Debncraig's travel blogs:
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Nha Trang
Entry 14 of 15 | show all | print this entry |
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The flight from Hoi An was quick and uneventful. The continuing rain was there to greet us when we arrived. There is only 1 taxi company that operates out of the airport so choices are limited. The standard fare is 200 000 dong per car. The airport is about 35 km out of town. The old one was an ex US air base near Nha Trang but a decision was made to move it. The road from the new airport into Nha Trang is very good, well most of it. As you get close to town the road deteriorates into the "dancing road" class.
The beach front area of Nha Trang quite modern and built up, many hotels and a long, well kept, esplanade. Plenty of building activity as the big hotel chains set up for business, Sofitel, Best Western etc.
Our hotel, The Sunrise Beach Resort, is one of the fancier ones along the strip. It deserves its 5 star rating. We booked this before leaving Australia. It was a treat to ourselves at the end of our holiday. Nha Trang has a great reputation as a beachside resort, lots of water based activities, and lazing on the beach. Unfortunately the Typhoon massing off the coast had other ideas.
We entered the foyer of the Sunrise Beach and felt immediately out of place. I wasn't sure my quite travel scarred backpack and my Beer Lao T-shirt met the dress standards of the "Beautiful People". Oh well, they would have to put-up with it as I didn't pack any 5 star outfits. Our room was excellent with a bed so large it could comfortably sleep a family of four.
We unpacked and I braved the rain to have a look around the immediate area and found plenty of eateries frequented by the locals. We decided to eat at the hotel that night and went to find out about their advertised seafood buffet/BBQ. We expected it to be out of our price range but found it was US $20. That is very expensive compared to our usual restaurants but compared to what something this fancy would cost in Australia it is a steal. There is an impressive range of delicious pre prepared dishes as well as a pile of fresh seafood you point to and it I'd BBQed for you - oysters, prawns, fish squid, lobster..... Top this off with continuous soft drink, beer, wine, and you have the best buffet we have seen. Only rivaled by the breakfast buffet (included with booking) we encountered the next day.
We were sitting at breakfast wondering what to do today as pretty much all tourist activity in Nha Trang revolves around water (not rain type water either), when we struck up a conversation with an Australian woman from Canberra. Cynthia was a very lively lady who suggested we all go to an Irish pub she knew of. A friend of a friend of hers was an ex pat aussie living in Nha Trang. She arranged for us all to meet him at the "Shamrock" at 1:30pm. This turned out to be a watering hole for ex pats from all over. We got to meet a number of foreigners living in Nha Trang as well as locals that were their friends.
They are a colourful group to say the least. There is Greg, Cynthia's contact, who seems to be the most normal and well adjusted of the group. There was also Andy, manager of the Shamrock. He describes himself as Squelsh, a mixture of Scottish and Welsh. He also seemed to be on an even keel. He's always been in the hospitality industry, even as a kid. While traveling he decided to open the bar and couple it with a tour business. According to Greg, Andy does very well with the ladies.
Big John is a very friendly American whose wife died of cancer a while ago. He decided his son needed to stand on his own 2 feet so sold everything and moved here.
Then there is Simon. When I first saw him I immediately thought he was suffering from aids. As far as I know he isn't, but he is incredibly thin and shakes continually. Apparently he manages the Why Not Bar, sleeps very little, eats even less and drinks a great deal. He has been in prison for something but we're not quite sure what. He said that was where he read the bible as there was nothing else to read. Greg would tease one of the waitresses about giving her 3 months salary if she married Simon. She would just make a face, start shaking and say he looks like a jittery chicken!
Rich is the manager of the famous "Sailing Club". That was good as knowing him gave us free entry later in the evening. He is from the UK and seems to be a 100mph bundle of energy. He talks at the same speed and finds it difficult to sit still. He has had experience in the club scene but was lucky to fall into the position while travelling. Later, at the Sailing Club, Deb went up to say hello to him again and thought he was very rude as he ignored her. He made a point of coming up to her later to ensure her he wasn't ignoring her, he was dealing with a patron who had just vomited on his back. The next night I said that must be a occupational hazard, but he indicated that was the first time ever.
