SCAM ARTISTS, RUSSIAN TOURISTS, SLEEPY WORKERS, BEACH RUNS AND MOODY SKIES
HEADING TO NHA TRANG
After nearly a week in Dalat we were heading to the beach town of Nha Trang. We were only planning a quick stop off there as I hadn’t heard much about the town, but it was always good to visit another beach.
We got a bus pickup from our hotel in Dalat, which cost 60,000 Dong each (£2) and took 4 hours.
It was a very bumpy, twisty, turny ride; but there were some incredible views on the way. Tree lined valleys, steep cliffs, waterfalls all wrapped in a thick fog.
As soon as we got off the bus we were approached by many Vietnamese guys, offering taxi rides and we opted to each get on scooter taxis.
The journey to the hotel was only around 2km, but these guys took us a long way. At this point I knew we were about to be scammed, but I enjoyed the ride, with all our baggage on the back of the bikes, weaving through the crazy Vietnamese traffic.
Once we got off the bikes, the drivers demanded 500,000 Dong for the ride (roughly £18).
There was no way I was standing for that and argued vehemently with them. I gave 100,000 and one of the drivers snatched it and drove off. The remaining driver kept shouting at me for money, to which I replied, “your money is driving off over there mate” and walked off.
The driver hastily shot off after his mate.
CHECKING OUT THE BEACH
After checking into the hotel, we went for a wander along the beach, before heading for something to eat.
We were greeted by these incredibly moody, purple skies, as the sun was setting.
The Nha Trang beachfront went on for miles and it was certainly one of the best beaches I had visited so far. As we wandered along the beach and through town, all I could hear was Russian accents. This place was definitely a hotspot for Russian tourists and not such a big draw for Western backpackers.
We had dinner at a place called ‘Lanterns’ for dinner, which served great, authentic Vietnamese cuisine. We were sat next to an American guy, who was telling us that he was a Phantom pilot in the Vietnam war and now lived in Nha Trang.
It was interesting to chat to him, but I wondered whether, as an American, it would feel awkward to live in Vietnam.
RUNNING AND LOOKING AROUND
We didn’t do much else that evening in Nha Trang, as we were quite shattered, but got up early the next morning to go for a run along the beach. This wasn’t easy. It was 30 degrees and crazily humid, even at 7 am, so we managed only a few kilometres.
We stopped for breakfast at a place along the beach and then headed back to the hotel to pack up our things.
Before checking out, we went for a walk through the town. It was a fairly standard touristy town and the Russian influence was obvious. The shop signs were all written in Vietnamese and Russian, with far less English signage than the other touristy spots.
The heat was pretty intense and even the local workers couldn’t help but have a bit of a siesta.
MOVING ON
There wasn’t much that we wanted to see in Nha Trang, so we did stay just for the one night.
We were next heading to a small island, called Whale Island, but before that, we stopped off in another small beach town called Doc Let.
We hailed a cab, agreed a price and journeyed off to Doc Let. Read on for what we discovered there….
Andrew
Southern part of Vietnam was an ally to US in the time of Vietnam war. Now even northern Vietnamese like Americans more than us, southerners.
Rob
Thanks for the comment, Andrew. I’m learning more and more about the history of the country as I explore it, but this wasn’t something I was aware of. I was a bit naive to the history of the Vietnamese war, but finding it fascinating!