A statue on the Promanade

A big thank you to other sites that I copied from.

Long Thanh Photo Studio

Long Thanh is a local photographer with a permanent exhibition gallery open to the public. This is a popular visiting spot for people who appreciate life as seen through a lens. To date, Long Thanh has exhibited at more than 57 different photographic exhibitions around the world including Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States. Long Thanh’s photographic repertoire is as wide-ranging as it is unique. His landscapes are often moody, contrasting the natural beauty of Vietnam with the continuing struggle in many people’s daily lives. Well worth checking out. 126 Hoang Van Thu St.

Boat Cruises

Nha Trang is flanked by 71 islands and the sea at most times of year is crystal clear so the plethora of boat trips daily heading out plus the easy availability of booking agents is self-explanatory. Trips are not expensive and are more often than not party cruises but with a fair amount of snorkeling and fishing fitted in between the drinking. Check whether lunch is included or not and compare deals before booking. If you are not an extremely

fisher folk

 early riser then charter a boat the day before. Most hotels can handle the booking but the place to book in person is the Cau Da Dock

Mud Baths

The mud baths at Thap Ba natural hot springs are a healthy and fun way to spend a few hours. The best time of day to go is between 12:00 and 15:00 when they are less crowded. You will be offered single or shared mud baths and obviously the single ones are more expensive yet the communal tubs are more fun. Shower off in mineral-rich water afterwards or let the mud dry on you first for additional benefits before showering.

Small bridge

Diving & SnorkelingNha Trang has over 20 dive shops, so this is a buyer’s market and divers looking for certification will find that the value for money here is superb, with PADI open water courses available with full equipment rental for as little as US$200. A two-dive boat trip with equipment rental and modest lunch can be had for as little as US$25.

Vinpearl Water Park and Aquarium

Vinpearl is a resort located on Hon Tre (Bamboo Island) some three kilometres south of the port. It is connected to the mainland by the longest cable car in the world (in itself a pretty impressive experience) that transports visitors some 40 metres above sea level to the resort, its water

Amusement on the beach

 park, games park and an aquarium, as well as a spa. Prices are reasonable and the water park closes at 18:00

Yang Bay waterfall, 48 km from Nha Trang, consists of three sets of falls — Yang Bay, Yang Khang, and Ho Cho. It’s a well-developed tourist spot and a regular stop for Vietnamese on group tours, but it’s still worth seeking out on your own. The main falls have been heavily modified, and some swimming areas have been artificially created, but the effect is fairly natural and quite beautiful. It’s a great spot for swimming

Raglai ethnic village
Part of what makes the trip worthwhile is that the last half courses through some really stunning countryside, and the last few kilometres before the falls passes by a Raglai ethnic village.

Finally a mall being built

Dien Khanh Citadel
This site is actually a stop on some tour itineraries. While it doesn’t really merit seeking out for it’s own sake, you’ll pass through it on the way to Yang Bay falls. After you turn off Route 1 on the way to the falls you’ll pass through two gates, about two stories high, which are all that remain of an 18th century citadel. They have guard towers above the archways, and a couple metres of old earthen ramparts — they’re so narrow traffic can only pass through in one direction at a time, controlled by traffic lights.

Bai Dai

 (which means ‘long beach’ and is pronounced ‘bye-yai‘). It’s 19 km from the outskirts of Nha Trang, to the south, along the relatively new road that cuts through the coastal mountains to the Cam Ranh Airport. The beach is a long, beautiful stretch of sand that extends for ten kilometres or more along an arc-shaped bay.

a random shot

Other activities include white water rafting, day fishing trips, Bicycle tours, and more that I am sure I am forgetting. Now, lets head over to the sleeper bus and head north.

The main beach

Yesterday was a new adventure. Drifter and I set out on a impromptu road trip and it was a good one. I will write abut it after the Why visit Vietnam series is done. 

