Nha Trang, ... scuba diving and animal horror shows

The beach in Nha Trang. Abandoned because it's low season

We arrived in Nha Trang late in the evening and headed right for our hostel, checked into our little room and headed out for a bite to eat after our long, frustrating train ride. We walked around the backpacker area of town, where our hostel was and we knew that we had arrived somewhere we would enjoy. We ended up at a little restaurant, with the same name as the one we went to in Hue, the Why not bar. Except that this bar was four times the size and filled with foreigners. Up and down the street were little shops restaurants and hostels that were geared for backpackers. We haven’t been in Asia that long, (about a month) but it was nice to be surrounded with familiar things.

The next day we woke up to a wonderful, sunny blue sky day. We walked around the city some more, checked out the beach, and planned for our next couple of days in the city. The town is small enough to walk around a lot of the main areas by foot, and the moto’s or taxi’s are cheap enough to get you where ever else you would want to go. The beach was clean with fine beige sand. However, the water was very turbid and muddy from the river that dumps into the ocean a few hundred meters from the main city beach.

After a great day on the beach and around the city, we settled in for a night of festive bevies at the Why Not Bar. We were only going to stop in for one or two, but the atmosphere was mesmerising. A coconut bucket and some double vodka soda’s (for $.60 Cdn) later, we were ready for a bit of a longer night. We met a few friends who were drinking ‘the fish tank’ literally a NHL sized Gatorade barrel filled with 4.5 bottles of liquor and mix. We sat and chatted for a few hours while it was pouring rain, monsoon style outside. We weren’t smart enough to have rain gear with us and it was quite a walk home, so, of course we had to wait for the rain to pass. When it did, the streets were flooded. In some parts it was knee deep. We talked to other backpackers who said on the way to their hostel, they actually had to swim for a section because it was too deep to wade through!

Mr. Ba, and the swim up bar!

The next day, cloudy and overcast we were off on our boat cruise. A little tired and depressed from the weather, we still tried to have a good time. The first stop on the boat trip was the aquarium. It was a decent sized aquarium that seemed to take care of the sea-creatures fairly well, and the tanks were large enough that they could actually swim around in. The second stop was for snorkelling. However, because of the heavy rains, the water was turbid and not very clear. We also found the water partially infested with jelly fish, so we didn’t stay long. Ewa even got stung, but it was not the kind that is deadly, or even that you have to pee on, so we were thankful for that! We were treated to a great spread of food, and a live band on the boat! They were actually pretty decent, although it was funny to listen to English being sung in a Vietnamese accent. Our last event for the day was the ‘swim up bar’ where the captain of the boat floated on his volleyball raft and handed out free drinks to anyone who would go swimming. Good times, but it would have been a lot better if it wasn’t raining and cold!

The next day we were off to scuba diving. The Octopus diving club has a pretty nice boat and some good crew working for them. We were about an hour off the coast, around some islands. The dive was great! Warm water, our first exposure to coral. We also saw a sea snake, moray eels, many tropical fish, blue star fish and Ewa even saw a “lipstick fish”. After our two dives, we were back to the city for our trip to the ‘mud baths’. This is a spa a few km outside of the city center. When you get there, you shower, and head into a bud Jacuzzi filled with mud. The mud has the consistency of Yop and has a faint sulphur / tarsands smell to it. Then you go through a series of jet showers, and end up in a mineral bath. It was quite the experience! We met a few Canadians on the way who told us about the hectic water festival in Phnom Penh that was happening in a few days.

Sure they look cute... but they are dangerous little buggers!

Our last day in Nha Trang, we had signed up for going on a hike, cliff diving from waterfalls, seeing ‘Monkey Island’ where the monkeys are in their natural habitat and then a trip to the salt fields outside of Nha Trang. What we got instead was the animal cruelty tour. The first stop was to a ostrich and deer zoo. These animals are trapped in cages and you get the chance to feed them. We’re pretty sure it was just a feed lot that they brought tourists to. The next stop was a great little island, where we were supposed to do the cliff diving from lakes, down a water fall into another clear lake. What we got was a tiny polluted stream with pvc piping running along and across it. The water fall was a bust but the beach was great! The final kicker was the last island. We got there and the first thing was the ‘animal show’ which was a pack of dogs, pretending to be in school and doing tricks for the teachers. This was followed up by a large group of monkeys performing various acts, similar to a circus. All of the animals were obviously terrified of the owners and flinched at any hand movement. It was not enjoyable to watch at all. Ewa stayed for the dog part and then left. After the show, we were off to see the monkeys. This consisted of walking 100m away from the amphitheatre where the show was to a small grove of trees, where we were attacked by monkeys. They are conditioned to being fed by the tourists and it’s obvious that their population can’t support themselves without the food. They become easily agitated and aggressive. The tour guide outlined the rules which were: keep the food hidden, otherwise the monkeys will go in your pocket or tear it away from your hand, only keep a little in your hand at a time. Do not show your teeth, I.e. smile at them, they see this as an act of agression. Third if you have no food show the monkey your flat empty hand and it will go away. Sure the rules sound great, although you can pretty much throw them out the window. The monkeys come running as soon as they see the group of tourist, are jumping on trees, around your legs, and are grabbing at your pants or whatever you are wearing. There were a few families with small children and it was a bit frightening. Ewa was attacked when she tried to feed one of the monkeys, he lunged at her and smacked her on the head while barring his teeth. Another lady, who as lucky was bitten on the stomach, was bleeding and you could make out the teethmarks . After our horror show we were back to the mainland. Once back at the hotel, when we complained about the tour, turns out that they sent us on the wrong tour, or that somewhere there was a miscommunication and we were put on the wrong tour. Boo!

Our last night was made a little better by stumbling into the lemon grass café, that had the absolute best food we’ve had in Asia so far, and it was actually one of the least expensive as well! After dinner we were off to get on the overnight bus to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). We thought that after the awesome train ride from Hue, that we’d change it up. The bus was relatively clean, but with tiny tiny beds, and their advertising about ‘state-of-the-art’ suspension system on the bus, we had a bumpy long night.

Thoughts on Nha Trang, the only thing that we found different here, or out of the normal for other Vietnamese towns was the over the top efforts to sell books, or postcards, DVD’s, cigarettes, gum, paintings or other tourist ware while you are sitting inside of a restaurant eating or drinking. Nha Trang seems to be the starting point of some hard moments of having to say no. China and Northern Vietnam also seemed to have very few beggars. There are more and more as we head South.

Hanging out on a random island just off of Nha Trang, Vietnam