Nha Trang

I can’t believe that we almost skipped Nha Trang because it has been my favorite stop so far. We had heard that Nha Trang was a fun beach resort town, but people had failed to mention that it is unbelievably beautiful. Kate and I stayed in a highly rated backpacker hostel (though we went for the private room) that had an great travel agency and really friendly and fun people.

the island with Vinipearl

We arrived from Dalat around noon and were on the beach by 1:30. We were pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the beach and clarity of the water despite the fact that Nha Trang has a city feel and the beach is just off the main road. The beach is framed by large mountains coming into the sea and the world’s largest cable car over water going to an island tackily labeled “Vinipearl,” which is a water park. Despite the evidence of manmade attractions, it is a gorgeous area.

The next day Kate and I decided that we felt confident enough to go on a 30 km motorbike ride out to Long Beach, or in Vietnamese Bai Dai. Kate’s friend went there last year and said that it was basically deserted. After getting lost a couple of times, we finally found ourselves on a new, long, 4 lane road. We could sense the beach on our left and after riding down the road a few kilometers we  hung a left and found ourselves on the promised deserted beach. We couldn’t believe that for as far as our eyes could see in either direction that the beach was entirely ours. It is evident that all the land along the beach has been bought up for resorts due to the lack of anything, perfectly paved roads, a structure being built in the distance, and stairs going down to the beach. In a few years it will be impossible to have this beach to oneself, but for the afternoon it was ours.

hi, welcome to my private beach

The only downside to the beach is that since there are no resorts, there is no upkeep of the beach so there was quite a bit of trash. It was extremely sad to me that a deserted beach is still so susceptible to the impact of humans. The trash could have come from anywhere and was a reminder that even though we do not always see our waste, it has to go somewhere, whether it is on a pristine beach on the coast of Vietnam or somewhere else, it is destroying something. But besides that we had an awesome time on our beach.

The drive back along the cliffs of the mountains going into the ocean was amazing. Each day I am amazed at something, and that ride reminded me what an incredible beautiful world we live in. The Nha Trang area is on of the most beautiful places I have ever been and am so glad that Kate and I took the ride we did, even though we got caught in fairly terrifying rush hour traffic on our way back to Nha Trang.

Kate's collage of our ride

Having a good time on the cruise

That night I went out with a girl we met in Mui Ne and stayed with our one night in Dalat. She was staying in a dorm in the hostel, so I joined her and her dorm mates for a couple of drinks. After spending about 20 minuets with them, they had convinced me to sign up for a cruise around the islands surrounding Nha Trang. With 3 minutes to spare until the travel agency closed, I was able to successfully sign up for the cruise and stay true to one of my top rules: if you’re given an opportunity, don’t say no; those are often the most memorable times. I am so glad that I said yes to this opportunity, as it is one of the most fun days I have had so far. Cruising around the different islands and admiring some of the bluest waters and beautiful mountains I have ever seen while meeting an incredible group of young travelers was ideal. The MC of  our boat (full disclosure: this was advertised as a booze cruise, though not too much drinking was involved) insisted we refer to him as Morgan FreeWOMAN and was quite the character. After lunch, the crew from our boat set up a drum, brought out a guitar, and asked everyone where they were from. Morgan Freewoman then announced that each country would have to sing a song. First up was Israel. The two guys were really good sports and got into the song that Morgan had selected for them. As the countries went on, I dreaded more and more when America would be called, especially since I was one of only two Americans on the boat. When it was finally called, I was pleased to hear that Morgan had selected one of my favorite songs: Country Roads by John Denver. After each country had embarrassed themselves, it was time to jump into the clear blue waters and hang out in inner tubes with cocktails in our hands. I could have stayed there all day taking in the mountains and looking down at my toes in the clear water. 

me and Morgan Freewoman

cocktail time! notice how you can see feet under the water