After doing nothing but recover from a serious hangover yesterday, I decided that I better get up early and do something today. So I went down to reception to enquire about hiring a motorbike form them just to compare with the prices that I had been paying and much to my surprise they quoted only 55,000 dong (£1.85). I said yes and within 20 minutes my shiny PINK bike was here. lol

My first stop today was the Long Son Pagoda which is decorated with mosaic dragons covered with glass and ceramic tiles. Founded in the late 19th century, the pagoda still has resident monks. Half way up the hill is the statue of the Sleeping Buddha and at the top of the hill is the Giant Seated Buddha which is visible from most of the town of Nha Trang.

The first lesson today.....

Long Son Pagoda is a Buddhist temple in the city of Nha Trang on south central coast of Vietnam. It is regarded as one of the main sites in the city, along with Hai Duc Temple. Long Son Pagoda was previously known as Đăng Long Tự and it is located at 22 October 23 Street. It is located in the ward of Phương Sơn, and sits at the foot of Trại Thủy mountain, in city of Nha Trang, just 400 m west of the railway station.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Son_Pagoda

After the pagoda I headed over to the north side of Nha Trang to the Po Nagar Cham Towers located on the left bank of the Cai River. I am not really sure what the history of these were, so I will add some pictures and also another history lesson for you to read up on.....

Po Nagar is a Cham temple tower founded sometime before 781 A.D. and located in the medieval principality of Kauthara, near modern Nha Trang in Vietnam. It is dedicated to Yan Po Nagar, the goddess of the country, who came to be identified with the Hindu goddesses Bhagavati and Mahishasuramardini, and who in Vietnamese is called Thiên Y Thánh Mâu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po_Nagar

On the way back into town from the Cham towers I stopped off at the Long Thanh Gallery which was the gallery for Nha Trang's most acclaimed photographer, Long Thanh. Although I couldn’t obviously take any photos in the gallery you can view some of his pictures on his website below. All of his images were in black and white and most were depicting people getting on with everyday Vietnamese life.

http://www.longthanhart.com/

After the gallery I headed off to the other side of town to go and visit the Vinpearl Cable Car which took you from Nha Trang over to the Vinpearl Land Resort and Amusement Park. When I got there and looked at the price for the cable car ride and entrance to the amusement park I decided I would just take a photo from the side of the road and then head back to my hotel.

This evening I decided to head out for a quiet one and went for a steak and chips on my own and watched some of the world cup while eating my dinner. As I was heading back at half time I decided to pop into the bar nearest to the hotel to watch the second half. As I was watching the football Norah and Jess ran over to me really excited to see a familiar face. I had met them while in Luang Prabang Backpackers, Laos as they were working there for a little while. They were with their friend Yolanda who was from Australia that they had met that night. We sat down together and had a few drinks while watching the rest of the match and then we all went our separate ways back to our hotels. Maybe I will bump into them again somewhere else, who knows?

~~