We caught the open tour bus in front of the resort area in Mui Ne and now are headed to NhaTrang. We are eager to arrive but at one location, sit for almost 2 ½ hours while the driver and his helper have lunch and a nap. This practice may have changed, but in 2006 it happened a lot. We pass hillsides covered with colorful graves, and monuments to fallen heroes. We continue past beautiful vistas of rice fields, mountains, banana plantations, and Thanh long farms. At last houses start lining the roads. We are 11 km from NhaTrang. We

Buddha

 enter from the west and at first glance it looks busy and congested much like Saigon. We pass the bus and train station and encounter a flower filled traffic circle that it the main street that runs from north to south through the length of the city. 2/4 street ( the date the North “liberated” NhaTrang) is where most businesses and commercial shops can be found. The bus travels a few blocks further and stops before its NhaTrang office. Waiting like in so many other places in Vietnam, is a small army of taxi’s ready to be hired. They will try to suggest places to stay and perhaps advise you how bad the place you have booked is to try to gain a commission from the hotel they deliver you to, but we don’t care. And we end up in some mini hotel 2 bocks off the beach and not a bad room for around 15 bucks. We are here……… now what is there to do. 

NhaTrang:

Some water fun

NhaTrang is probably the most visited destination for vacationers in Vietnam. During National holidays and summer months, all of the hotels can be full. That is a lot to say for a small city that has over 350 hotels (so I was told). Some of the following was borrowed from another site and I have added my words to it. 

The city of Nha Trang is becoming more popular with the tourists in recent years. Yet, with a population of 300,000, Nha Trang still retains its small town atmosphere. This resort town is well known for its miles of beach and the friendliness of its people. The city is flanked by nearly ten kilometers of prime beach where the water is warm year round. The average temperature in Nha Trang is 26 C. Nha Trang also has the lowest level of humidity in all of Vietnam. Today, Nha Trang ranks among the top of all beaches in Vietnam.

A shot of Tran Phu

 Nha Trang is 1,287 km south of Hanoi, 624 km south of Hue and 442 km from Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon). Nha Trang has several famous islands. Most notable are Hon Tre, Hon Yen, Hon Rua and the Spratly islands. Upon arriving to Nha Trang, most tourists will pass through downtown. Beyond the rows of businesses and homes will be Nha Trang beach. Tran Phu Boulevard is Nha Trang most famous thoroughfare. It runs the length of the beach with several major hotels located within a few steps from the beach. The road continues over a large bridge crossing the Cai river. Tran Phu becomes Pham Van Dong street and curves around Hong Chon rock to another smaller beach with warmer and quieter waters. On any given day, between 5:00 am to 8:00 am Nha Trang beach is filled with local people taking in the fresh sea

Nhr Trang Cathedral

breeze, socializing, playing soccer, badminton or practicing Tai chi. Most people in Nha Trang fear being darken by the sun. For this reason, the window between 5-8 am (where sunlight is less intense) is peaked with activities. Another reason is that many go to the ocean for a morning swim, and to exercise. In Nha Trang, going to the beach can be a family affair. One often see generations of families going to the beach together, and romance is everywhere. Young couples gaze out to see holding hands and giving each other doey eyed looks. 

There is so much to see and to do that it could take weeks to get it all in. In my nest blog, I will write and borrow some more hard work by others and give a brief overview of what is available here.

Another sot of Tran Phu

Kimmy and Kenny

Ah…. Where to begin. I could probably start by saying I have had the honor of meeting some very nice people. Ken has many friends here and I had the extreme pleasure of meeting a few so far. Kimmy invited us to lunch and took us to a very nice buffet place in downtown Saigon. She has a magical personality and I hope very much she will look me up when visiting NhaTrang.

