Nha Trang

We got into Nha Trang early this morning after an uneventful flight from Danang.  For a relatively small country, Vietnam is a land of contrast.  We've already experience huge changes going from Hanoi to Halong Bay, Sapa, and then the backpacker type vibe of Hoi An.  Now we're in a very modern beach city that would be almost like Cancun with mountains and without Americans.  An endless beach with high rise hotels backed by rugged green mountains.

Nha Trang beach

The hotel that we are in is a block back from the beach, but there is a bunch of beach chairs that this hotel owns.  Useage dependant upon availability, and when we drove past them around 8 am, they were quite occupied.  There is not much English spoken around here, although all the hotel staff and restaurant people we have encountered have good English.  But the tourists are dominated by Russian and French.  I have not heard many good things about Russian tourists, but so far all has been fine.  We'll see how the next few days go, but if this morning is any indication, the beach chairs will be Russian territory and I doubt that much invasion is likely, at least during prime time.

View from our balcony

We took a long walk down the beach, really there are not many tourists around, although you see a lot of busloads driving past.  Not sure where they all are.  We came back towards the hotel along the street and were surprised at the lack of eating places, apart from some high end joints associated with the big hotels.  We went past our hotel and found the main market area, another huge establishment that probably covers a few blocks of tightly spaced stalls selling almost anything you can imagine.  To be able to cook here with all of these fresh ingredients would be a lot of fun.  We did not stay very long, our luggage cannot support much more shopping, but these big markets are just neat to wander through.
We went back to the hotel and did a bit of trip advisor looking, trying to pick a lunch spot.  We've reached a point in our holiday where my pre-planning did not reach, so we're winging it from now on.  Unfortunately, all the good reviews that I found were at the other end of town, but Eileen was game, so we went back one street off the main drag, and discovered a much quieter and more enjoyable atmosphere, with lots of small shops and locals.  Eventually we got to a place called Lanterns, which we selected for lunch.  Turned out to be a good choice.  Depending on what we learn from our guide tomorrow, we might end up back here on Sunday for either a cooking class or a street food tour.

Lanterns; great lunch

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, but passed another silk embroidery place.  This was certainly marketing product but it was also set up as a cultural center.  They had hundreds of high end works of art that were just stunning, but came with stunning price tag.  Some of their murals were amazing, but it was ones done on a near clear silk background that really caught my eye.  I'm going to go back and see if they will let me photo a few of them, of course it is at the far end of town.... Near the hotel, we went past a school that was letting the kids out.  There were hundreds of motorbikes picking up their kids.  Absolute mayhem. 

Picking up kids after school

We got back to the hotel where Eileen wanted some relax time.  I hit the street for a bit to get some rum and pop.  Had seen some Flora Cana in a shop somewhere this morning, so I hunted it down and picked one up.  A bit of chill time for both of us, then we went down to the pool area for a drink before dinner.  Pictures tomorrow, I did not bring my camera.  Gorgeous.....
There were a few spots that we thought looked good for supper that were close by, a couple looked less appealing at night and two that we stopped at really did not serve meals.  I guess a "café" here is more for drinks and nibbles.  Eventually we ended up at a little hole in the wall place that is two blocks from the hotel.  Not much English here but enough to learn that the set menus need four people and there were no mushrooms for the chicken dish we ordered, so we switched to cauliflower.  We ordered two main courses and some steamed clams.  We had received one of our main courses when a motorbike wheeled up to the entrance and the guy got off with a bag of clams, no doubt picked up at the market which is a few more blocks away.  Ummm, those babies are going to be fresh.  The rest of the meal was so-so, but the clams were good.  I love steamed clams and these are so inexpensive here, they are becoming my standard appitizer.
Tomorrow we have a tour day, not sure what we are seeing apart from a religious start and some time on a river.