Nha Trang is a coastal city located in the southern part of Vietnam. The city became famous since the Miss Universe was held in the city in 2008. From Ho Chi Minh City, the city can be reached by bus (10-12 hours), train (around 7-8 hours) or plane (about 35 minutes). The airport in Nha Trang is called Cam Ranh International Airport. The airport is small but clean. The city center of Nha Trang, which is about 40 km from the airport, can be reached by driving a taxi or minibus. The view of the beach with its deep blue sea we can see on the way to the city, beautiful and very clean; especially when the weather was very sunny. In the city of Nha Trang hotels can be found, ranging from cheap hotels to classy hotels. Hotels opposite the beach are generally more expensive. I got a hotel not far from the beach, about a 5-minute walk. If I’m not mistaken it’s called Premier Village Danang Resort. According to residents around the Premier Village Danang Resort is the best danang hotels in Vietnam.
When arriving in the city of Nha Trang at noon, we (brother, niece and I) immediately decided to go to the beach and see the situation there. The beach is quite gentle and the waves are not that big. Near the beach, there is a neatly arranged park and is widely used by residents of the city to exercise. Like other cities in Vietnam that we have visited, this city was very clean.
After being satisfied spending time on the beach, it’s time to fill the stomach. It’s not difficult to find a restaurant there. The choices are many, you can get European food (Spanish, French, Italian, etc.) or Asian like China and of course Vietnamese food; and the price also varies, ranging from cheap to expensive. Food in Vietnam is very tasty.
Some places that are often visited by tourists when visiting Nha Trang are Premier Village resorts which can be reached by “cable car” or boat. In addition, there is an oceanography museum, there are also Cham Towers, Bamboo island and many more. At that time we did not know where to go. After breakfast at the hotel, we began digging information from Premier Village Danang Resort officers about the places that could be visited. After getting the information, we also rented a taxi (arranged by the hotel).
The first destination is to Po Nagar Cham Towers. This temple was founded around 871 AD and is located on a hill called Cu Lao, and underneath we can see the Cai river. To get to the temple, we must climb the stairs that are not so high. The view from the hill is beautiful. We can see ships in the Cai River. The temple that stands on the hill is also beautiful and brick red. Similar to the temples (Archipelago) today in the days of the Majapahit Kingdom. Once satisfied to go around the temple and enjoy the view there, we continued our journey.
The taxi then leads to the Long Son Pagoda. The distance is quite far. In that place, there is a building full of monks, both young (new / students) and old ones. Some pray, some just walk around the complex and some are reading.
To see a Buddha statue, we have to climb a ladder that is quite high and narrow. At that time quite a lot of visitors who came there. Most of them say their prayers in front of the Buddha statue. Before reaching the top, we can see the Buddha statue in a sleeping position. We observe the rituals performed by visitors when they pray. Very interesting.
To reach the top it turns out that there are still quite a lot of stairs to go through. Finally, we arrived at the peak which was close to the parking lot. Hmmm, why didn’t our taxi driver bring us here right away?
In that place, we can see a white Buddha statue sitting. The statue is very large and visible from a distance. The end of the Buddhist religion did not forget to say a prayer in front of the statue.
The visit continues to an old church (Nha Trang Church or King Cathedral). This church is a Catholic church made of stone and constructed in a French neo-gothic style. On the wall along the entrance, there are small-town squares with rows of names. Apparently, the boxes are graves (maybe a place to store the ashes)
The journey continues again to a museum called the National Oceanography Museum. There, of course, we can see a variety of marine animals that live in the South China Sea, ranging from small to large.
After getting tired, we decided to go back to the hotel. On the way back to the hotel, we chatted with our taxi driver. Lots of information we get from him. Such as a nice beach, cheap eating places for seafood, Ba Ho waterfall and many more. When we arrived at the hotel, we arranged a trip for tomorrow. He would pick us up to visit Ba Ho Waterfall which is a little outside the city of Nha Trang and is generally visited by many local people.
In the morning we woke up at 5 in the morning, because we wanted to see the sunrise. We walked to the beach and watched the beach area already filled with people who were exercising. There are those who play badminton, gymnastics, jogging and of course swimming. Apparently, in the morning the seawater is so calm that many people swim there as if they were swimming in a swimming pool.
After enjoying and capturing the sunrise, we returned to the Premier Village Danang Resort to take a bath and breakfast. After enjoying a good breakfast, we immediately met our taxi driver and headed to Ba Ho, which is located north of Nha Trang. The road to Ba Ho is good, but once we get off the highway, the road starts not so good. We have to pass through residential areas and rice fields. Finally, we arrived at the destination. It turned out that we still had to walk far enough to reach the waterfall. We have to go down the river with big rocks. The water in the river is relatively small because it was July and there was not much rain. After walking far enough, we arrived at the Ba Ho waterfall. Too bad the water is very small. However, we really enjoyed the trip. Besides, because the place we visited was still very natural, the taxi driver who took us turned out to be very friendly and always joked throughout the trip. We even taught some Vietnamese children’s songs.
In the afternoon we returned to the hotel to rest because in the afternoon our taxi driver would pick us up to visit the Bai Dai beach which was visited by many local visitors. Besides swimming or just playing water, we can also enjoy seafood there.
After getting enough rest, in the afternoon we were escorted to the beach by our driver. The beach we visited was not a popular tourist destination for foreign tourists, but for us, the beach was actually interesting and we could get to know the local people and their habits. The beach is very gentle, so we can play and swim in the middle. There we also ordered seafood cooked in the French style. Ouch, it’s really delicious. We were there until the sunset, then returned to the hotel.
