7-21 Nha Trang - Day 2

Chris took off at 8:30am with a big biker gang. Instead of diving today, I had to do some important detective work. I was distracted while withdrawing from an ATM last night and forgot to take back my ATM card! I had 3-4 days before I would run out of cash; almost no one takes credit card except 4 star hotels. I tracked down the local bank branch office and was able to get my ATM card back, thank god. I got a motorbike taxi to take me to all the tourist spots as well, which included a great Buddhist temple up on a hill. As I arrived, a procession of monks slowly inched their way into the temple, single file and half humming, half chanting. A crowd of locals were all wearing a similar style and color of clothing and were packed in along the sides of the temple adjacent to the golden Buddha image. Large bells were ringing, people were chanting, incense was thick in the air...it was pretty cool.
It was too late to go diving at that point in the day so I took a sunset snorkel cruise ($8) with some Canadians we'd met the night before. Just as I was climbing onto the boat, I heard a loud rip. My swim trunks had ripped at the crotch and the hole was huge. All I could do was keep my hat over my crotch to avoid giving everyone a free show! Just as the boat readied to leave the dock, I spied a vendor selling swim trunks along the docks. 20 seconds and $3 later, I had a new pair of trunks and jumped back on the boat as it was pushing off. We stopped at a sorry excuse for an aquarium, though I have to give them credit for the construction motif of the building. It was all concrete, but built to resemble a 45ft tall sunken pirate ship with ripped sails blowing in the ocean currents. The highlights were leopard sharks, black tip sharks, and massive groupers all packed into small tanks in an open-air complex inside the ship's hull. Out back, they had saltwater ponds stocked with sea turtles and even huge tuna! I got some dried fish and fed it to the turtles. They got so close I was able to touch their heads as I fed them. The tuna were awesome to watch feed on the fish I threw out to them. As soon as it left my hand and sailed through the air, they were positioning and timing themselves for a swift strike at the surface. They move incredibly fast and effortlessly, it's a real joy to watch.
Snorkeling was a joke but we all had fun diving and flipping off the roof of the boat. I was the only one able to freedive down 20+ feet to the bottom and retrieve all the snorkel masks and gear dropped, so I was treated to free cold Heinekens. The sun was directly overhead and it was about 95*F out, so it was much appreciated. We had a big meal later on as we tied up with three other snorkel boats in about 70 feet of water off an island just a mile off of the coast of the mainland. Soon after the meal, karaoke started up. Mr. Chu, a captain of one of the boats, got things really going with his floating wine bar. If you could swim the 50ft out to him, he'd pour you a shot of his cheap wine, which I can describe as a mixture of red rice wine and radiator fluid. 20 people floated around him, it was a funny sight to see and Mr. Chu was loving every moment.
It was a long day out in the sun so I took a long nap back at the hotel. I'd moved across the street to the Sea Breeze Hotel ($14) which was not as new as the King Town, but pretty nice for $14. That night I went to a beachfront restaurant called Sandals since it was one of the last places serving food at 10pm. It shared the same venue as the Nha Trang Sailing Club, which is the premier and busiest upscale bar/lounge in the area. I took no part in the festivities around me, but indulged in some excellent fine dining that I'd compare to a Scott's Seafood, though at 1/3 the cost. A fillet of sea bass with a sun-dried tomato chutney crust was an incredible meal. I ordered a thin crust pizza for the road not because I was still hungry, but because I knew it must be too good to pass up. I'd planned on eating it for breakfast, but after one slice back in my room, it quickly disappeared.