Day 5 with more pics... and home

I awoke bright and early after a very comfortable night in our Nha Nghi above the beach. (See first pic.) We each had a room, so didn't disturb each other in the night. As Mark showered I went out to watch the night's catch being brought onto the beach by everyone.

Women and children carried heavy sacks up the steep concrete slope and when they'd decided on a good spot in the sun, emptied out heaps of tiny fish, which they spread out to dry, raking over continuously. A motorbike made a steep descent to the beach where men and women were dividing the spoils, and a huge block of ice arrived on another motorbike.

I was charmed by a little girl of 9 called Hoa, meaning flower, who exercised her selling techniques to persuade me to buy a bracelet at a very inflated price. It seems that the children do whatever work they can in the mornings; she sells her trinkets and shells, going to school at midday. She was very bright and I could see that she was used to charming tourists with her excellent English, so took her photo. Finally Mark's pics are downloaded and here she is.

We'd decided the previous day that I'd return by train so that Mark can get back quicker on his own. We had half a day to relax as my train wouldn't be leaving till 1.45pm so found a little pho shop for breakfast, which was different to the usual pho we get.

Everything's different here; its so much quieter and fresher than Saigon and Bien Hoa, which are after all, the equivalent of Manchester and Salford. Then into the town for our hot, sweet coffee in the beach cafe and a paddle in the warm surf.

Crossing the river into Phan Thiet, then the Cafe on the beach and the idyllic coastline.

The train journey back was slow but comfortable. As it's mostly single track line between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, there were long stops, I presume to allow the fast train to go through, but I had a book to read and dozed off, arriving back home at 6.30pm. ready for a good night's sleep.