Quy Nhon update.

It is the morning after we have arrived, I have finished my morning wander and I can tell that Quy Nhon (pronounced "whee en gone") will take more than one post.

Our room at the Hotel Au Co is too funky by far. The stair from the narrow lobby is steep, the treads and risers made of red marble, the rail teak carved in a dragon motif from the lobby to the fourth and final floor.  And each floor has, count 'em, one room. Our room on the third floor overlooks the main drag, the promenade and the sea. It contains, apart from sideboards, tables and chairs, three beds - two queens and a double, and there is still enough room for a sexy dance party if we choose.

After settling in last night, we went out searching for dinner. We shunned the upscale sea food joints off the promenade and, down a dark side street, spied a crowded patio furnished with kindergarten sized plastic furniture and packed with twenty something Vietnamese kids eating, drinking and having a wee party. Sensing that this was the place, we sat and asked for a menu. No English. A slightly drunken young man joined us and tried out his extremely limited English on us, but the barrier was too great and he could not help at all translating the menu. After deciding we would corral a server and start pointing at things on other tables, a kindly young woman sitting next to us who works at one of the hotels offered her help. Her English wasn't great (and our Vietnamese is limited to hello and thank you) but she was able to get us two dishes, two beer, and slab of flat bread. We ended up with spicy beef satay in a salad and (we did not know this at the time of ordering) pig organ with rice soup, both really good.

After dinner we searched out and found the Quy Nhon super market - think a small Great Canadian Superstore - the first such beast we have seen since Thailand. Looking for decaf coffee - no go - we did find a drinkable Chilean Shiraz at $6.50 a bottle (the last wine we had was at our cooking class in Hoi An and six small glasses cost $45.00) which we consumed before bed.

During this morning's wander the beach and promenade (at 6am) were crowded with folks my age and older playing badminton, volleyball, soccer, practicing Tai Chi, stretching, running and walking. The beach is beautiful and clean, the water warm and the sun was poking through the morning marine air. I walked the beach, the broad avenues off the water, and wandered through the narrow streets and alleys of the town and, until I came back to our room, saw exactly zero Europeans.

I didn't have the iPad, so photos will come later. Kim is getting her swim suit on and we are off to breakfast and then the beach.