Barbequed lobster on the beach

After the noise and chaos of Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Saigon, it was nice to get to Nha Trang, Vietnam's most popular beach town but still a sleepy, laid-back place.

We spent an entire day lounging on the beach, interrupted only for a very tasty lunch:

This lady hangs around on the beach with a pot full of incredibly fresh (i.e. still alive) lobster, crab, prawns, and other unidentifiable bivalves, molluscs and crustaceans. You point to what you want, she weighs it, then cooks it up on a little charcoal grill.

All it needs is a simple dipping sauce -- a paste of salt, ground pepper, and lime juice. A little messy but really freaking good.

More banh xeo on the street -- the mini version this time, kind of like a Vietnamese taco:

The thing to do for tourists in Nha Trang is a boat trip to some of the many islands dotting the bay. The boat trip organizers have clearly watched too many MTV Spring Break specials -- in addition to snorkeling, a visit to a beach, and a walk around an aquarium/aquaculture farm on one of the islands, the trip includes beer, a floating bar where everyone bobs next to the boat in inner tubes drinking horrible wine, and a live performance where the boats crew picks up instruments and sings horribly out-of-tune renditions of hits such as Auld Lang Syne and Proud Mary.

Despite the tour company's better efforts, our group remained relatively laid-back and sober, and we had a great time cruising around the South China Sea.

And one final Nha Trang photo: