Sunrise in Nha Trang!
Nha Trang is one of the most beautiful locations in Vietnam and perhaps in this part of the world. The view from the hotel and even at street level is phenomenal. Lots of people are making this a permanent vacation spot. Someone told us that Russians make up 70% of the tourists. Indeed, many of the stores have signs and menus in Russian, and there is a direct flight from Moscow to Nha Trang.
As in Hanoi and Hue, many residents rise very early to engage in exercise. The local beaches and parks here are filled with people participating in various forms of activity. Tai chi, zumba, stretching, badminton, hackey-sack, swimming, running, walking. It is quite the scene.
We again had the opportunity to visit with students at the University of Nha Trang. We spent.
I continue to be surprised with their interest in and excitement about our lives and where we are from, what we are doing in the country, why we would travel half-away around the world to visit them.
These student visits are a real treat for us as well, on many levels.
Lunch overlooking the sea.
Downtown Nha Trag from across the bay.
Scenes like this can't help but pull you off into another state of being. How can you not be calm when surrounded by beauty like this?
Todd and I venture out, following the advice of A Lonely Planet and being assertive with a reluctant taxi driver to get us to this place instead of that of his buddies.
My first BBQ at the table - now which utensils did we use to put the uncooked meat on the grill and which ones do we use to take it off? And who is keeping track, especially after a couple Huda beers?
Walking back from our BBQ dinner (not wanting to take yet another gamble on the taxi driver knowing where we want to go), we came upon this lovely sight.
Reminded me of my brother Casey and his work with fountains. He would appreciate this.
Nha Trang has pulled out all stops to make their downtown area an incredibly attractive and aesthetically pleasing place to be.
Our meeting with representatives from the University of Nha Trang proved to be a kind of mini doctoral seminar. This university overlooks the sea on what has to be one of the most expensive pieces of property in the area. The environment seems to kindle an intellectual curiosity that was refreshing to see and hear.
Taking refuge from the heat and sun, our group finds small relief beneath the shade of a tree at the Cham pagoda, as we listen to our tour guide provide a brief history of the Cham people. TThe Cham kingdom was located in the central and southern parts of what is now Vietnam and lasted from approximately the 7th century through to 1832. It was then annexed by Vietnam.
This pagoda is an amazing place. Built to honor and worship the Hindu gods and goddesses, it is actually made up of five pagodas.
On the day of our visit, it was a relatively quiet and peaceful place but during the festival period it can be quite colorful and busy place.
A limited wikipedia entry can provide you more background on this fascinating culture.
On our last full day in Nha Trang, we took a break from our academic work to the islands in and around Nha Trang (Mun Island, Mot Island, Tam Island).
The beaches on these islands draw folks from th mainland for fun and sun - a lot of sun!
So we say a reluctant good-bye to beautiful Nha Trang and head to the airport, where we await a Vietjet flight to Ho Chi Min City and eventually Can Tho. Cam Ranh Airport in Nha Trang is a former U.S. airbase built by the air force during the Vietnam War. It began providing commercial surface in 2004. Our destination on this flight is served by yet another former air base, Ton Son Nhat, the largest airport in Vietnam. Originally developed by the French during their colonization of Vietnam as a primitive airfield, during the war it served both the U.S. and South Vietnamese air forces. If you look closely, you can still see remnants of the former powers within this region.
Vietjet is a relatively newcomer airline to the Vietnam air, providing service that is essentially comparable to Spirit and JetBlue in the U.S. While better than sitting in a bus for 12+ hours, we will miss the incredible views of the coastline that we only got a taste of on our way to the airport. Still, no one in the group seems to have regrets except me. A good decision and one that will give us more time for other adventures in this wonderful country.
On to Ho Chi Minh City and then Can Tho!
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