My pal Hau

Yesterdays blog was a short one. Hau came banging on the door and we were set to hit the road for a trip into the Mekong. Here we were waiting for Ken to join us when sadly he announced that he is suffering some heave diarrhea. Which leads me into today’s sub topic:

A foreigner here must pay very close attention they what they eat. The food is wonderful and most things can be consumed safely, however, anything that is washed with local water must be treated as suspect. More importantly is the ice in your drink. There are two kinds of ice here. There are ice factories now that make ice from purified water. These can be recognized

Orange Dragons

 because of a rounded shape and a small hole in the middle. They can be large or small in size. If you are drinking an iced beverage, check to make sure there is some evidence of this round ice. If you cannot see, or if it is crushed ask to make sure it is ice made by machine and not cut from a block. Also,

Mekong river

most restaurants that are set up western style, are washing with purified water so vegetables can be consumed safely, however, in local spots, unless it is boiled or peeled do not eat it. I have as of yet not had a problem by following these two basic rules. Now on with the story:

Ken retired to his room and Hau and I were off by our selves to try a new

The drive on new highway

 highway that had just opened the day before. It reduced the time it takes to travel to the Mekong by three hours. The drive was beautiful. There are police at both ends of the new freeway to stop any motorcycles and trucks from entering and cars only are allowed. This may change but it made the ride pleasant. Since ken was not able to attend, it allowed me more time

On the Mekong

to get to know Hau. Our driver was surprised that this was the first time he had seen Hau travelling in his shorts and a tee shirt rather than formal attire. Hau explained to him that this was a trip with a friend and not a tourist. I was honored. I now consider him a very good friend, and I hope to spend time with him whenever he is here in NhaTrang, or I in

at the docks

 Saigon.  For any of my readers, if you plan to come here and need somebody to organize your trecks…. Hau is your man. Check out this website www.visitindochina.net Anyway…… back to Mekong. The drive took us only

Restaurant on water

1hr 10min to a town named My Tho. My Tho was founded by the Chinese back in the 13^th century. At that time a group of Chinese approached the King (or Emperor) of Vietnam and asked for land to live. The  King not wanting much do do with then gave them a piece of land far away, empty, and useless at the

Hau and our boat driver

 time. The Chinese thrived and eventually flowed to the north where they established a very large Chinatown in Saigon. If you go to do business there, you will probably end up in Cho Lon eventually. We arrived at a newly build boat dock to have a private boat waiting for us. We were way ahead of any

Looking back on our boat

tourists so we were alone (just the way I like it). Our small boat was chugging away across a wide section of the Mekong river when oh…oh…… A gentle wind started blowing, and the tide started to move in. The waves in the river grew to ocean size. The boat driver commented on the size informing us they were the largest he had ever experienced. Maybe it was that we were going earlier than normal, or perhaps somebody up there wanted me to have exciting things to write about.

On the Mekong river

Well……. After the waves started getting really big, I saw a bit of congers come over the drivers face and he started to concentrate on his driving. I also was becoming a bit concerned, I saw the same thing in Hau. Were we going to make it to the other side? Would the little boat be worthy of the task? Where is Batman??  Or Superman for that matter?? Do not change the channel. Stay tuned.

I have returned to see that NhaTrang is starting to fill up. Many hotels are totally booked and I am sure that our place will be also. I have discovered a disturbing thin upon my return.

Bridge over the Mekong

 The lady that operated this place before me has been hiding and witholdong taxes fron the government for years. They are rightly angry and will be keeping an eye on us as new owners….. Great!!!  So much for charging the big bucks for a quick slingshot into profitability. While most hotels will triple in price the next two weeks, we will have to rent out rooms at a regular rate, or perhaps a little bit higher, but not as we intended. Maybe I can get a crowd that will drink coffee and beer in the lobby to help. Oh well……..This place is too much fun to worry about it now.

