Holiday in the 'Nam Part II

Getting off the train in Hue was one of the most overwhelming experiences. The 4 of us were swarmed by what felt like every male specimen in Cambodia when realistically it was about 8-10, asking us if we needed a taxi, where we wanted to go, where to stay, etc. We finally just sat down at a small café to grab some coffee and regroup to see what we wanted to do. Erika and I decided that we really wanted to see Nha Trang at some point, beautiful coastline with amazing beaches, while Golli and Nono wanted to see more culture in Hoi An. With our the remainder of our travel time so short, Erika and I figured we wouldn’t even stay the night in Hue and just tour for the day and then jump on another overnight train to Nha Trang to make the most of the daylight.

Hue was a great little town near the center of Vietnam. The main attraction we wanted to see was the Citadel. Inside once had a forbidden city where only the concubines, emperors, and those close enough to them were granted access as the punishment for trespassing was death penalty. It is surrounded by thick walls and a moat. The architecture was gorgeous there were so many things to look at that you could honestly spend a most of your day in there, I think we were there for 3-4 hours. After that we were absolutely starving and headed to dinner before Erika and I caught yet another night train!

We arrived in Nha Trang around noon the next day and were craving breakfast, eggs for me of course. We set our bags down at the Nice Hotel which in fact was the nicest hotel we stayed in during the whole trip and had a gorgeous coast view. We were recommended Chopsticks as a great place to eat by the front desk and it definitely fulfilled its expectations. I had a scrumptious huge coffee as well! Vietnamese coffee (with fresh milk not that condensed stuff) is so tasty! We found a cute clothing store that had Western type clothes, something I haven’t seen since I’ve been in the states so we bought a few necessities, shorts, sun dresses, etc to help us during the heat in Phnom Penh.

Since we wanted to do some cultural things while in Nha Trang and not relax the whole time, we rented bikes, $1 for 4 hours and set out on our own little tour. We first stopped by to see the seated Buddha. It was massive! I got a great pictures sitting in front copying his pose. We also biked over the bridge to see the famous Po Ngar Cham Towers which is said to have been founded sometime before 781 A.D. There was some festival going on there so it was extremely packed with hundreds of locals, lights, activities and what looked like a performance starting later on. I got an amazing video in one of the towers where Vietnamese people go in to pray and rub the buddha. The views on the way back over the bridge were unbelievable as the stars twinkled over the water. It started to drizzle on the way home so we peddled faster than before. Returned the bikes, showered quickly and Erika had a craving for pizza.

The front desk recommended another amazing restaurant to us which they said was the best pizza in town. We enjoyed a fresh baguette with pesto and melted mozzarella together for an appetizer and for the main course she had pizza and I had a nice fresh salad (they are hard to come by in Asia so I try to get them whenever I can!). And what good is going to an Italian restaurant and not getting tiramisu?? Oh yes we did!

The next day was our “we are on vacation and should relax” day. While Erika wanted to pamper herself with a mani-pedi and relaxing on the beach, I set out on an all-day boat cruise with about 40 other people to 4 different islands off the coast of Nha Trang. I read about this in a book I have and also heard great reviews from individuals that have previously gone. Right away, I met one lady from Italy and several men from the UK, Australia and Scotland. We grouped up pretty quickly taking pictures, singing and playing in the water. At the second island we had 1 hour to snorkel, which was my first time ever! For the first 10 minutes our small group thought there was nothing to see and then realized we were too far away from the coast where everyone else was. Once we found a better spot, the coral and fish were beautiful. I just wish my camera was water proof! The next island for lunch and swimming and then the last was to utilize the beach for relaxing. It was so fun and great way to meet new travelers and hear about each others experiences.

That evening was our last overnight trip and this time we decided to take a sleeper bus because it was only $10 rather that $25 on the train… bad decision! Although they told us they fully reclined, they didn’t. At a constant 45 degree angle and the fact that I’m 5’7 and even my legs were too long to straighten, made for a sleepless night. I would get so excited if I were to wake then look at the time to realize I only dozed off for about 30 minutes or so. Oh well!

We arrived back in Ho Chi Minh City for our last day/night before back to PP. Once we got there, Erika and I wanted to see the War Remnants Museum and as you can imagine made it a pretty emotional morning. The images on display showed the effects of weapons of mass destruction used by the Americans during the Vietnam War. The photos of explosions and tangled bodies definitely leave an imprint in your mind. We were pretty exhausted after that but managed to make our way over to China town to see the Chinese temple and were ready for a nap after the lack of sleep we got from the bus. The last evening we did some touristy shopping. I got some gifts, an amazing abstract canvass painting and more! We had the best dinner of the whole trip at Quan an Ngon, where I had a seafood and vegetable stir-fry with rice noodles, delicious! Finished it off with some ice cream on the walk home, met up with the girls for some hookah lounge time then called it a night as we had to leave the next day.

The last morning we woke and got one last touristy item checked off the list, the Reunification Palace. Most of the rooms haven't been touched since the war and were absolutely beautiful with authentic furniture and paintings. It was so sad to leave Vietnam. I could definitely travel there for 3-4 more weeks because there are so many places I still want to go, and even spend more time in the cities I visited. The bus ride home took just as long, another 3 hour wait at the river, but eventually made it and was so nice to cozy up in my bed again. Back to work and enjoying every bit of it :)