Russian playground: Nha Trang, Vietnam

Nha Trang is one of the main cities in southeast Vietnam. It has been growing as a tourism reference for people all over the world and it’s a modern city with half million inhabitants.

Known for its big sandy bay, it’s a well known destiny for scuba diving.

After finding a place to sleep, we rented a motorbike to start exploring. The main beach of the city is right in front of lots of high buildings and we wanted to find something less crowded.

We heard that Bai Dai beach, about 30 km to the south, would be what we were looking for, but it wasn’t at all. The sea had great colors, but all we could find was some big construction sites. I imagine in 10 years all this area will be completely different and renovated, with lots of exclusive hotels and golf courses.  Besides that, the beach was dirty and there were lots of old boats floating by the sand that seemed to be abandoned as they were so rusty.

We went back and decided to relax by a pool right in front of the main beach. After we jumped in the sea, a huge jellyfish came and touched my leg. We went back to the pool….

In Nha Trang, most of the tourists are Russians and some stores and travel agencies have their advertisements outside in russian and probably all the restaurants have their menus in Cyrillic.

North to the main bay, in the margins of the Cai river, we can find the Po Nagar temple from the 8th century and from where you can have some nice views over the coastal side of the city. On the foot of the Trại Thủy mountain there’s the Long Son Pagoda, a Buddhist temple well preserved with a giant 24m high white statue of Gautama Buddha.

The most recognisable symbol of Nha Trang is the Trầm Hương tower, an oddly shaped construction on the large promenade by the sea. 

We were there when the Bien Festival (Sea Festival) was happening, so the main street that stretches along the bay was decorated with high post with cheerful colours and everybody was out in the streets. In a perpendicular street there was a market with all kinds of foods and small things to buy.

Nha Trang is far from being our favourite destination to travel but I am happy we went there for three days anyway.

Renato

See more photos from Nha Trang here.