Meet my friends Beverly and Richard. Beverly is a fun lady I met last year while traveling, and as luck would have it, we have met again. She is from Vancouver, retired, and loves spending time in NhaTrang. Who can blame her. The man next to her is Richard from Washington State. He is a man as fast as me with the one line comebacks… maybe even faster…. But nhyaaa.. that can not be possible!! The photo’s were taken at the Ha Van Hotel where they were celebrating their Employees, a great bunch of people. A funny thing happened yesterday, I was sitting in the lobby working on the computer and Mai was in the kitchen working when a well dressed man on a motorcycle pulled up, he reluctantly parked his bike in the parking area. To

Brad in his new high fashion duds

 Mai’s surprise, a woman came roaring into the kitchen on her motorbike through the kitchen door. It seems they were a cheating couple trying not to be seen going into the same hotel. We politely informed them that we no longer rented by the hour, and they left. This got me to thinking. Maybe I should still offer a room, but at the overnight prices. Why turn away somebody with money. As long as the room is registered to one person, there should be no trouble with police, and they will be gone by the night. Hmmmmmm Besides, there are probably a lot of legitimate lovers that have no

New external paint job

place to go because of multiple families living in the same household. Maybe I should rethink my policy of no short timers…… We will see. I was out taking a couple of shots from in front of the hotel to put on the website I am developing. I think I hit the time perfectly. The shots looked very good and here they are to share with you. Things are coming along nicely. There is confusion, language barriers, and good old Vietnamese impossible thoughts, but I am slowly breaking through those barriers. How about a little bit on water sports? Back in the days, there was no such thing.

Beach in front of hotel 1

 Swimming was the only thing you used the ocean for. Nowadays there is almost any kind of activity that one can imagine. If swimming is your thing, the best location is on the beach where we are located. It is somewhat more sheltered so the waves are gentler and the water is cleaner. The

Beach in front of hotel2

southern beach is still good for swimming, however, there is a lot of activity. A person can rent Sea craft, go parasailing, windsurfing, and of course scuba diving. I have not gone diving yet, but have been offered to go for free in exchange for computer repair services. I may take them up on it one day. There are supposed to be a few decent choral reefs here but sadly many of

Beach in front of hotel3

 them were destroyed after the 1070’s.You see, the Vietnamese being ever the quick learners found that fishing was much more efficient using concussion grenades instead of nets. The fishery was destroyed as was a lot of choral reefs. To this day the fish do not get a chance to grow and fishing although

Beach in front of hotel4

available, is limited to tiny 4 inch fish. The water here rivals any other place on the globe. It is warm, multicolored, and gentle. However, sometimes the main beach may wash up a thing or two a person could do without seeing. The main river that flows through the countryside is also the main disposal place for many towns upstream. Unfortunately sometimes refuse washes up on the main beach area. To their credit, the Vietnamese have cleaning crews out cleaning the beach area and the government is trying to clean up the upstream problems. Our beach used to have a similar issue, but the polluters upstream were shut down and now the water quality is good. The majority of what washes up on the northern beach is simple, harmless, seaweed. Lastly, I stopped at a pub I frequent to use the wifi and do some computer work. He and only one waitress working and he was swamped with customers. I have no idea how hit books will fare, as he was drunk as a skunk and had no clue how much my tab was. I was honest and paid the correct amount hoping that my customers would do the same.

How do I approach the words of the day? I could quote the words of a famous American general and say it was one big cluster F___, and it would be close. But it was still fun. I am finding that being angry for short durations is part of life here… I have lots of experience and should be accustomed to the things that happen, but it seems it gets to me every time. Let me tell you about a simple purchase. I have mentioned some of the details in previous blogs, but I will add more detail now. For my Vietnam readers, I will try to make clear what is different.

 In North America, if you want to buy a product in a store, you simply pick up or select the item, go to a cash person, pay and leave the business…… It is that easy. You can use cash, check, or credit card and you are out the door. Here it is different. I went to purchase a Kettle so I could offer coffee in the lobby of the hotel. I also selected an Emergency light if we had a power failure. Here is how the transaction worked. A sales person that makes commission will follow you everywhere hoping to make a sale. Lucky for them…. I am a big catch! I select two items that I wish to purchase. The product codes are recorded and taken to a desk where an order sheet is written. I then am escorted to a payment desk where after offering Id, I was then able to convince them to bill to my credit card. After a little time and approval, we are submitted 3 receipts. You the carry them to a shipping area and give them one of the receipts. When it gets to your turn, they put the receipt into a small elevator. The elevator descends and after a time comes back with your purchase. A clerk picks up the item and your purchase is delivered. You leave one copy of your receipt with them and then proceed out the door…….. but wait!! There is a security guard that wants to check your purchase against the receipt. He or she will take the final recipe from you leaving you with just one. The whole process??? Maybe 30 minutes.

