Beautifu Teeth

I am back in Nha Trang and now I remember why I really liked Vietnam. This is a delightful city bounded on the west by mountains and on the east by the ocean. I am reminded again of Rio de Janiero back when it was a pretty safe and inexpensive place to visit. I have spent the past two afternoons on the beach, so now I feel like I am really on vacation. I have an excellent hotel overlooking the ocean and it is only $10 per night. "Why not just splurge sometimes?", I always say.

If there is a downside to being here it is the ceaseless parade of salespeople offering sunglasses, maps, fans, beer, massage, marijuana, tours, books and the list goes on. I think these are hard working entrepreneurs which I admire and nothing like the stereotyped communists we were taught to detest back in my school days. I told one little girl who was selling fans that I was sorry but I was not interested. She huffily told me she did not want my sorry, she wanted my help.

If you wonder about the title of today's blog, "beautiful teeth" is the translation of Nha Trang. No one has been able to tell me the origin of the name, but now I recognize the signs for dental clinics because they incorporate the word "nha" and I have seen "trang" meaning beautiful used for hotels, restaurants and other places.