Vietnam’s beach capital and most famous dive site is at the south-central coast, about 9 hours by bus from Saigon. My guest house was called “The Nice Hotel” and I must say it was on of the best value accommodation I stayed in on this trip. Clean, spacious room with free wifi, private bathroom including hot water, air-conditioning and heavy blankets for $10, which makes it €7.30 at the time. A moto driver at the bus stop suggested this hotel and I am usually a bit sceptical as it often turns out to be an overpriced accommodation that pays heavy commission to the driver.
The town itself is nothing special but it offers some nice beaches and a few islands off shore that are supposedly good for diving. At the beginning of the dry season visibility in the water drops down to just a few meters but you don’t always got a choice. So I booked a trip with two dives and lunch for $70. Usually you get seated in a cramped inflated rubber boat, but in low season there were only four divers and everybody had their own guide. Moreover, the vessel seemed like a retired and modified fishing boat with ample space and hence really comfy.
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| dive trip |
Vis-wise the first dive was really terrible as you only could see 3 meters. Also I was a bit overweighted as I put on a long wet suit and figured I need more weight than usual. So, I felt a bit uncomfortable and had to stay close to the guide in order not to lose him. But, being in the water again was great and since I haven’t dived that often lately it was a nice change. The dives were quite shallow not exceeding more than 20 meters. Unfortunately I had to surface with half a tank once again and I thought if I had stayed down there until I ran out of air, I might have spotted a sea horse which I still have never seen in the wild. You could see your usual corals and the corresponding fish, however they were few in numbers.
The next day I visited the sites. Among these was the National Oceanographic Museum where thousands of pickled specimens are depicted. The aquatic life in those jars loses all its colours and so everything was grey-white. They even put an entire manatee in alcohol. The living creatures lead a very cramped life as the tanks are fairly small for the numbers of fish, turtles and rays. I got to see some good old friends of mine and was able to teach the guide the corresponding names in English. I am sure Sea World on Australia’s Gold Coast was better but this time I was more familiar with the creatures shown.
Long Son Pagoda was next where there are still monks residing. Having seen so many pagodas in the recent months my jaded head was not really able to appreciate it. On the picture below you can see a swastika (for some reasons I’ve never heard that word prior to my trip) above the temple. Constitution-defying back home, a normal sight in Buddhist countries.
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| Long Son Pagoda with the Swastika |
150 steps lead up to the Giant Seated Buddha from where you have a great view over the city
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| Giant Seated Buddha |
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| Nha Trang |
Just next to the River Cai the Ponagar Champa Towers are situated, built between the 8th and 13th century.
The Champas are one of more than 50 minorities in the county. Some centuries back its people ruled vast parts of the land even stretching down to Cambodia. The red-orange bricks are a nice change from the grey temples you see elsewhere. The temple was used to worship the reproduction organs Linga and Yoni.
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| Traditional Champa Dance |
Hoi An is about 11 hours by bus from Nha Trang and I am no longer used to these long bus journeys. I remember always liking bus trips as you get to see the countryside or meet people but it has just been a pain in the a** these recent days. Anyhow, Vietnam might not be the biggest country but it has the longest bus trips and you just gotta cope with that.
I met some nice British people and we went out for a nice set menu in the evening.
Hoi An is really famous for getting tailored suits but since I cant store it anywhere I don’t wanna carry them around for the next four and a half month. The suites are probably good value¸ though, and made an appealing impression.
Unfortunately I missed the old town which is listed as a World Heritage, maybe on my next visit to Vietnam.
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