I have gone through this already and have returned home when to my shock I see that I have been given the display units of both. I do not want that. I returned to the store angry that I got the floor displays and not new items. They did not have stock on the items I wanted so typical Vietnamese style, instead of asking if I wanted the floor models, they just assumed they were doing a good thing by giving me the floor model. I did not want older scratched up items. To their credit, they were very happy to replace the items with others of my choice and assured us that they will not do that again as we have spent 100 million in their store, and do not want to lose such good customers. OK…. I am now happy…. Time to go… But wait again!!!  Now they have to do a return bill, a reason form, and issue a new bill. We cannot get the shipping department to get the items until we show up with the copies. Finally we get then and off to the shipping area… It is busy…. ARRRGGHHH!!  We finally exited one and a half hours later….   Purchases can be difficult here.

I arrived back at the hotel just in time to have the new experience of a giant fish tank exploding. The water flooded the lobby in one big swoosh, the fish flapping away gasping for breath. I thought it only happened in James Bond movies. So here I was until midnight, sopping up water with towels. And this morning??? I wake up to the calls of no water in the hotel. After trying to get to the bottom of this and having the Vietnamese running amok, I was finally able to determine that they shut it off at night in order to save money. Sheesh!!  Let us see what today brings.

I woke up this morning a bit a wreck. I perhaps did not mention that on the bus ride back from Quy Nhon, there was a young man riding with us that had a bit of a cough. Well guess what… The next day Brad came down with symptoms of a cold. Myself, a day or two later. We have been headachy, stuffed up and sore for a few days. Brad seemed to get the worst of it. We are almost better now, but still some traces remain. Mai thankfully never caught anything from us. Maybe this virus only likes men, sort of like the darned mosquitoes here.

Let me tell you a bit about the mosquitoes here. There are different kinds than we experience at home. The biggest I have seen here is similar to the average mosquito at home but these fellows are not a problem. It seems I never get bitten by these. I think they must be a larger male version of the common mosquito here.. The ones that are the problem are tiny little light bodied ones that you cannot feel land or penetrate the skin. In every place you go here, there are fans turned on to blow the pesky thing away. This may have worked fine in the past but large surface tables and table cloths have negated the effect of blowing them off. Now the pesky little buggers are blown under the tables. They remain in these dark cool places waiting for a pair of tasty ankles to present themselves. I have no idea why, but I can sit with a dozen Vietnamese and not a one of them will get a bite, but I will go away scratching at many. And scratch it is!! The enzyme that these little buggers inject into a person causes a welt the size of a nickel and they itch worse than you can imagine. I have had many that turned into bleeding sores because of the unconscious urge to scratch. During the day there is no problem with mosquitoes. They tend to stay in the dark damp areas, and NhaTrang has a lot of sunshine and breezy days which blow them away. A person almost never gets a bite outdoors, but in restaurants and in bed sleeping….. well…that is another matter.

You may be wondering about Malaria, Dengue fever, or other diseases.  Let me reassure you, there are no malaria carriers within 20 kilometers of the coast making almost all of Vietnam malaria free. Dengue fever can be caught here, but it is a rare daytime mosquito, and very few mosquitoes bite here during the day. Most are just the pesky tiny ones that leave a bad… and I mean bad itch.

