Nha Trang (part 2 of 5 – travels in Vietnam)

Finally! .. I had arrived in Nah Trang, the “best beach town in Vietnam”. After a 12 hour day bus, I was not really in the mood to hit the town hard, so I had a quick meal at a recommended restaurant and decided to call it a night in order to properly recharge for the coming days' activities. After a great night’s rest, I set out for a day of sightseeing and a night of partying in what I believe is the best club / bar I've seen in SE Asia. The following pictures capture the Nah Trang events:

Wide streets -- and sun! This was going to be a good day...


The beach is very nice, but unfortunately there is not a lot of activity, at least when compared to Ipanema in Rio or Chaweng beach in Koh Samui. I woke around 8am and went for a nice jog along the sand, the best method I know for familiarizing myself with a beach city.

Not pictured -- During my run, I ran into the Binh Duong soccer club, who is currently ranked 2nd in Vietnam's professional soccer league -- i..e the V-league. They had just stopped in Nah Trang for a quick break, as they were traveling south to play in a tournament. After watching for ~30 minutes, I kindly asked if I could join, as the game seemed quite laidback, and they kindly agreed. I only played for ~10 minutes before they stopped, but it was good fun, and they were clearly in much better shape than I. I had some friendly conversations, and they strongly advised me to meet them at the Sailing Club that night -- game on!


A view out to the islands in the distance -- I would head out that direction the following day.


After my beach run, I found a very friendly motortaxi driver to go checkout some of the landmarks in the area. He spoke quality english, drove safely per my request, and had a great sales method -- i.e. he had a notebook filled with photos and stories from travelers who had used his services before; a great idea!


First stop -- Nah Trang Cathedral. Pretty nice, even compared to western standards. He explained to me that ~40% of Vietnamese are catholic -- surprisingly high, I thought.

the inside

From the cathedral, which sits on a hill, you could see the ultimate destination -- Long Son Pagoda, home of a 14 meter tall sitting buddha. We were headed there next.

At Long Son Buddha, the first attraction is a sleeping buddha -- this thing was huge horizontally!

Climb a few stairs, and you get to the most populat landmark in Nah Trang -- Kim Than Phat To -- i.e. sitting buddha.

..and a closer look.

You can walk underneath, and enjoy the burning incense.

From the hill of the buddha, you can get the best views of the surrounding city of Nah Trang. Not quite a booming metropolis, but definitly a happening beach town.

..and a view out to the mountains.

There are a number of orphans who live in the pagoda, the Vietnamese word denoting a temple. They sell postcards to raise money for their schooling. I couldn't help but to support this cutie -- ..and her quality english was much appreciated.

Next stop -- the Po Nagar Cham towers. Built between the 7th and 12th century, the towers were and still are a famous home to Hindu worship. The complex covers 500 sq meters, and there are ~8 towers.

One of the towers

You can get an impressive view of a connecting bridge from this site.

On the way back into town, my driver pointed out a fishing village that supposedly has been in operation for over 100 years.

That night, I headed out on the town, looking to enjoy a big night in Nah Trang. First stop -- the local bar with a very nice pool table. This seems to be my go to move in Asia. I met a few very nice people, and even one other American, which is quite a rarity in Vietnam.

A couple in the audience (sitting toward the right) had just been married, so they were in full party mode. As you can see, it was a Westerner and a vietnamese girl, a popular scene throughout Vietnam.

At about 11, we headed over to the hot spot in town -- The Sailing Club. At 11, the place was quiet, but by 11:30 it was rocking. The first couple dancing is shown below -- they were good.

..and about 11:40, the place was in full groove. It was a great club for many reasons, but especially because it opened up on to the beach, and there was a nice breeze blowing in from the ocean.

Here are two Swedish girls that I had met at the pool hall, and headed over to the dance club with intiailly.

I guess this is me trying to be artistic with a slight buzz -- not exactly sure :)

It's too bad that this shot did not turn out because it captures the thoroughly entertaining crew that I met that night. Mixed in the crowd were the Swedish girls, some of the soccer players I had met on the beach earlier that day, and some other random travelers -- all good fun!

The next morning, I was was by no means feeling at my peak, but I somehow made it up around 8am for Mama Linh's popular boat trip out to the islands.

At first, I regretted getting up as I was not feeling my best, and the boat was clearly not luxury. However, the guide (speaking below) was very friendly, and soon got the party started ...

Around 12, they set up an impressive lunch for us all.

After lunch, the party really got started, as we began to see what makes Mana Linh's boat tour so special. The onboard crew broke out a guitar, a microphone, and a drum set composed of pots and pans.

Our guide started pulling crew members up on stage to engage in songs from each of the tourist's home country. On the left was one of the Australians onboard who rocked out to one of their national songs.

The Koreans were next.

Unfortunately, the best part of the trip is not shown -- i.e. the 'floating bar'! ..or Mama Linh's main surprise. Basically they throw out on the ocean a floating device equipped with ~8 bottles of wine (i.e. terrible wine!) and a bartender, and claim that all drinks received in the ocean are free! The group shown below took full advantage. The wine was truly awful, and was even worse when combined with splashing seawater ..but it was truly a great time! Drinking 5 glasses of wine while floating in the ocean -- scratch that off my list...

By this point, we were all having a good time. We had a great crew. I especially made friends with 2 Australian couples and an American girl from Boston, who was also traveling through Vietnam.