Arrived into Nha Trang railway station travelling with a camera. After 2 weeks, I must admit the fumes from all the traffic have got the better of my lungs and I have now joined the locals in wearing a mask! My recommendation would be don’t delay if you are spending a lot of time in the cities and towns.
It quickly became clear that Nah Trang has become the go to place in Vietnam for Russian holiday makers and is a loud music beach resort. Menus are mainly in Russian and Vietnamese, however, English ones can be found.
Tran Phu Street runs along the large stretch of beachfront which is well kept and used. Sunbeds and umbrellas are available for hire. The city is surrounded by mountains and there were some beautiful sunsets. As with the rest of Vietnam, it is growing quickly and a lot of construction is taking place.
Po Nagar Cham Towers were the main attraction for me. Locally known as Thap Ba, the temples were built before 781 AD. Cham is a member of an indigenous people of Vietnam and Cambodia, who formed an independent kingdom from the 2nd to 17th centuries AD. Po Nagar are dedicated to the goddess Po Yan Inu Nagar and is one of the most important Cham sites in Vietnam.
The towers are situated on Cu Lao mountain, a short (less than £2) taxi ride from the centre and by the Cai River. 22,000 dong entry fee (less than £1). Grab one one of the gowns to wear, remove your footwear and you can enter the temples.
Visit Cho Dam Market, locally just called the Dam Market, to see the daily life of the Nha Trang inhabitants. Although little English is spoken, the stall holders are happy to interact (when awake!) and share a laugh with you, like the lady who had her foot rested on her garlic basket. Ask how much something is and they will show you a note of how much they want. I am sure you can barter, however, the couple if things I picked up, they were only asking for less than one pound (GBP)! Please keep in view that is a very ‘local’ market, so different to western ones in several places. But for me, great to see life as it is in Vietnam.
One must when you are in town, is to visit the XQ embroidery gallery on 64 Tran Phu Street. You can see the most exquisite hand embroidered pictures and also watch the ladies at work. Unless you have won the lottery, you won’t be taking one home!
Long Son Pagoda is another main site, where you can see the Giant Buddha on the summit of Trai Thuy Hill. Sadly I visited twice but it was closed and as English can be limited, I was unable to find out why.
Nha Trang Cathedral is worth a stop and there are also several striking war monuments, however, it is hard to find out much detail about them. The Victory Statue depicts doves of freedom being released.
Scuba diving is available from the city, however, when talking to one of the companies, the vis hadn’t been great and sometimes was only 5m. Night dives weren’t going out currently either.
The sum it up, Nha Trang was a good stop to rest up for a while and do some forward trip planning. I wouldn’t stop by again.
