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Published: December 4th 2008
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19.11.08
Km travelled 18462
This morning we can finally take it easy. The train is at 10.45 so we have plenty of time. We wake up slowly, and relax, we we can lay in bed as long as we want. It rained heavily all night. When we are ready we go downstairs for breakfast and then we check out. It's not raining now so we can walk to the station. We ended up taking a bit of a long way around and when we reach the station it's raining again. Michael gives me a bit of a laugh slipping down the steps with his backpack on and many other bags in his hands, ending up twisting his arm. Should laugh really. Poor boy is in a lot of pain. We sit in the waiting room with a few other travellers and loads of Vietnamese. The train is half an hour late but we have a compartment only for us. We will arrive tonight in Nha Trang, so we have time to spend catching up with this blog and planning our trip. Outside the window the water covered the rice fields.
It's a long journey, and we can't wait to
arrive.
The train finally arrives at Nha Trang station with one hour of delay. A huge number of taxi drivers surround the station's exit, but we prefer to walk.
It's almost 11pm but the air is still warm, and at least it's not raining. Our hotel room is at the top floor and the terrace outside overlooks the sea. When we look outside a storm is shaking all the palm trees and rain drops are falling heavily on the ground.
We haven't even eaten anything, but we're so tired we can only go to sleep.
20.11.08
I wake up early and open the curtain to have a look outside. It's not the best of days but it's not raining. I get back to bed and wait for Michael to wake up. At some stage the pressure of my boredom must have had some telepathic influence on him! As soon as we're ready, the first thought is to have some food. Outside it's warm and windy. W walk for a while in search of a nice place where to have a breakfast, and we end up finding one just around the corner. We would have loved to come to
Nha Trang and be able to sit on the beach, but the rainy season isn't a suitable time! We'll have to find something else to entertain us! Nothing better than shopping! There's no place in the world where is easier to shop than a sea town. It's time to get some new clothes to face the hot part of our trip. It's so easy that it doesn't even take too long, so we are soon happily walking along the beach. The wind brings high brown waves and the islands off the shore are wrapped in grey clouds. Kids and teenagers are hanging on the beach, probably with not much else to do. Here as well we pose for a picture with a group of them, got to love a picture with a white man. Going north the beach side is getting pretty populated with new hotels and developments that in a few years will probably change the face of this place. Close to the Cai River the landscape changes completely. On the sea side everything is still clean, new, with stone paths and seats, topiary shapes every tree.
The other side of the road is a crowd of rusty sheds,
barracks, poverty. And beside it a small harbour on the river, dotted with blue boats.
Across the river there's another face of the town, old, dilapidated, dirty. But I wouldn't be surprised if in twenty years it will all be gone and replaced by new developments. We finally arrive at the Po Nagar Towers, a superb example of Cham architecture. Dating between the 7th and the 12th century, they're the first of their kind to be built in stone and brick. Four towers remain on the site today and the place is still used by Chams to worship Shiva and Yong Ino Po Nagar, goddess of the Dua.
The small chamber inside each tower is filled with smoke of incense and on the altar a statue of the goddess with 10 arms sits covered in a rich vest. We meet a couple of tourist that have been guided by a few kids through the towers. They're amazed but they don't know it is a popular scam here in town and in fact they ask for money at the end. From the site of Po Nagar Towers is possible to see all the city across the river.
After the visit we
head back towards south to the Long Son Pagoda. We cross busy streets on which hardware shops line up. Every now and again it rains for a few seconds.
The Long Son Pagoda is quite a recent building at the foot of the hill. Outside it's richly decorated with mosaics and tiles, and thick plants with big leaves are spread around. Inside a ceremony is taking place so we look from the wide opening, walking around. But probably the biggest attraction of this place is the huge white Buddha on top of the hill. It sits on a lotus blossom and a base decorated with the busts of Thich Quong Duc and other six monks that immolated themselves in 1963 to protest against the policy of south Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem. All the busts are enclosed in fire shaped rings to remember that they burned themselves alive.
Going down the steep stair we pass some rows of graves where the ashes of the monks are buried.
We walk back to the hotel in a hot mid afternoon and we get back just in time to avoid an heavy shower in the street. Dinner was just around the corner at
Cyclo Café, but Michael didn't enjoy it, so we soon head back to the hotel and call it for the day.
21.11.08
I keep on waking up early in the morning. Michael doesn't want to know me while I sit in bed waiting for his day to begin. It's by now clear to us that Nha Trang is not really a place to enjoy during the rainy season, so first thing we decide to plan our next move.
We enquiry at the hotel reception and book the bus tickets for tomorrow morning to Sai Gon.
We have a big breakfast at the same café where we've been yesterday morning for Michael's desire of more muesli, and then we start walking south to explore the other side of the city.
It's windy and short heavy rains pass on our way.
We just walk for the sake of it, there's nothing to look at or anything to do. We sit on a bench for a while, looking at the quick high waves breaking on the beach. An old street vendor sits with us chatting. She ask many questions and we buy a pack of chewing gum in return of a
picture of her.
There's not much to do apart from hanging around, and as soon as we get to the hotel heavy rain starts falling. We spend few hours working for you and trying to update our blog. It's a hard job. We have a nice and cheap dinner in a tiny restaurant and then we walk along the streets of town. An incredible number of old Vespas can be seen around the city and we stop here and there to look at some amazing ones park on the road. Michael is going crazy with envy!
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