Привет From Nha Trang

I was expecting the Vietnamese beach resort of Nha Trang to be touristy, what I wasn’t expecting was for it to be full of holiday-making, upper class Russians. The city is so busy with Russians, flying in directly from Moscow, that there are restaurants and tour agencies catering solely to Russians; when we entered one to extend our visas we were met with a blank, frosty glare from the Russian rep at the desk who spoke neither English nor Vietnamese. In spite of their grumpy, sour expressions, Ric and I shared some private giggles at the Russian tourists in their speedos and their none-too flattering thongs on the beach, posing provocatively in the sea for amateur photo shoots. Fortunately, there was enough room on Nha Trang’s 6km beach for us non-bethonged beach goers to top up our tans and relax for several days of sun, sand and sea.

Ric went for his first fun dive in Nha Trang after completing his PADI certificate in Thailand at the start of the trip. He said it was great and the visibility was much better here, although after seeing the blisters he got from his flippers I’m not sure it was worth it!

As if chilling on the beach all day wasn’t relaxing enough, Ric and I booked ourselves onto a day at a mud spa. The Thap Ba Hot Springs well exceeded my expectations; it was wonderful. We started with a mud bath shared with two Russian ladies. To elaborate on how unfriendly these guys were, we shared a bath with these women and they didn't so much as make eye contact, let along respond to our friendly greeting. Two days later when we bumped into them in a shop they maintained that we were invisible and ignored our acknowledgements. Rude! After that we rinsed off the surprisingly fragrant mud in a hot water, massaging shower, and hopped into our own, private bath of thermal spring water where we stewed happily until we were light-headed from the heat and asked move on by the attendant. We spent the rest of the day lounging around the numerous, different temperature pools and jacuzzis and then returned to our hotel half-comatose from the extreme relaxation. 

Thermal baths at Thap Ba Hot Springs.

We did manage to get in some sight-seeing, visiting the Cham Towers, built in 817. The towers are basically a temple built on a small hillside over looking the fishing village at the end of Nha Trang's main beach. The temple was nice and the views from the top were lovely. Afterwards we walked down past the fishing village where men fished using an 'coracle', which looks very much like a giant washing up bowl to me. 

Cham Towers on Cu Lao Hill, Nha Trang.

'The Coracle'

Wooden fishing boats fly the Vietnamese flag whist Nha Trang rises up in the background.

The "longest cable car in the world", which we didn't go on because it cost $25!

We also visited Long Son Pagoda, a pleasant temple overflowing with visitors (it was a bank holiday weekend), where we saw two Buddha statues built on a hillside. The statues and the temple are not particularly special but we enjoyed strolling through the city to get there, and had a leisurely coffee next to the Buddha at the top of the hill.

Reclining Buddha half way up the hill behind Long Son Pagoda.

On our modest budget Ric and I don't have many nights out drinking, we save our pennies and try to see and do more in the daytime. We did, however, plan for a good session on the cocktails in Nha Trang, where the beach parties are said to be legendary. As luck would have it (our bad luck, that is), the night we decided to get jolly pissed was the night of the biggest storm during our entire one week stay. After a couple of roof top cocktails the heavens opened and we emerged from the hotel two hours later to find the streets flooded, the power cut, and most of the bars and restaurants had shut their doors early. Needless to say we were in bed before midnight.

First cocktails on the roof...

Two hours later.

How To Get To...
Thap Ba Hot Springs: We booked through our hotel, who offered us a 5% discount. The spa picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel for $3/£1.80 each return and the cost of the mud bath treatment was $6/£3.60 each for the day. We went for the [cheap] communal mud bath option and only had to share our tub with a couple of moody Russians, great value.

Cham Towers: Take bus number 4 from the corner of Hung Vuong in the tourist area and get off at the first stop after you see the towers. We walked back along the beach, it took approximately 45 minutes.

We Stayed At...
Thien Ma (3 nights): South of the main tourist hub, right on the beach. Room was a bit drab and dated but the staff were super. $10/£6 per night with AC, fridge, TV.
Dung Trinh (3 nights): Smack bang in the middle of the tourist hub, one block back from the beach. Room was great, staff not so much. $13/£7.80 per night with AC, fridge, TV and balcony.