How to capsize a catamaran.

Had an interesting bus ride from Mui ne, Along the way we saw the last few moments of a terrible accident on the road.  Just as we were pulling through the stalled traffic I looked out the window in time to see a crowd in the ditch and someone pulling a blanket over a dead body.  It's quite common in Vietnam for motorcycle (scooters really) accidents to occur with fatalities much more comon than they should be.  NOBODY wears helmets here, and considering the driving habits its a miracle that more people aren't killed everyday.  The lines on the road seem to be there for pure decoration and its no entirely uncommn for buses to overtake other vehicles on blind corners, horns blaring.  In fact the horn is used more widely than any other signal, with pedestrian crossing signs meaning honk even more.  Approaching an intersection?  Honk.  Passing?  Honk wildy.  Enjoying the empty road and beautiful day?  Honk repeatedly in joy.  When in doubt, HONK YOUR HORN.  There are some rules though: Pedestrians are targets and the closer you can get to them without hitting, the more points you get.  Sidewalks are NOT for walking they are for parking your scooter, streets are made for walking.  Bicycles are allowed to travel in any direction in any lane, and buses and large trucks get the right of way NO MATTER WHAT.

Which brings me to crossing the street.  Look for any opening no matter how small, and go for it.  DON'T STOP, DON'T RUN, DON'T SHOW FEAR THEY CAN SMELL IT, AND ABOVE ALL ELSE; AVOID THE BIG TRUCKS AND BUSES, THEY SHOW NO MERCY.  This sounds a little cynical I know, but I'm writing this in Hanoi after many wonderful and thrilling road crossings.

Nha Trang itself is a great place to have some fun, we went parasailing, which means getting strapped into a parachute and hauled behing a boat until you're 100 feet in the air over the water.  Try to ignore the rusty carabiners and tired webbing and you'll be fine.  DON't pay for "an extra long ride" its a ripoff.  Afterwards I had to confront the ringleader of the staff to get our money back and it was only once I threatened to speak to his boss that our money magically appeared in our palms.

Heading over to a different agency I signed up for catamaran lessons and my guide/teacher ( I use the term teacher loosely as he barely spoke english) showed me the ropes, literally.  Once I had the hang of feeling the wind and operating the sail and rudder he had me put the boat up on one pontoon like I had seen the pictures.  Fantastic!  The catamaran got to about 60 degrees before I let the sail out and we came craching back down to the water howling with laughter.  After a few more times I was able to keep it up longer then it was time to learn how to capsize it and right it back up.  Unfortunatly once it was on its side we lost all wind and with only two of us we didn't have enough weight to heave it back upright.  As help came from the shore I enjoyed the waves and just being out on the water.  We coasted back to shore on the waves and I was hooked.  I have since then vowed to take more sailing lessons and to pursue it further.

Next stop Hoian, cultural centre of Vietnam and THE place to get any kind of clothing made on the cheap.