Rod is an Aussie who lives here most of the time. He returns to Australia each year when he needs to earn some money. When introducing his local "wife" he said her name was "Expensive"!
One of the highlights of the afternoon was when Greg brought over a young Vietnamese girl. Her name was Dieu. She was 17 or 18, depending on whether you use the western or Vietnamese birthday system. Vietnamese children are born at age 1. Dieu was a cook at the Shamrock as well as being one of Greg's english students.He had dragged her over to talk to us to help improve her english. She was very reluctant at first but warmed up as time went by. Greg was very proud of her and appreciative that we spent time with Dieu helping with her english confidence. Just before she was caled away to do some cooking she decided to adopt us as her "new parents".
There were a number of others and they helped make a very wet afternoon/evening very entertaining indeed.
We met up with them all again the next night as Greg suggested we eat with them at the "Spot" bar and restaurant. The special of the night was lamb shanks and Greg assured us they were the best you will ever taste. Deb was tge only female at The Spot Bar. I was the only non ex pat. Everyone else lived in Nha Trang but were born overseas. All were there for there lamb shanks, except Deb who ordered chicken. There were some new faces who, Rich told us, were the captains of Nha Trang industry, managers of companys, CEOs etc. Their behaviour would not indicate we were in such exhaulted company! Oh well, as the saying goes, "Never underestimate the capacity for stupidity of boys in large groups."
Anyway the lamb shanks were very good, as promised. We finished our meals and bid the group a final farewell and went back to the hotel.
The next day we decided to go to the Nha Trang Mud baths, as it was an activity that we could do in overcast conditions. The weather had improved as the Typhoon had generously decided to change course and head back out to sea. Excellent news for the local population as another flood would've been devestating. The Taxi ride to the Mud Baths was interesting. Once away from the manicured tourist strip the roads are terrible and you can only progress at walking pace. The Mud Bath complex is quite large and well set out, including a lake and heated mineral swimming pools. We opted for a "private" mud bath as opposed to the public one. Private means that it is only for 2. It is not private in the sense that you are alone. There are rows of small baths within touching distance of each other. The attendant filled our bath with an "interesting" smelling greenish/greyish ooze. We climbed in, relaxed and let the mud do its magic. According to the literature the bath cures all sorts of ailments: obesity, mental disorders, TB, skin problems...the list seemed endless.
Eventually you are asked to get out of the bath and go and sit in the sun so the mud can really cleanse the system! Following this it is time for a shower. A rather lengthy process as the mud clings and is absolutely everywhere. The showers are in the open so you can't strip off and have a good scrub. Most of the mud is OK to get off, it is the mud that gets under your bathers that causes difficulity. We eventually got ourselves to a point where we considered ourselves to be in a reasonable condition and went off for a soak in the heated mineral pools. It is a large open air pool and when they say heated they are not kidding! It is like a hot bath and takes some getting used to. Eventually we decided to find another taxi to take us back to the hotel where we both had a shower and scrubbed with soap as we could still smell the mud on our skin. The shower didn't work as after soap and hot water the mud smell was still there. I took comfort in the fact that while I could smell the mud I would probably be free of any mental disorder. The Mud Bath was a fun afternoon and if you are in Nha Trang with time to spare we would recommend a "dip".
We decided to fly with Pacific airlines to Ho Chi Minh City. It was cheaper than the competition. The flight itself was fine but in hindsight we may have been better of paying the extra. The staff seem particularly rough with the bags and eb found her retractable handle smashed when we collected the bags in HCMC. The cost of the new bag will not really be made up by the few $ we saved on tickets.
Where I stayed:
Moonlight B&B
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