So after the worst bus journey ever we arrived in Nha Trang. After a morning of sleeping we eventually dragged ourselves out of bed to go and explore the city. I expected it to be just a town but it’s actually quite big. We found it really strange when we first arrived: as we came into Nha Trang about 5.30 we expected it to still be sleepy and very quiet. We were very wrong! We went past the beach on the bus and it was PACKED. There were loads of people in the sea and hundreds of people on the sea front. All of them working out, doing exercise classes and using the funny beach gym equipment. Kind of makes sense that the only time the locals can exercise is that early when the heat isn’t so intense. By the time we were out of bed they had all disappeared and we spent the afternoon just wandering around the town and getting some food. We noticed that lots of people were trying to talk to us in another language (not Vietnamese) outside restaurants and bars to get us in and we were so confused. Then we started to notice that almost every other foreigner here was also speaking it too. We thought it was polish at first – so confused why suddenly there were so many here and not anywhere else in Vietnam! So we googled and it turns out they’re Russian – Nha Trang is a really popular holiday destination for them now because they can get direct flights there. Anyway, we pretty much ended up having to respond to everyone the next few days with “I’m not Russian. I’m not Russian. No Russian. English. I’m not Russian.” Even Russians mistook us for Russians!
The next day we hired out a motorbike and headed to Thap Ba Mud Spa – considering it is a popular tourist destination it’s very difficult to find. First we went to the wrong spa and it was going to charge us triple the price so instead we used their wifi and google mapped how to get to the other one. We arrived and got in our swim stuff and were then greeted by a hell of a lot of stares from the locals there. We chose the cheap option and shared a big mud bath with a few other tourists but it was still fun. I expected it to be really thick and warm but really it feel like water. After about 20 minutes of covering and scrubbing ourselves in it we showered off and got put in front of a wall of about 50 jets shooting at you. That hurt a bit so we moved onto the mineral baths where we soaked for about half an hour. It’s then recommended to go in the waterfall and pool which is so warm to finish off the session. It was fun! We hopped back on our motorbike and went back to the hotel for a shower before grabbing some dinner (which was served in a pineapple!)
We woke up early (early for me not for any of you) on Tuesday to go to Vinpearl Land, basically Vietnam’s version of Disneyland. It’s on an island just off the mainland so you have to catch a cable car over the sea which was pretty cool to start. We shared with a Vietnamese family who were so worried about getting a tan from the windows of the car that they actually put an umbrella up inside. That morning I was feeling really faint and so by this time I wasn’t feeling too great. We headed for some food for some energy before going to the water park. We spent the morning going down all the flumes, some in our inner tubes, some on mats, some just on your own. Steve forced me to go down one of those like vertical drop ones which destroyed my back and gave us both the biggest wedgie ever! We were like big kids in the wave pool and just chilled down the lazy river. In the afternoon we queued for what felt like forever to go on this alpine coaster. Once strapped in we were taken up to the top of the mountain and then set free with Steve controlling our speed. Of course we went way too fast and the 25m gap between each car turned into about 2m with the car in front. We expected it to be pretty slow and boring but you actually got to go pretty quick so it was fun. We then went on some kind of upside down spinning roller coaster thing which was horrible and fun at the same time. Then were big kids again on the dodgems before setting back home.