And now for something completely different…….. Karen and Glen from Canada arrived yesterday. Karen works for the Union I belonged to and her husband is retired from the city. They decided to travel to NhaTrang partly because of my blog and the people who follow it at home. They flew in from Thailand and we got together for a drink the night before last. They decided to arrange for a motorcycle rental for the next day and we met to do a little sight seeing. I first took them to a restaurant for lunch next to my hotel. Karen was a little skeptical about trying seafood congee, but after a little coaching, she tried it and liked it. After we were sated, we headed for a drive in the beautiful area in which I live. It was an enjoyable slow drive. After stopping for a coffee, we drove to some ancient ruins near one of my homes called Ponaga Cham. There is a small fee to enter but locals do not have to pay. I spent a few minutes arguing playfully with them that I should not have to pay because I was a local and even showed them my id. But alas…. To no avail… I had to grudgingly have to pay my fifty cents. We ended by going to the local market for just a drive by and then back to the tourist area where I recommended them to stay. Glen did not do too bad on the driving front. He did not understand the rules of the road so I can understand his nervousness. But all in all he did OK. A day or two and he will be over the shakes, and get along OK.

Glen and Karen are looking at Thailand as a possible retirement location. I have warned them that once here, you will never want to leave. Glen is pretty Thailand minded… sooooo we will see. NhaTrang is a magical place and it is hard to forget.

In contrast to the gentle and loving demeanor of the women, men seem rough, gruff, and suspicious. This is not the case really….. it just looks that way. They have a hard life., and it shows on sun beaten leathery faces.

During the day a person sees mostly women in the streets. It seems the men are nowhere to be seen. You will see Cyclo drivers, motorcycles taxi’s and taxi drivers that are men. Also there are many security guards. A person will see the odd store clerk or employee in a business, but mostly women. The men it seems are mostly committed to trades. Many men lack in education because they were required to help support the family at a young age. I see many boys here that do not go to school but perch crouched beside a mechanic, or a metal worker, learning their craft. These tradesmen are extremely hard working and I admire them. Most of them are up before first light and are ready to start their day with the rising of the sun. They are mostly equipped with very old or manual use tools and for some projects, it takes an army of laborers to accomplish a task. For example, instead of a dozer taking down a building, you will see a dozen hard muscled men breaking apart a building with 5 lb hammers, or old pavement being broken in the street by a small army of men with chisels. Houses are always being built or rebuilt here so there are also many are in the construction trade. It is quite common to se a fellow build a shop out of wood, tarps, and tin in the area so he can live where he is working.

Vietnamese men are tough guys. They live life fast and they live life hard. They also play hard…. Most men here smoke. There is no need to carry cigarettes with them as they are offered everywhere. If you want a smoke, just tell a waitress, a local shop keeper, or even a passerby. One will magically appear for just a small cost. (by the way… cigarettes are .70 per package). Many also drink hard. After a hard day of work, what could be better than a cold beer? After all, it is the cheapest beverage here. By 8:00 the echoing calls of Mot Hi Ba Yo!! can be heard coming from local watering holes everywhere. Then it is off to bed to get enough sleep to do it all again tomorrow. Many of these people work 7 days a week and only have time off for New Year or other special events. And how much do these hard workers get paid? 1.5m or around 80 dollars a month.

Then there are the civil servants. Many of them men that have family connected in some way to Hanoi. There are women working within the incredibly large civil service, but most of the key personnel are men that have some kind of connection. These “old boys” are part of what kept progress slow here. They just love their rubber stamps and everything must involve a mountain of paperwork. There are computers everywhere here now in internet café’s, but it seems that none of the government offices I have been in have any at all, just old rusty file cabinets, squeaky wall fans, and serious looking fellows ready to stare you down.. Many of the civil service and other clerical jobs such as bank tellers in the past have been secured by a family bribe to the employer. I think that era is ending now.

Lastly there is the military. A lot of people who cannot find employment end up in the military, and it is large. Both men and women serve, but as is usually the case, the majority is male.

I would not hesitate for a minute to hire a Vietnamese person to do a job for me. Most are extremely hard workers and will bend over backwards to complete a task. The only thing is you have to watch all the time, because the task will get completed in a timely matter even if a mistake was made. Rather than stopping and getting a solution, they will just carry on. A person I know here encountered just that. He built a house to western specifications. His building plans included 2 pipes to all of the bathrooms and kitchens, one for hot and one for cold. The builders saw this as a mistake because all houses here only have one pipe for cold and the house got half built before the owner caught the mistake. I inspect the work at the hotel daily and have admired the job they do.

