A tale of 2 beeches

Yesterday was a good day, but then, most of them have been good days since I arrived. After hastily writing the blog of the day, I decided that the next days topic would be about NhaTrang beeches.

While sitting in a strategic location for photos, a shapely woman pulled up to me on a motorcycle. Her very bad English did very clearly contain the words Boom Boom. I smiled and said No thanks maybe later in Vietnamese. A voice piped up behind me in heavily accented but understandable English that I was smart to say no because she was not clean. On an old motorcycle was an older weathered gentleman. He had come up behind me un-noticed. His buddy was also soon to appear. I have encountered these fellows on another occasion and spent a little time talking with them. One served during the war, aiding the Americans, and learned English. The other is just a local. To look at them, a person might be a little apprehensive… They are very rugged looking people. But looks are deceiving.. They seem to be great guys. One of them tried the “ I am poor… help me… buy me lunch” routine, but when I told him he would get nothing out of me without work, he laughed and through the English speaker told me that he liked me and that he was joking and just trying to see if I was a tourist or a real person….. hmmmmm…. A real person??… I will have to ask him about that. I discussed with them this boom boom girl, and have decided I need an education. If I am going to run a hotel, I better know the ins and outs of what goes on here. I have told them that I will hire them for the afternoon to teach me about what is safe and what is not for the tourist. This will happen in a couple of days…. Maybe make for an interesting blog.

Today is about beeches. The photos were taken yesterday at 2 pm. There are two beeches in NhaTrang. The main one being south of the river, and a smaller one located on the north. ( my place is on the north) The main one runs for kilometers. The parallel street boasts Bonsai groomed trees, and manicured parks the entire length of the city up to where a river divides the city. The beeches have soft, light, yellow sand that feels more luxurious on the feet than gritty. The waters are blue, the water looks crystal clear, and the view of the offshore islands is breathtaking. In the very early morning there are a lot of people who will find their way to the beech to exercise, practice Kung Fu and Tai Chi ( not sure of spelling ), or are just there to watch the sun up. In the late afternoon until dark as the day cools and the sun weakens, the locals will find their way for sports, swimming, and other beech recreation. After dark, it is a place for romantic walks, romance, and relaxing cool leisure after a very warm day. The breeze that blows inland off the sea is refreshing.

The southern beech is where most of the tourists are. They bask in the glorious weather, getting sunburns on they fair skinned bodies. During the morning and afternoon heat, foreigners are all you will see. This is the same beech that people I know who served in the war served and enjoyed their R&R. I am surprised to see parasailing and Jet Ski rentals. Walking amongst the sunbathers are locals selling all kinds of wares such as sunglasses, books, fruit, cold drinks, and offering services such as massages. The are all covered from head to toe with sun blocking clothing. I must admit that it sometimes gets tiresome always being approached by people when trying to relax, but then again, if you are thirsty, there will be somebody by in the next few minutes with a cold drink. Later in the day there are people who will be cruising the beech with pots and fire pots. A person can have a lobster, giant mantis shrimp, and other delicacies boiled up while you wait. Years ago, this beech was dirty, wild and there was aggressive sales activity everywhere. People would drag their little chairs and restaurants onto the sand and discard the waste on the sand to be grabbed by the waves and be re-deposited elsewhere on the same beech.  I recall an instance where I was thirsty and did not want a beer, so for 2.5 cents, a young man shimmied up a palm tree to grab me a young coconut. He adeptly chopped off the head with a machete and presented me with my drink. Things have changed a bit now. The Government has cleaned it up and charged people with the beaches condition. There is security and police watching for things not allowed.

There is a smaller beech to the north of the river. Early morning and night the beech comes alive like the other. The difference with this one is that during the day, the beech is deserted. There are no commercial establishments and no watercraft rentals. Just pristeen open and untouched beech. The odd foreigner discovers it in their travels, and spends a little time relaxing. There are no cabanas or beech umbrellas. There are also no bothersome peddlers always trying to sell things. If you want a drink you just get up and walk across the beech side road to a hotel (hopefully ours) to make your purchase. You will be delighted because the prices here are probably as much as half of the other side of the bridge.

Both beeches are beautiful and deserve exploring. The also both have their good points and bad. One of the best thing about the beeches here is they are all public and access is not restricted by big hotel chains like in most other countries. You can literally take a 5 km stroll down the beech in the middle of town.