Nha Trang – the Waikiki of Vietnam!

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We took a break from the fast pace of visiting a new city every 3 days and booked a home exchange in Nha Trang for sun and beach time. Nha Trang was a 1 hour plane ride north of Ho Chi Minh City (but it is not listed with this travelblog site so I had to use Saigon again). We spent 16 days here and loved it! I felt that Nha Trang was like the Vietnam version of Waikiki but with less people, cheaper prices and a much better beach – 6 kilometres of soft sand with no rocks and gentle waves! We loved splashing and sunning and watching the intriguing culture of this Vietnam beach.





Our host, Khanh was wonderful! We loved staying at her studio apartment, right in the Nha Trang Centre across the street from the beach. Our grocery store and all the department stores that you could wish for were in the Nha Trang centre and only a 2 minute walk away! This is the view from her balcony and we have a photo of the 3 of us as Khanh made it home in time on our last day on April 6^th for us to share a lovely glass of wine and some incredible cheeses that she brought home from Hanoi.



The beach was almost empty on most days, and we lounged right in front of our condo and got to know our lovely Vietnamese host at the lounging chairs (about $3 Can each/day)! There was food and other vendors on the beach each day and by 4 pm the beach went from totally empty to filled with Vietnamese families and a super busy beach!



There were so many incredible restaurants with fabulous food. A bit pricey on the beach but still probably half of what you would spend in Canada at a beachfront restaurant. We loved going to Happy Beach (restaurant right on the beach). Great food and bean bag chairs with a mock grand piano in powder blue! Darold couldn’t resist playing “Rocket Darold” so I will share that photo with you along with a lot of other fun photos of that beach restaurant and bar! The food was so fresh – you could go to the tanks at the front and choose your lobster, crab or fish dinner still swimming!



Nha Trang is filled with so many good restaurants but most of them that were along the beach were pricey for Vietnam (but still about half of what you would spend in a high end Canadian Restaurant). We found a delicious Vietnamese restaurant tucked in the alley by the Night market - the Spring Rolls were to die for! We had a couple of great dinners for 2 – about $40 CAN with a beer each!



One day, we took a interesting 3 island tour and visited a nice beach on one island then went to lunch at a floating restaurant. Talk about fresh. We got off the boat and walked to see the fish in netted compartments still swimming in the ocean! The restaurant was situated among a fish farm area where the locals rowed around in little circular tub boats. I had to share a photo of our table of tourists having lunch (Darold and I are at the far end) – what a gourmet feast of Vietnamese food!



Our last stop was Hon Tam island (MerPerle resort) and the wonderful mud baths. After a shower you soak in hot mud then shower it off! They say you will look 10 years younger (not sure if it really worked!). Next was a hydrotherapy walk of horizontal showers then a hot or cool (your choice) swimming pool where Darold and I are posing with our Vietnamese guide. We loved it so much we went to a 2^nd mud bath right in Nha Trang (Thap Ba Hot Spring and Mud Bath Spa) set in a beautiful flowered lagoon setting with man made waterfalls and colourful swimming pools – all with hot water from the springs. Talk about invigorating!



We had to include this photo of a funky bar that we stopped in with shiny gold couches and neon lights everywhere. I also took a photo of my favorite neon sign at a different restaurant – it was hilarious (My Soulmeat)!



Another day trip right in Nha Trang was our trip to the Cham towers (Ponagar Temples). This temple is over 100 years older than Ankor Wat (founded in 781 AD) and tremendously restored. The Cham civilization with is now one of the ethnic groups of Vietnam, was along the coast and a separate and powerful nation for many years on its’ own. I had to include the temple altars paying tribute to Yang Ino Po Nagar, the goddess of the Dua (Liu) clan, which ruled over the southern part of the Cham kingdom. There is an annual pilgrimage and festival at this site. I loved the elephant statues and of course the one of Lord Ganesh!

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