Sanctuary

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Nha Trang (-noun Travellers Dictionary – to relax, bask in hot sun by pool and enjoy good food and cheap alcohol)

The past three days in Nha Trang have been the most relaxing out of all of Vietnam; presently, I am enjoying a glass of Johnnie Walker, sitting out on our balcony overlooking the hotel pool, beach and an as far as the eye can see stretch of the South China Sea with various islands and fishing trawlers dotted about along the horizon. Michelle is four levels below me getting her nails done at the hotel Spa.

Back in March when Michelle and I first started planning our second tour of Vietnam, Nha Trang was singled out as our relaxing stop, splashing a little extra (though still remarkably cheap by western standards) for a nice hotel with an ocean view.

First impressions of Nha Trang were a little vague; the airport was very small, in fact, our flight over was the same, being the first commercial twin propeller plane I had ever been on, the little bumble bee of a plane giving us the most incredible aerial view from Da Nang to Nha Trang, unable to reach beyond the clouds like its 767 and 747 Vietnam Airlines cousins. From our landing it was fairly obvious that we were very close to the beach, sand from the nearby dunes blowing across the runway strip as we came into land. The drive into Nha Trang city centre felt more like I would expect driving across the Dubai desert into town would be like, rather than a desert of Arabian sand we had a desert of coastal sand, the only shadows other than our own belonging to the massive billboards we passed by advertising various self contained resort accommodation. It was clear that we were heading toward something unlike we’ve yet experienced in Vietnam.

After a good thirty or so minutes of solitude driving, the dune landscape gave way to palm trees and buildings, the roads now possessing that familiar petrol-head hum of motorbike traffic, we had arrived in Nha Trang. The city of Nha Trang stretched out vastly along the coastal line, the beaches dotted with cabanas and mini bars for their associated hotel on the other side of the road. The city seemed to stretch on endlessly, finally our hotel was in sight; starting to think that maybe we should of taken our travel agents advice on hotel (since we passed the Novotel and what looked to be a significant portion of the city some while back) we held our breath in hope that our splurge on this property was worth the obvious daily walk towards the restaurants and shops we had ahead of us.

Our hotel, the Sunrise Spa boasted a grand undercover Roman facade entrance, upon getting out of the car we were immediately greeted with smiles and ushered into the lobby to sit down in the lounge area as a hotel representative with our passports in hand proceeded to check in on our behalf. Our jaws dropped in unison at the imperial splendour of the place. I glanced back at Michelle in dismay, wondering just how much we really spent on our stay here. From the marble floors, to the elegant Roman style pillars to the complimentary non-alcoholic cocktails we were now sipping, it was obvious that this hotel spared no expense, I felt like I was back in Las Vegas in a themed resort, it was that impressive.

All the rooms in the hotel had ocean facing views and private balconies, the resort boasting not just one, but four restaurants; Japanese, an Irish pub, a Vietnamese and a western lounge, and as it turned out we were less than a minutes’ walk from a brand new multi-level shopping mall, the first of its kind either Michelle or I had ever seen in Vietnam. Stepping into this shopping mall was like being transported to a Singaporean department store.

With the beach before us, fine dining opportunities stretching endlessly down the coast, a massive shopping mall on the right and Chinatown on the left we had found our sanctuary.

With no tours booked in place to interrupt our first real opportunity of a sleep in beyond 8.00am, after a filling breakfast at our hotel, the days were spent exploring the various suburbs of Nha Trang on foot in the morning and just as the sun’s bite became a bit too much to take we made our way back to our hotel and with a variety of drinks to choose from; Johnnie Walker, Vietnamese Rice Vodka and Russian Champagne (this being jus the drinks we purchased ourselves from the shopping mall for less than $20 AUD) we relaxed by the Roman colosseum inspired pool til early noon. The evening spent walking the coastal strip, all lit up in colourful splendour, dining at various Vietnamese restaurants offering a coastal view out under the stars.

Not being much of a ‘sit by the pool and sunbake all holiday’ kind of people, we both agree that if you had to chose from anywhere in Vietnam, Nha Trang was probably one of the best places to do so. As much as we have enjoyed letting our hair down and punishing our liver probably a little more than usual, three days were plenty, both of us are eagerly looking forward to getting back on the road tomorrow morning and continuing our tour from the coast up into the mountainous range of Dalat.

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