Nha Trang: Raving it up (in theory)

Our bus arrived in Nha Trang at around midday, but it was pretty far out from town, so we got a taxi to the hotel, which seemed basic but nice. We set straight out to explore, stopping for tacos for lunch, and then wandering round the main part of town. There are lots of bars and restaurants here, it is a partygoers mecca! Scarily enough, it is also a bit much for us – happy hours full of shots and 2 for 1 cocktails rather than cheap beer. It sounds like it should be good, but the music is thudding dangerously and we’re conscious that I have to work tomorrow. I think we’re now more up for a few drinks in a beer garden than a night on the tiles! We must be getting old (or just wishing for the kind of night out where Gangnam Style isn’t played on repeat everywhere). Give us a rock club anyday!

We did the little sightseeing there is to do that afternoon by default as we tracked down a bus ticket for Da Lat in two days’ time – we stumbled upon Long Son Pagoda, with stunning dragon mosaics and a troop of active monks wandering around in formation, and up a hill above the pagoda is a Giant Seated Buddha, from which you can see a great view of the town.

The Pagoda has a friendly looking Reclining Buddha before you get to the Seated Buddha at the top: it was quite reminiscent of the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok without all the gold, and in many ways was the more impressive for its simplicity.

 

We've seen the swastika on several temples before now, but not as frequently as we found them here. It is sad because the swastika is a significant positive symbol in Buddhism and Hinduism - and yet in Europe we see the symbol as linked only to negativity through Nazism and fascism. It was disconcerting at first to be surrounded by swastikas (even though we did realise they 'belonged' in these temples before the symbol was appropriated by the Nazis) but it was also refreshing to see the symbol in use in a positive way (in Western culture it used to also have a positive connotation, being a good luck symbol before Nazism took hold and it came to be a symbol for the Aryan race).

The base of the Buddha is surrounded by fiery images of Thich Quang Duc and six other monks who died in self-immolation protests in 1963 (see our blog on Hué for more on this).

After seeing the sun begin to set from the hilltop, we also managed to find the Cathedral (before the sun sank completely), which was peacefully situated off the main road. It was a step back to Chichester – a really tranquil sanctuary away from the busy streets.

We took a different route back and went to an Indian restaurant we’d spied earlier in the day for dinner. It offered a pretty good meal deal – a curry, poppadums and naan bread, plus onion bhajis and a beer, for about £4. The spinach curry was brilliant, making the restaurant a real find, even if the Jalfrezi didn’t taste like any Jalfrezi we’ve ever had…

The next day it was time to work, but we had time to enjoy the beach or a couple of hours first. It’s quite hard to relax though, as there is always someone trying to sell you something! We didn’t bother to hire a lounger or deckchair as we didn’t have much time - I think part of the service is to keep beach peddlers away from you, so that may have been a mistake! 

The Sailing Club looked like the best place to go by far, but it was quite pricey for our budget so we went to Olivia’s for lunch, where we had a brilliant pizza. I’d hoped they would have wi-fi so I could work there for a couple of hours, but it just gave up working almost as soon as we sat down. So we went back to the hotel, where wi-fi was fine but strongest in the corridor – and unfortunately I had to Skype into a meeting sounding like I was in a tunnel! Possibly better than from the increasingly lively bars and restaurants of Nha Trang though… 

We woke the next morning to another alarm going off, this time to catch the bus to Da Lat. As we were waiting for the minibus pick-up, we bought some rice from a wildly popular street vendor selling rice, beans and a strange but delicious assortment of sauces all mashed together – it was delicious but impossible to explain. One dip was a mixture of salt and sugar, but just the right blend.... lovely! Just what we needed at 7am before five hours in a minibus.

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