scale of industrial development. In hopes of keeping herself honest enough not to fall for the money in international development, she admitted to us that she intends to use inside insight from her next few years to then help people make the right decisions in the industrial … and green … development of their economies and peoples. We liked her with her braided blond pig tails and easy smile. A good representative of the All American—inquisitive and intelligent—Woman.)

As the experienced were out for their first dives, going down to 18 meters or greater below the surface, we had an unexpected surprise from this great tour group: we could go snorkeling while we waited! Martha was especially thrilled to have the wetsuit, since the last time she and Dani went snorkeling in Costa Rica five years ago, she had an allergic reaction to the jellyfish stings and larvae … and they were out in force once again! But, it was good practice to breathe through our mouths and get used to moving with straight legs and the fins on our feet.

Back at the boat as others returned, we were suited up in vests and tanks, told to hold onto the front of our masks with one hand and onto the weight belt around our waists (that would be instrumental in bringing us to the deep). Jump out and away from the boat, and we were led off by our guides. We two didn’t get to see exactly what the other experienced, unfortunately, but we had a great time sharing how much fun we had had once we returned to the surface and climbed up onto the boat. We both had great instructors holding onto us and guiding us through the plotted path of the fishes and the living ocean floor. Duc took Martha around her first dive, letting her swim on her own and to hold and touch a sea cucumber and purple starfish. Dani barely worked her fins as she tried to slow things down to stare at every bit of coral and the life around it. We both could not say enough about how happy we were to work through Martha’s fear so that she would be able to enjoy the day! Her lungs were just fine!

Some of the earlier divers slept after their lunch of sandwiches, fruit, croissant pieces, water, and little coconut baked yummies. The rocking of the boat from the early morning, which had severely affected one of the three British ladies who were also about for the discovery course, had settled by this time. We sat down to enjoy the nourishment as the boat waited for all of us to be done eating before it moved to the next location on the other side of the same island. Back out for snorkeling while the second dive began for the certified crew. We encountered more fish here with greater diversity and color. Martha spotted some squid swimming by, and Dani worked around the island to and fro to catch them for a glimpse herself. It was great exercise and wonderful fun to get to enjoy the South China Sea from this perspective.

When we went down for our second scuba dive, Dani was led by Duc, who once again did an impressionable job of sharing his passion with Dani the Discovery Diver. She had an even better time than on her first dive, getting to see the awesome colors among the coral—green, yellow, and orange. She touched a sea cucumber. Martha and Clara, in the meantime, floated together through the colors, with Clara pointing out large school of black fish and the flirtatious lives of the ‘Nemo-type’ fish living in the coral. We had experienced nothing like this before: The swish of sea anemone, the spikes of purple-eyed monsters. The thin bodies of fishes. The kind fin-waves of passing clown fish. And all under water ... actually BREATHING UNDER WATER!

We returned late from the trip, arriving back to the hotel room around 2:30 PM. We did stop in a café for fruit shakes (after all, it had been how many hours??) and then to the room for a much needed shower and undeniable need for a nap. We napped beyond our 4:00 PM date-time to meet with Kevin along the beachfront once again, but were back at the beach by 5:00 PM in hopes of having the luck to run into him again as the evening came around. With no Che or Cuba garb in sight, we grabbed a bite to eat at Red Star, which is recommended in LP for its seafood. Martha had the fish clay pot and Dani had the spicy fish with rice. We split the spring rolls, which were good, but we had hoped that they would be fresh instead of fried. Across the street to Sinh Café, we booked our next-day’s bus ride on the open tour from Nha Trang to Hoi An, VietNam, leaving at 6:30 PM.

As we were about to finish with the tour reservation, guess who we ran into … go ahead, you can guess, … who else but Kevin!? We went for one last evening of beer and political discussion at Dr. Tung’s Roadside Haunt for a 12,000 dong pitcher before getting to bed too late after such a full day of exploring the ocean deep.

In love and light,

Martha and Dani