Nha Trang

I escaped Nha Trang today for another motorcycle ride into the countryside. I also escaped most of the tour group, too, as it was only three of us. We started with a ride up a winding road up into the mountains, stopping once to take pictures of a rice field and some cows. Our next stop was along a river and some falls. I waded in it up to my mid-calf – had a bit of a foot massage against the sand and rocks. The scene was surrounded by trees and full of the sound of insects/wildlife. We spent some time there and I spent some of that sitting on a rock and staring.

Next was a ride *down* the mountain and a visit to villages who make (respectively) brass castings, rice paper (for salad rolls, or thick for crackers), and woven mats. We also stopped in at an old house that showed how Vietnamese people live/lived before they started moving to the cities.

Lunch was noodles soup from a woman set up at the corner by the rice paper making place. Noodles and broth, with tofu and green stuff (cilantro). Yum. It is veggie because it was new moon, which is a day when Vietnamese Buddhists eat veggie. We also learned how to eat said noodles soup – using chopsticks to collect noodles onto spoon, add a little broth and deposit to mouth.