Blogging Pubbitch

Holly, Brendan and Becky and I (the middle two being a couple we've spent the past few days with) decided to head to the mineral springs near Nha Trang the other day. It was thoroughly enjoyable, not only because we weren't attacked by too many Vietnamese keen to part us in from our cash in a hurry (do they think we're fools?) but also because we got to spend an hour wallowing in a large mud bath.

It was like being four again, playing in the cool, liquid mud. Holly is still finding some of it in her ears, but I seem to be able to wash properly, so it's not a problem for me.

The mineral spring itself is about 40 degrees when it surfaces, so using the swimming pool filled with it was like trying to swim in a bath. A very surreal experience.

The Cham are one of the minority tribes in Vietnam, but they previously ruled a decent swathe of it. One of their strongholds was near Nha Trang, and consequently some of their finest surviving ruins are in that neck of the woods so on the way back from the mineral baths we stopped at some Cham towers. They're very impressive brick structures, filled with a thick fog of incense inside around the alters. We didn't quite believe the story about them being as ancient as claimed because of the newly pointed brick-work, but perhaps they suffered from the uniquely asian ability to point to a reconstruction of a thing and claim that because it's in the same place and looks the same as a previous building, it is the same building.

And then we had some beer hoi on the way back, because we'd deserved it. The regulars had clearly been in the cafe we stopped at since noon, and were well and truely plastered --- an intersting sight, especially when they appear to be about to come to blows, but then give up because it's too much effort. And when they pour beer down their fronts and the pretend that never happened.