Nha Trang was fun but I think 2/3 days was enough. We woke up super early this time (even for you) and went to the bus stop where we got the bus to Mui Ne. Once arriving we climbed up this steep hill with our massive backpacks to our hotel. We were a bit apprehensive, we usually only book places to stay that have lots of high reviews and a good overall rating. This hotel only had one review (which was pretty good) so we thought we’d risk it. We turned up and it was so nice! It had a really nice pool, bar, restaurant (everything 50% off) and our room and ensuite was huge. Not bad for a fiver each a night! The weather was very cloudy that first afternoon so we spent it just relaxing by the pool. We only had one full day in Mui Ne so we planned what we were going to do the next day. Our hotel ran a jeep trip for 5 hours that goes through all the main sites of Mui Ne – only negative was it started at 4am! 😩
So we reluctantly set our alarm for 3.30 that morning and were greeted by a jeep with no windows, a huge crack in the windscreen, blasting out some vengaboys. We jumped in and headed off with another couple from our hotel. We had set out so early so that we could see the sunrise and our first stop was at the white sand dunes. At that time in the morning they were pretty impressive and there was barely anyone about. We hired out a quad bike and drove to one of the highest peaks to see the sunrise from the top. The quad bikes were horrible, I had to sit on the little luggage tray on the back and I definitely thought we were going to topple over any second. Steve loved it though! On one side of the sand dunes there is a lake and the other is grasslands so it’s pretty strange. After spending some time here we then went to the red sand dunes. These weren’t quite so impressive as the white but still good to see. We spent most of the time just standing at the top and chatting to the other couple on the trip! We then went to a fishing village, we were meant to stay at least 30 mins here but God it smelt so bad I think we lasted about 5 mins! Next was the fairy stream which was really nice. The water looks deep as it has a red sand bottom but is actually really shallow and you walk through the stream. The rock formations on either side are actually compact sand so it’s strange to be able to break pieces off. They’re also streaked with red sand and the whole thing looks pretty cool. Before heading back we popped into a shop just to get a drink and the whole place smelled amazing. We asked what the lady was cooking and she was making these coconut and peanut pancakes which she folds up and makes crispy. We bought a few and they were really nice. By this time I was definitely feeling the effects of waking up so early, it felt like it was about 3pm but it was only just 8.30am! We went straight back to bed and I slept until early afternoon. The weather was a bit better, so we grabbed some lunch and sat by the pool until it clouded over and the rain hit. We arranged to meet up with the couple we went on the tour with for dinner as we just seemed to get on really well. So we spent the evening eating, drinking and just chatting non stop! It was really nice but we went to bed pretty early to be up for our bus at 8am the next morning to Saigon.
We arrived in Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City as it’s now called) around 1pm, a little bit wet as the air conditioning decided to leak buckets over us half way through the journey. We managed to find our guest house amazingly quickly considering it is tucked away some tiny alley with lots of turns in the middle of the city! After hauling our bags up to the top floor we had a quick change and went off into the city. We stopped off for some Pho Bo, Vietnam’s most famous dish that we still hadn’t tried yet. It’s like a beef noodle soup and was actually pretty nice – even Steve liked it! After we walked to the war remnants museum which was an education in itself. I thought the roads were bad in Hanoi – that was like a small scale version of this! It is actually insane. A local man even helped us cross the road at one point because we must have looked so helpless haha.
I kind of expected it to be a bit boring but it was actually so interesting. I don’t know a whole lot about the Vietnam war but this showed (albeit probably a bit bias) the horror and atrocities of it. We walked around the prison and then most of the museum is dedicated to photos from the archives that were actually painful to look at. Decapitated bodies, explosions, burns, massacres – it’s crazy it only ended 40 years ago. 3 million Vietnamese people died but since 2002 farmers and other people in Vietnam have continued to be victims from the unexploded bombs, mines and other lasting effects of the war. There is also this thing called Agent Orange that I didn’t know about. A lot of phosphorus bombs were dropped during the war and I can’t remember if it was this or something else but it has poisoned water and other substances. It can lie dormant for years but is carried on in the genes. So as the next generation after the war were born, thousands and thousands of babies had deformities and this Agent Orange is still passing on to generations today, seriously affecting birth and development.
After we walked back from the war museum we went to a really fancy French restaurant for dinner where I had a really nice steak and Ste had this amazing chicken for something like £3 each. The next day we got up and started our day by visiting the post office. This might seem a bit random but the post office in Ho Chi Minh City was actually designed by Gustav Eiffel – the same guy who did the Eiffel Tower. The structure is amazing and you can tell very French in comparison to its Vietnamese surroundings. So we sent all our postcards and bits from there before stepping outside to see another example of French architecture in the Notre Dame Cathedral just opposite. It was nice to see couples coming out of their weddings from the cathedral though their photo shoots were on another level! It was getting seriously hot by this point and we had walked for what felt like miles and miles so we got back to the hotel and had a bit of a power nap.
In the evening we went to the Sky Tower in Saigon where we had a drink on the 52nd floor and watched the sun set. The views were incredible as we watched all the lights of the city turn on. The prices were ridiculous so we definitely made our one 7up last! Afterwards we wandered around for somewhere to eat but ended up back in the same nice French restaurant as yesterday.
So now we leave for Bangkok in the morning, where we’ll travel down to Koh Phagnan and the rest of the Thai islands. Overall our time in Vietnam has been amazing, my favourite country so far. The people are so kind, there’s so much to do and the culture and history of the whole place is really interesting. Definitely well worth a visit!
Speak to you all soon
Abby xxx
Abby Goes Travelling! 