About me….

I am sitting at a traffic circle just watching the world go by when..  A very dirty and probably shell shocked man of about 60 walked directly across the circle with his intention directly aimed at me. He stopped, gave me a crisp salute, and then went into a long speech in very bad English. I listened not hearing much of anything and let him go on. When he was finished, I stood up from my motorcycle. Nodded to him, and fished out a 2000 note. Unlike a beggar, he accepted the note as a payment for the report he had given…. Saluted, and stiffly walked across the dangerous traffic circle as if it was not there. I was lucky… I called that one correctly…

I now have my Vietnamese drivers license!! I no longer have to carry my passport. I have local ID. I am a little disappointed though. I was told that I would qualify for all the same vehicles my Canadian license was good for, however, they seemed to have changed their mind and only issued me a license for motorcycles under 175 cc and cars. Oh well…. I had no intention of driving a bus here anyway, but it would have been nice to say I could.

 About NhaTrang…..

NhaTrang is a city on the move. I wrote earlier that there were really no supermarkets here and that almost all shopping was done in little neighborhood open air markets. NhaTrang is surging into modern times so quickly, I marvel at some of the things I see. There was only one so called supermarket here, and a very poor one at that, is called the Maximark. It existed 11 years ago when I was here and still exists to this day. Now it looks like it’s days are numbered. Yesterday they opened a new location which is the first shopping mall like place in NhaTrang. It is the closest thing to a shopping mall here so far. The first floor has a real supermarket with things I have been trying to find here for a long time. The second and third floor has clothing, kitchenware, jewelry, and gift items like many other store. It is probably more like a version of a superstore kind of set up which goes by many different names depending your location. It is built up in floors instead of large in ground area.

There is also a new complex under construction that will be called the NhaTrang Mall. The sign says opening soon, but the building still looks far from completion. On this post is a couple of photo’s of a street with construction fences and projects in the works. All of the tall buildings over 5 floors are new within the last 5 years, and mostly within the last couple. The tallest is the Sheraton, a brand new hotel opening in the next few weeks. The other fenced off areas are other giant hotels being built by large hotel chains… the names escape me at the moment, but they are as familiar as the Sheraton. I am saddened to see the large hotels being built. The location used to be occupied by a large variety of shops. Old French colonial buildings and hotels, restaurants, and other businesses that made the street a pleasure to walk along. These new hotels are taking up almost all of the beachfront road. Before long, the beach area will be where people just go to get pampered and lay on the beach. I have no doubt that there will be security to chase off any of the locals that want to use the beach when the projects are finished. It seems a shame.

There is a little hope though…..   The north side of the river crossing bridge  is still undiscovered by the big chains. It is still a place where a person can get good value, merge with the locals, eat great food, and relax on a not to busy public beach, however, who knows how long that will last. Also, there are not a lot of curio shops, a person has to go a couple of kilometers to do their shopping.

 NhaTrang is roaring into modern times whether it likes it or not. Myself? I would have liked the modern shopping, but am saddened at what the big hotels are doing to the beachfront.

 A travelers tip…

The Maximark is a great place to check out an item you are interested in purchasing. Find the tagged price ,and  then go to the market armed with the knowledge. Because of the overhead, the Maximark will be a bit more expensive. ( maybe 1000 on a 10000 item )

See if you can get a deal. Myself?????   I almost always try to hammer a person down in price, make the deal, then sometimes pay the original asking price if close to the true value, just because I know I am helping in a very small way to support people who work hard for little profit. Nothing is for free, but a person can help a bit when they can.

Ever daydreamed about what it would be like to give up everything and start again?…..We have started to live the dream. Be it pleasant or a nightmare time will tell. Follow along as we make the transition from Middle class working Canadians, to retirees walking on white coral sand beeches in Nhatrang Vietnam.

This blog will be dedicated to any topic we find interesting enough to talk about, and your input will be welcome.

The adventure begins……