Nha Trang Beaches

Ga Da Nang
see all photos »

Today is one of travel,travel and more travel, firstly we have a bus to Da Nang then day train trip to Nha Trang. Before reaching Da Nang we take a detour and visit the Marble Mountains where there are caves, a thriving sculpting industry and plenty of steep steps. good training for Angkor.

We arrive at Nha Trang at 9:30pm so apart from watching the world go by, eating , reading and sleeping there is not much to report, tomorrow we head for the boat and beach.

a smorgasbord of local seafood and dishes

Ship to shore transport
see all photos »

Breakfast then we head for the fishing port and our boat for a short ride over to Tre Island where we see an annual temple festival with a traditional play being enacted, then walk around part of the island visiting the aquarium and back to the boat. After a short ride we anchor by the cliffs and go snorkelling to look at the local coral reefs. Unfortunately after the Great Barrier Reef any other reef tends to pale but these are still worth the effort. Its lunch time and we are fed royally with a smorgasbord of local seafood and dishes. Our boat is also the mother boat for other boats and we feed them as well. After lunch we go ashore for a lazy afternoon of swimming massage and doing nothing. A great refresher and a break from the oppressive heat of Hoi An. I take the opportunity to go para gliding and Carol gets her nails done. Its back to the mainland and we decide to splurge on tea and go to an upmarket restaurant where we have a great meal in air conditioned surroundings and enjoy a bottle of cold Australian Chardonnay. An enjoyable end to a relaxing day.

Traditional Actors
see all photos »

We opt out from the group activities on Wednesday and elect to do our own thing so we head off by ourselves after breakfast. First stop is the Post Office to mail off more of purchases then its off to the Yersin Musuem for a look. Yersin was a Frenchman who established a branch of  The Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang but he did much more than that being involved in the discovery of the cause of Bubonic Plague, exploring a large area of Vietnam and being responsible for the establshment of the rubber tree and quinine tree in Vietnam. He is very highly regarded in Vietnam to this day with many streets being named after him. He was also an astonomer and an accomplished and self taught photographer, a very interesting man.

Lunch on board, now that's eating!
see all photos »

After the museum we visit the markets, "Com Do", which are extensive and like a circular rabbit warren with multitudes of shops and stalls. Then the rain comes down and we are trapped in a drinks stall, having a Saigon Beer of course, and we get chatting with a vietnamese man who comes from Melbourne! Small world. We chill out for the afternoon as this evening is our last night train, to Saigon and almost the end of our Vietnamese adventures.

Arrival at "Ga" Nha Trang is 5:30pm for our overnight trip and to celebrate our last train journey we invest in a bottle of the local red "Vang Dalat" which roughly translates as Dalat Gold, I think. Oops, forgot about a bottle opener but no problem, just push the cork in, crude but effective. Its not to bad at all, about the equivalent of an Australian "Cheapie" and washes down our takeway spicy beef baguettes as we head for Ho Chi Minh City. Its a restless night beihng quite stuffy despite the air conditioning and lots of stops for passing trains. At 4:15am we arrive, 15 minute early this time, you certainly can't complain about trains being late in Vietnam.