Paradise
On arriving at paradise we were met by a lady who said welcome to paradise. She seemed to own the place but subsequently she turned out to be a guest. And paradise it was. Having walked through the gates we rounded the main building and were met by a small number of bungalows situated in lush jungle on the edge of a beach with blue sea. We had arrived!
On showing us to the to the most expensive bungalow they had, albeit with an amazing view the haggling started again. It has become increasingly clear why Caroline works in marketing. In Vietnam you should never accept the first price and agree a fair price. That’s just the way it is and what is expected. Caroline on seeing something she likes asks how much it is and then turns to me advising that she really likes it and as such our point of bargaining power is null and void! Still $50 a night including all your meals is not too bad!!
The paradise experience was actually great fun although we found it slightly cult-ish having collective meals and being served by dumb folk. Literally! The guy who runs the place is 84 and employs the “handicapped” as we were informed in a rather “un PC” manner by a Swiss lady. The old french guy seemingly has it sorted as he seemed to have a family and a number of cult members who seemed to be at his beck and call! He advised us that Tea, coffee, water and he was free! I nearly killed myself laughing but I think Caroline felt a little uncomfortable! Seeing as he confirmed with me that she was in fact married, whilst giving her the eye looking her up and down. During the next couple of days we walked on the beach, swam in the sea and generally relaxed although meal times were always interesting and the mix of so many different nationalities gave us good reason to laugh at both their and our ignorance! We enjoyed paradise but it certainly reminded us of something like a cross between the Moonies and the film the Beach just without the Pot! We caught a taxi to Nha Trang which was pretty uneventful with beautiful scenery and not too many near death experiences!
Nha Trang is a bit like the Ibiza of Vietnam or the Cote d’Azur certainly, we found a bargainous hotel online one road back from the beach, with a sea view, which actually had a lift, we had come up in the world. We dumped our bags and headed out to explore
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