Nha Trang - 14th April to 15th April

After 3 hectic days in Ho Chi Minh City we boarded the train to head for the coastal town of Nha Trang which is a major fishing port but also currently Vietnam's premier beach resort and after the madness that is Saigon we were looking forward to a day relaxing by the beach.

This was our first train journey in Vietnam and it was certainly a memorable experience. Although old, the train was fairly comfortable and we were lucky enough to have 3 of the 8 table seats so no shortage of leg room. The train carriage comes equipped with two communal televisions mounted from the ceiling to keep you entertained during the 8 hour journey. However, just like the buses we had been on a few days earlier, the volume is so loud that you feel like your ears are about to bleed! Not the most relaxing or entertaining experiences we have had in Vietnam. Anyway, after a while we managed to ignore it and entertained ourselves with music quizzes and a bit of eye spy!!

Dan was feeling particularly brave and ordered lunch on the train which was served on one of those plastic prison food trays. He ordered rice, vegetables and bones (aka chicken) which, much to the delight of several of the older Vietnamese ladies, he proceeded to eat with his chop sticks. Why this was highly amusing is anyone's guess but it was funny watching the natives demonstrate to him how to eat with a spoon!!

We finally arrived in Nha Trang at 10.30pm (just one hour late), checked in to our hotel and headed out for a quick nightcap to unwind after the mind numbing train journey. By this time it was 11.30pm and most places had closed for the day. We did manage to find a bar but it closed promptly after we ordered our drinks so it wasn't particularly relaxing and didn't really have the desired effect. We headed back to our hotel feeling a little apprehensive about our decision to visit Nha Trang but decided to keep an open mind until we had at least seen the place in daylight.

The following morning we were up early for breakfast which we ate on an open terrace on the 9th floor of our hotel with views of the town, the sea and the surrounding mountain backdrop. We started to feel immediately better about our decision to visit!! The heat from the sun also felt much stronger than in Saigon but we can't help wondering if that was more to do with the air quality rather than the temperatures.

After breakfast we headed out to visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers and the Long Son Pagoda. Po Nagar is a Cham temple dating back to the 8th century and overlooks the main harbour in Nha Trang. The location offered a nice relaxing and tranquil atmosphere and the views of the harbour were beautiful. We were lucky enough to see some traditional dance and music which also added to the atmosphere.

After Po Nagar we headed to the Long Son Pagoda which is built on the summit of Trai Thuy hill and is dedicated to the numerous Buddhist monks who were killed during or died protesting against the repressive regime of President Diem. The Pagoda boasts a giant white Buddha sculpture at the top of the hill that watches over the town and also a giant reclining Buddha halfway up. As is usually the case at these places the first encounter was with the small gathering of locals selling their wares including the compulsory packs of postcards which Dan got suckered in to buying and Chris refused to buy, but paid half the price just to make the woman go away!

Chris does manage to attract a lot of attention wherever we go and he has been called Buddha more times than the man himself, has had his tummy rubbed on more than one occasion and even had his head kissed by a random bloke at the reclining Buddha after the same man had siphoned more money out of him for blessing various of his family members and local monks - much to our amusement!

After our morning of sightseeing we headed to the Louisiane Brewhouse for lunch which was a restaurant on the beach with its own swimming pool and small brewery. Lunch was really tasty and the pool looked very inviting so we decided to stroll back along the beach back to our hotel, change into our swimmies then headed back to the Louisiane to spend the rest of the day lazing by the pool. We ate dinner there too (our first 1 million Dong meal!!) and Dan and Chris tried out the 4 home brews which they seemed to enjoy judging by the table of empty glasses at the end of the night!

We headed back to our hotel to prepare for our 4.45am start the next day feeling slightly disappointed that we didn't have just one more day in Nha Trang to try out some snorkelling and visit some of the islands. Its amazing the difference a day makes!

Adiós for now.
Sue, Dan & Nuts. xxx