Back to the land of sand and sea - Nha Trang

Friday 7^th August 2015

I woke up before my alarm went off this morning, although my eyes felt like they were glued shut. I got up and finished packing and then went downstairs we had been told we would be picked up at 7am by the bus so I was keen to eat before then but the dude was taking his sweet time and assured me it would be fine which it was.

We got picked up by a coach which took us to the actual bus which was waiting to go when I got there, the driver was angry and was rushing me but after I got on we still sat about for a while. The drive to Nha Trang was pretty stunning (at least the bits I saw were I did sleep a lot of the journey)

We stopped for 30mins which was far too long and everyone was anxious to get moving again but all the bus drivers were having a merry old time all drinking together. We finally got moving again and only had another hour or so before we reached Nha Trang.

As soon as we arrived I booked my next bus to Hoi An as I’ve heard it books out quite a few days in advance it will be my first sleeper bus in Vietnam which should be interesting. I then walked to the hostel which was just around the corner, they were full there but arranged for me and another couple of guys to go to their new hostel by taxi it was actually just around the corner which was sweet.

I checked in and had to wait about ten minutes or so while the room was cleaned then went up and got changed and headed to the beach getting some food along the way. At the beach I found a nice sunny spot and fell asleep I stayed there most of the afternoon until it looked like it might rain so I walked back to the hostel and had a look at things to do in Nha Trang.

After a while I took a shower and then walked to the beach and along the beach front as well as checking out a night market. About 7pm I was feeling hungry so had a huge dinner and then a huge ice-cream and walked back to the hostel and crashed! So much sleeping all day made me sleepy!

Saturday 8^th August 2015

Since there are no windows in my room it was hard to tell what time it was when I woke up when finally I managed to pull myself awake it was around 8.30am which I thought was a good time to be up and about. I got dressed and then headed up to the roof for breakfast.

After eating I sat about for a bit and then headed to the beach via the Nha Trang market which was a heap of crap. All I wanted was a cheap book I could read on the beach but all the market sold was tacky tourist tat, pretty much every stall sold stuffed alligators who buys those? 

I got to the beach and sat for a bit in the shade then moved into the sun. I did this a few times as it was really scorching in the sun and even just putting my feet on my sarong I could feel the heat coming up from the sand.

After a few hours of being a beached whale I went for a walk along the length of the beach which was absolutely filthy. Among the garbage strewn all along the break line was a dead rat, a dead bird loads of dead fish and crabs, a used needle, several bloody tampons, several condoms (I’m assuming used), plastic bottles Styrofoam cups and food containers, millions of banana peels, pineapple cores, mango stones, and a whole bunch of other disgusting waste which was a real shame.

 

I walked back to where I had been sitting all morning and no sooner had I laid down my sarong then the rain started it seemed light but the guys renting out the sunbeds were rushing everyone off the beach so I thought it was going to get heavier so I went back to the hostel for a bit.

It was good because I could use the bathroom and refill my water bottle. The rain didn’t last long so I headed back via the supermarket to get a few snacks. On the beach I promptly fell asleep and woke up only when the sun was going down and it was cold.

Back at the hostel I showered and then found a hostel for Hoi An once that was done I went to dinner and then walked back to the hostel the long way along the beach. By the time I got back it was about 9.30pm and I chilled in bed reading for a while.

Sunday 9^th August 2015

Today was my last day in Nha Trang. I got up and got ready for the day then checked out and left my bag in the luggage area and headed out to explore I started out at about 9.30am first heading Nha Tho Nui which is a church. As far as churches go it wasn’t anything special the most amusing part was the bride taking photos out front.

Next stop was the Long Son Pagoda which took about 15minutes to walk to from the church from the front it’s pretty plain but inside is pretty beautiful and around the back there are two Buddha’s. One is a reclining Buddha the other is seated which you can go inside. While I was on my way up the 150 steps to the seated Buddha a man stopped me for a blessing in which I sat inside a huge bell and he banged on it. He spoke no English but I understood enough to know that he wanted extortionate amount for me to sit in a bell.

I think this is some sort of Vietnamese Wheel of life - if you can read Vietnamese please tell me!!

inside the Pagoda

Feet of the reclining Buddha

The seated Buddha and I

inside the seated Buddha where i met two amazingly cute old dudes who loved my Ganesh tattoo

The last place I walked to was the Cham Towers which are ancient temple ruins it took about 45minutes to walk. They were pretty small but the view from the top was pretty nice and you could go inside a few of the temples and there was also a small museum although all of the information was in Vietnamese so I’m not sure what it was about.

I walked back to town along the beach and spent a few hours sunbathing before going to get some dinner before the night bus. I ate a huge pizza and felt pretty full. At the hostel I was able to take a shower and get all my things together before being picked up at 6.30pm.

The mini bus dropped us at the bus stop and we checked in and all piled onto the weirdest night bus with almost fully reclining seats. I was on a top bunk in the middle but it was actually surprisingly comfortable and I slept for most of the journey. 

feeling a bit nervous about bunk beds on a bus...