Vietnam II: Nha Trang is a great city for an excursion

by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.    

When we saw very few motor cycles or scooters in Singapore or later in Hong Kong and we saw thousands in Saigon and Nha Trang, we realized it says something specific about Saigon and Nha Trang — motor cycles and scooters are the transportation choice for people with little money.  In Vietnam, they are ubiquitous [seeming to exist everywhere].
    
As we cruised slowly into the Nha Trang area (amidst numerous hilly or mountainous, forest-covered islands), it was hard to know where the city itself was located.  The islands, mountains, and beautiful scenery are amazing, and it is only when the ship makes one final turn, that you see the city spread out along the coast quite far away but directly in front of you, fully embraced by mountains behind.  It is an attractive setting, just as if the town is nestled away from the crowds and hustle and bustle of everyday life.
    
My impression — from reading about it before our trip — was that it would be a very small, country town with attractive beaches, so I didn’t expect the high rises nor the very complete city with many interesting sights.
    
You can’t actually get into the city proper on a ship our size, so we anchored out beyond a row of at least ten pylons that extend across the bay.  Attached to the top of each pylon are two cables, and these cables support a cable-car “ride” from the Nha Trang side of the bay to Vinpearl land.  Wikitravel explains Vinpearl: “From the harbour you can take the cable car over to the island where Vinpearl resort and Vinpearl land is located. They have a small tivoli and some restaurants, attractions here include Underwater World (aquarium), Water Park complete with many exciting water slides and wave pool, Amusement Park with roller coaster, pirate ship, bumper cars, 4D cinema and many modern arcade machines and musical fountain and laser show at night time. . . .”  Nha Trang is well known as Vietnam’s best seaside resort.
    
Our tenders pulled into an area just beyond the cable car entrance, not into the city as I would have expected (and preferred).  There, we boarded a “luxury” bus and headed out to Long Son Pagoda where we saw a huge, white Buddha statue, sitting on top of a hill, 153-steps up.  It is big and very white, and had we not been on a planned excursion, we never would have seen it.  The entrance is small and located in a village along the road, and although there were several other tour buses already there, the entrance is uneven dirt with litter strewn everywhere.  Walking carefully across the uneven, dusty terrain, we entered a gateway made of concrete, which, too, was old, dusty, olive-green from algae and age, and unadorned.  It was as if there was nothing at all special behind the gateway.
    
On the way up to the big, white Buddha, we stopped about half-way to see a large, cement, reclining Buddha.  Our guide told us they used a flake-marble patina to give this concrete mass a “rich-looking” facade.  Although reclining and large, we have now seen our share of them.
    
From the top, we could look out in all directions; however, the various scenes from the top offered nothing we recognized nor anything that was particularly interesting or noteworthy.
    
The second stop on our planned Nha Trang excursion was a Vietnamese silk-picture- embroidery store and local workshop (specially designed to handle large groups of tourists).  The rugs in the store were heavily worn, indicating the amount of tourist traffic and the lack of owner concern for a pleasing, clean-cut, positive look.
    
On the second level of the store we saw 15-20 young, female Vietnamese workers, some working in groups, others working alone — all nicely dressed and in attractive, colorful clothes --- stitching the silk.  These girls use bright-colored threads that they pluck from a bolt and make tiny stitches that result in beautiful silk pictures.  The area already stitched is covered to keep it clean.  (We heard from a man with whom we were talking, and who was on another excursion, that these girls make $2.00 U.S. per day.)
    
A lady we were sitting with in the shop bought a medium-sized, framed, silk “painting” of a vase of flowers off the wall for $55.00 U.S.
    
From the embroidery shop (where enormous “paintings” — embroidery pictures — adorned the walls), we went to the great Po Ngar Cham Towers, the very ancient shrine from hundreds of years ago.  Wikipedia provides this explanation of the Towers: “founded sometime before 781 A.D. and located in the medieval principality of Kauthara, near modern Nha Trang in Vietnam. It is dedicated to Yan Po Nagar, the goddess of the country, who came to be identified with the Hindu goddesses Bhagavati and Mahishasuramardini, and who in Vietnamese is called Thiên Y Thánh Mâu.”  They are certainly a “must-see” sight on any Nha Trang visit.
    
At the Frommer’s website the reporter writes about the use of the Po Ngar area today: “The Po Ngar temples are still used by local Buddhists who have adopted the site as their own, and the altars and smoking incense add to the intrigue of the architecture. Detracting from the whole experience are kitsch stands and lots of hawkers. To get there, you cross an expansive bridge spanning the mouth of the Cai River as it flows to the sea. There's a small fish market along the river -- take a left to the riverside as you approach the temples -- a great place to visit in the early morning when boats are just bringing in their catch. The wide river, with its many bright blue and red fishing boats, is a picture.”
    
Our final stop on this excursion was at the Au Lac Vietnam Market.  The most remarkable thing about this visit was how our bus driver negotiated the very narrow passage in, the U-turn necessary at the end, and the way he backed into a very tight parking space occupied by 3 other tour buses.  It was phenomenal to watch his deft touch.  We had little time at the market, and there was nothing to distinguish it from the many other local markets we had visited.  Covered, dimly lit, hot, dirty, ventilated by small fans, it served everything from fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish, to souvenirs, fabric, merchandise (such as watches and jewelry), as well as places to buy snacks and lunches.  It was a labyrinth of small pathways, and we stayed close to our guide throughout this visit for fear of getting lost and not finding our way back to our bus.
    
Nha Trang is a big city, a worthwhile tourist destination, and a valuable cruise stop.  It is much cleaner than Saigon, and had we been left with Saigon as our only Vietnam experience, our views of Vietnam might have been quite different.  The thousands of motorcycles present no problem when seen from the window of a “luxury” tour bus.
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At Photo.net the overview provided of Nha Trang, Vietnam, includes this information: “this city of 200K people has beautiful beaches, terrific hotels, and a wide variety of restaurants. Transportation within town is dominated by cyclo-taxis (tricycle w/ bench for passengers, includes peddler), motorcycle-taxis (you hang onto driver), and $5/day 125cc motorcycles (you drive).”  This site includes great photographs as well as some personal reflections.

At Travelfish.com, the essay there, “Things to do in Nha Trang,” discusses each of the various sights.  If you have a -----trip planned, this might be a good site to get an overview.
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Copyright April, 2011, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.