Paradise Found
We're not sure if the plane actually crashed and we ended up in heaven, or what. But this place is unbelieveable. We're in Nha Trang - or more accurate, we're at a beach resort in Nha Trang. The city itself is pretty much like all others we've been in. But the resort is beyond description. I keep expecting to turn the corner and see Tattoo or Mr. Rourke walking towards me. It's that good.
Michelle had targeted this place to stay and we agreed this would be the one "splurge" on the trip. We just had no idea of exactly how nice it would be until we got here. More correctly, the fact that this part of our trip would be so very nice and so very different began to set in when we arrived at the Nha Trang airport. We got to the baggage claim area and were greeted by a representative of the resort who informed us that a porter would claim our bags for us. We were then ushered to a running, air-conditioned van, given a moist washcloth to freshen up, then handed ice cold bottles of water. Bottles of water that were covered in thin burlap bags so that the condensation on the outside of the bottle wouldn't drip onto us. We were stylin'.
It only got better as we arrived at the resort and were offered fresh juice or champagne, then taken to see our private villa and given a tour of the grounds. Our villa overlooks the ocean and opens onto the beach. We have a lanai with chairs and table - and our room is easily as large as the first two hotel rooms we stayed in put together. Of course, the room cost is easily as much as what we've paid this whole trip so far, but hey - as long as we meet the budget, it's okay.
It's a very different experience from the rest of the trip - and we certainly enjoyed the past few weeks as we really experienced life as local Vietnamese for the most part: eating pho and other meals from sidewalk stalls, walking everywhere, avoiding moto-bikes being driven with abandon. But, we also really enjoy this life too - everyone calling me "Mr. Todd", getting scented pillows at night to enhance our rest, a spa on site, dining at tables on the beach, taking a hot bath in clean-enough looking water, not sweating every minute of the darn day. I've realized that I would have been quite comfortable in the trappings of a colonial governor in SE Asia back in the day.
We'll post more if we can pull ourselves away from the busy-ness of doing absolutely nothing other than ordering pina coladas while sitting on the beach. Hope that snow in Chicago is treating you all well ;-)
Michelle had targeted this place to stay and we agreed this would be the one "splurge" on the trip. We just had no idea of exactly how nice it would be until we got here. More correctly, the fact that this part of our trip would be so very nice and so very different began to set in when we arrived at the Nha Trang airport. We got to the baggage claim area and were greeted by a representative of the resort who informed us that a porter would claim our bags for us. We were then ushered to a running, air-conditioned van, given a moist washcloth to freshen up, then handed ice cold bottles of water. Bottles of water that were covered in thin burlap bags so that the condensation on the outside of the bottle wouldn't drip onto us. We were stylin'.
It only got better as we arrived at the resort and were offered fresh juice or champagne, then taken to see our private villa and given a tour of the grounds. Our villa overlooks the ocean and opens onto the beach. We have a lanai with chairs and table - and our room is easily as large as the first two hotel rooms we stayed in put together. Of course, the room cost is easily as much as what we've paid this whole trip so far, but hey - as long as we meet the budget, it's okay.
It's a very different experience from the rest of the trip - and we certainly enjoyed the past few weeks as we really experienced life as local Vietnamese for the most part: eating pho and other meals from sidewalk stalls, walking everywhere, avoiding moto-bikes being driven with abandon. But, we also really enjoy this life too - everyone calling me "Mr. Todd", getting scented pillows at night to enhance our rest, a spa on site, dining at tables on the beach, taking a hot bath in clean-enough looking water, not sweating every minute of the darn day. I've realized that I would have been quite comfortable in the trappings of a colonial governor in SE Asia back in the day.
We'll post more if we can pull ourselves away from the busy-ness of doing absolutely nothing other than ordering pina coladas while sitting on the beach. Hope that snow in Chicago is treating you all well ;-)
posted by ToddV at
9:09 PM
