Vietnam: Nha Trang


We arrived in Nha Trang on the overnight train from Ho Chi Minh City. We pulled in at 5am so it was a while before we could check in. My first thoughts were that we would head to the beach and relax there til the sun came up and it was a more reasonable time to bother our guesthouse.

It was still dark but there was already activity on the streets. The locals all heading the same way as us for some sunrise activity! We saw people swimming in the crashing waves and even a group of older Vietnamese people doing aerobics to Christmas songs – very weird!

The romanticism of a morning sunrise was soon dashed however by a lot of clouds and a heavy rain shower; at least we got a good first test of our raincoats!

Nha Trang is a beach town in the South of Vietnam and in a nutshell is like Majorca for Russians. There is a nice beach with some serious waves, a few bars and restaurants, but not much else. This was fine to us – after 3 weeks of cities and temples a few days of relaxing beach time were very welcome. There is also a pretty awesome amusement park called Vinpearl, which I will go into seperately later.

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We stayed at a place called Mojzo Inn, it came highly rated and we would be quick to echo that. The staff there are incredibly kind and helpful. As a British person I am naturally quite cynical and suspicious of people who seem unusually happy, but Ly, Gem, Twin & Snow were amazing. If we ever go back to Nha Trang we will have no trouble deciding where to stay!

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Us with Gem from Mojzo Inn

So we had a day at Vinpearl Park and a nice sunny day getting toasted on the beach. On the final day there it was quite overcast so a final beach trip was out the window. Luckily the girls at Mojzo recommended a trip to the nearby mud baths and it was great! We got collected from the hotel by a minibus and whisked up to the nearby Thap Ba Spa in the hills. There we were treated to a full hot mud bath, hot mineral pool and mineral swimming pool experience – an excellent way to get pampered when there is no sun!

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Thap Ba Spa, Nha Trang

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Thap Ba Mineral Pools

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Me in a Thap Ba mud bath

There is a mixture of restaurants in town but the selection isn’t massive. Of note would be the fantastic curries of Ganesh and the superb local dishes served up at Lanterns Restaurant (which also runs a local charity – another reason to pick them).

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The house special at Ganesh, Nha Trang

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Pork Noodle dish at Lanterns Restaurant, Nha Trang

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All in all Nha Trang was a nice place to spend a few days but don’t go expecting any culture or history etc. Go for the beach and just relax!

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