We left Hoi An on December 7 & took a flight to Nha Trang with Vietnam Airlines. A 1 1/4 hour flight, $81 & they allow up to 10 kg. of cabin baggage (we are well past the 7 kg. other airlines allow.)
We had booked a 2 bedroom “penthouse” apartment on the 40th floor for a month, cost of $971 on Airbnb, we were in the same building last winter & liked the area & amenities despite it being a “little Russia”.
 |
| Our building on the left |
 |
| The apartment |
 |
| View from the balcony |
 |
| View from the balcony, glad there isn’t a glass railing or I would freak out up that high! |
There are a multitude of stores & resturants on the ground floor of all 4 buildings so nothing is too far away. And many restaurants within a nice walk, local markets to buy fresh food as well & fancy shopping centres is that’s your thing.
 |
| Fresh seafood for sale |
 |
| Shrimp |
 |
| Fresh meats |
 |
| Even fresh flowers |
This area is favoured with the Russians, many live here, many vacation here, so menus are sometimes only in Russian, the vendors will give you a price in Russian & most of them won’t speak English, so limited opportunities for us to chat with people (a downside for sure).
 |
| A mix of Vietnamese, Russian & English |
 |
| And some Korean & ?Chinese |
We are across the street from a nice long beach with a wide sidewalk where we go for walks & runs & I found myself a lovely camping style chair that I take to the beach for relaxing.
 |
| Robin out walking |
 |
| Lots of exercise equipment all over |
 |
| My green chair, which sadly I will have to leave behind |
There is a green bus that goes the entire length of the beach (7 km) & further which we take to get around, costs $0.78 each. We visited the Museum of Oceanography which we enjoyed, many tanks of colorful fish plus sharks & turtles.
We have done a lot of walking exploring the local neighborhoods, always something fun to see.
 |
| A local lane that doesn’t seem big enough for motorbikes, yet cars manage it |
 |
| People out picking small seaweed off the concrete wall |
 |
| Catholic Church |
 |
| Cakes that look like Crocs! |
 |
| Live fowl for sale |
 |
| They are always out with these carts, keeping the streets & sidewalks clean |
 |
| Selling & cleaning fish on the sidewalk |
 |
| Small seamstress shop in the alley |
 |
| Men playing ? |
We spent a fun day at Vinwonders, a big amusement park & more on an island. A cable car very high over the ocean to get there ( daytime going there, dark on the way back), a zoo, botanical gardens, rides, IMAX type experiences, a massive waterpark (most rides restricted to under 50 yrs of age!), a water & light show & a 3D extravaganza show at the end. And a ginormous Ferris wheel of 400 ft high, with 60 cabins. And yes, despite my fear of heights we did the Ferris wheel, being inside a cabin vs having my feet dangling gave me the courage to do it!
 |
| Cable car ride over |
 |
| A huge place but not a lot of visitors |
 |
| A boat ride with a splash |
 |
| 3 long escalators later, looking towards Nha Trang |
 |
| A bird show |
 |
| The Sky Wheel |
 |
| Looking down on the waterpark |
 |
| Way, way up! |
 |
| Felt like being back in Baja |
 |
| Inside a huge aviary |
 |
| African baobab tree |
 |
| This beauty was free |
 |
| Mama & baby |
 |
| View of Vinwonders from the Sky wheel |
We certainly didn’t do things every day, we enjoyed many a day of doing nothing & we enjoyed it! It did get tiring going out to eat our big meal of the day & here we did a fair amount of cooking (because we wanted to, not really cheaper). Robin ran into 2 fellow Canadians out on a walk & we met up for coffee a couple of times which was lovely. We watched a lot of YouTube, nothing else available & planned some of our onward travel.
More photos of Vinwonders at night.
 |
| Water, lights & music show |
 |
| Big show broadcast onto the castle, live action, 3D effects |
 |
| More empty streets |
 |
Leaving on the cable car
|
We spent a fun day at the mud baths, available in a few places here - we chose Thap Ba Hot Springs as it was more authentic & all outdoors. They suggest using the swim suits that they provide to prevent staining of your own, not very fashionable but ok, don’t laugh! First was a 20-30 minute soak in our 2 person wooden tub filled fresh with warm, silky muddy water, strange but enjoyable. Next a sun bake, then shower, then the hydrotherapy tunnel. A rather invigorating walk thru cold jets of water aimed all over your body! Next our own freshly filled tub of hot mineral water for a long soak, enjoying the butterflies, the sound of the waterfalls & the surrounding trees. The final stage is all the time you want in the swimming pools & waterfalls - kiddie & deep hot mineral pool, plus cold mineral pools & plenty of loungers to relax away the day!
 |
| The mud tub |
 |
| Beautiful gardens & waterfalls |
 |
| The somewhat nasty hydrotherapy |
 |
| Our mineral soak tub |
 |
| One of the waterfalls to sit under, also hot mineral water |
 |
| Swimming pools |
 |
Even a rainbow for Robin
|
We are here a few more days, hope to fit in a snorkeling trip & more time at the beach. Not sure we love the slower pace we’ve had here, we are getting a bit bored - but we still have half the winter ahead of us & many more adventures.
 |
| Fresh fish for Christmas Eve |
 |
| A landmark in Nha Trang |
 |
| Sunset from the balcony |
 |
| A tasty local meal at the restaurant below |
 |
| The shorter the stools, the better the food! |
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.