Nha Trang, the capital of Khanh Hoa province, has one of the
most popular municipal beaches in all of
Vietnam. Club Med hasn’t arrived yet,
and there are still no Monte Carlo-style
casinos. But the resort town has rapidly
developed into bustling destination for
sun and fun.
Nha trang is place to come and party, and the service on the
beach is incredible-massage, lunch, cold
beer, manicure, beauty treatments. Etc.
if you are after something tranquil,
however, consider heading for Mui Ne
Beach further south or north of Nha
Trang , to beautiful Jungle beach or
Whale Island.
The clear turquoise waters around Nha Trang make for
excellent fishing, snorkeling and scuba
diving. However, you aren’t likely to
enjoy these pursuits in the off-season
months of November and December, when
the rains come. During heavy rains,
water levels rise in the two rivers at
either and of the 6km beach; runoff
crried by the fresh water flows in to
the bay, which can turn a murky brown.
Most of the year however, the water is a
as appears in the tourist brochures.
The combined fishing fleet of Khanh Hoa province and
neighboring Phu Yen province numbers
about 10,000 trawlers and junks; they
are able to fish during the 250 days of
calm seas per year. The area’s seafood
products include abalone, lobster,
prawns, cuttlefish, mackerel, pomfret,
scallops, shrimps, snapper and tuna. Nha
Trang’s fishing fleet operates mostly at
night, using the days in port for rest
and equipment repair. Agricultural
products exported from the area include
cashew nuts, coconuts, coffee and sesame
seeds. Salt production is also large,
employing over 4000 people – a good
place to observe some photogenic salt
fields is on the acces road leading to
DocLet Beach.
Nha Trang’s dry season, unlike that of HCMC, runs from June
to October. The wettest months are
October and November but rain usually
falls only at night or in the morning.
Weather patterns vary greatly from year
to year, but in general the best season
is from late January to late October.
November typically bring the worst
weather and December is not much better.
The best beach weather is generally
before 1pm; the afternoon sea breezes
can make things unpleasant until the
wind dies back down around 8pm. Al
though well within the tropics, Nha
Trang has cool evenings.
Boat trips are real highlight of Nha Trang.
Warning: we continue to hear reports of theft on the beach,
as well as proliferation of ‘motorbike
cowboy’ thieves along Đ Tran Phu, the
street running parallel to the
beach
PLACE TO VISIT IN AROUND NHA TRANG
,
CHAM PONAGA TOWER
The ChamTowers
are to the north of town and give you an
insight into the culture of the ancient
Cham people through the remnants of
their brick temples dating from the 17
to 12 centuries. The north tower is 23
high and is dedicated to Po Nagar who
was a mythical goddess. Parts of the
towers have undergone renovations in an
effort to preserve them for future
generations and tourist dollars
Hue
Tomb
HISTORY OF CHAM TOWER
CHAM PONAGA TOWER
The ChamTowers
are to the north of town and give you an insight
into the culture of the ancient Cham people
through the remnants of their brick temples
dating from the 17 to 12 centuries. The north
tower is 23 high and is dedicated to Po Nagar
who was a mythical goddess. Parts of the towers
have undergone renovations in an effort to
preserve them for future generations and tourist
dollars.
There used to be more towers, but they have been destroyed
over time, and now there are only four
functional towers left. They are still used as
places of worship, and there is a group of nuns
that may show you around with their best sign
language and smiles. There is a small
interesting museum to the right of the north
tower displaying photographs and ancient
statues. Unfortunately most of the information
is only n Vietnamese. The hillock upon which the
ChamTowers
sit offers a great panorama of the surrounds and
a view over the entrance to the Cai river with
Nha Trang as a background. There are a number of
cafes within the grounds of the towers selling
ridiculously priced food and drink.The entrance
to the site is at street level followed by a
staircase op the hill to the towers. On you way
up, on the right, you will notice the remains of
the meditation hall, which was the original
entrance for Cham worshippers. The north tower
is the largest and main one situated on a higher
level directly in front of the meditation hall.
The other smaller towers are only metres away
from this and all of them are militaristically
facing due east. Make sure you take off your
shoes before entering any of the temples here.
There are many beggars along the stairs on the
way up to the ChamTowers,
that have particularly bad problems. The ChamTowers
are on the north bank of the Cai River and are
about a ten minute bike ride from the center of
Nha Trang town. Follow Quang Trung Street from
the center of town which turns into 2 thang 4
street. This will take you over Ha Ra bridge and
then Xom Bong Bridge.
LONG SON PAGODA
This enormous 9 m high Buddha was built quite recently in
honor of those monks who elected self immolation
rather than continue to live under the
oppressive Diem regime. The white Buddha sits
upon a hill close to the train station and is
worthwhile going up for the view of Nha Trang
and the coast. The large Buddha’s base used to
be a library until it was closed after the Tet
Offensive when it was discovered that the Viet
Cong used the library to plan attacks on the
city. The pagoda is at the base of the stairs
that lead up to the giant Buddha and is very
ornate with a strong Chinese influence
PASTEUR INSTITUTE
Within this building there is a small museum dedicated to Dr.
Alexander Yersin. The Pasteur Institute was
founded by Dr. Yersin in 1895, and he is
probably one of the most respected French man in
Vietnam. During his time in Vietnam, he spent
four years in the Central Highlands and was the
person who recommended that Dalat become a hill
station. He was also responsible for the
introduction of rubber and quinine producing
trees and discovered the microbe that caused the
bubonic plague. This institute now performs
research and produces vaccines. Within the Nha
Trang institute, the office and library of Dr.
Yersin are now open to the public and contain a
small yet interesting collection of his
equipment. The Institute is the large mauve
colored building between Tran Phu Boulevard and
Pasteur Street. There are two other Pasteur
Institutes, one in Ho Chi Minh city
and the other in Dalat.
DA LAT HILL STATION
Located 300 km northeast of
Ho Chi Minh City and at an altitude of 1,500
meters, Da Lat has the appearance of an old
French city. It was founded in 1897 when Doctor
Alexander Yesin recommended that the area be
developed as a resort. Dalat has many natural
and artificial lakes such as Ho Xuan Huong, Than
Tho, Da Thien and Tuyen Lam, which are all
bordered by rows of pine trees, one of Dalat’s
best- known features. A trip to Dalat is not
complete without a visit to the Flower Gardens.
The temperate climate is suitable for orchids,
roses, lilies, camellias and a wide variety of
other flowers. Tourists can go on from Dalat to
the nearby Langbian Highlands, home to many
ethnic minorities. Langbian Mountain’s highest
peak (2,165 m) is very tempting for climbers.
From Lom Bieng Klo peak, one can see endless
green mountains reflecting the golden rays of
the sun. There are many organized tours in the
area, including parachuting and climbing.
DA LAT
Tel: 063 * Pop: 130.000 * Elevation: 1475m
The jewel of the central highlands, Da Lat is a temperate
region dotted with lakes, waterfalls, evergreen
forests and gardens. The cool climate and
parks-like environment make this one of the most
delightful places in all of Vietnam.
The city was once called Le Petit Paris and to this day there
is a miniature replica of
Eiffel Tower behind the main post office. Dalat
is also the favorites haunt of Vietnamese
artists and avant-garde types, many of whom have
made it their permanent ho me. It is also the
country’s most popular honeymoon spot, and
although the locals are thankfully scaling back
on circus-style ‘tourist attractions’, Da Lat
still remain the final word in Vietnamese
kitsch.
Local industries include growing garden vegetables and
flowers (especially beautiful hydrangeas), which
are sold all over southern
Vietnam. But the biggest contribution to the
economy of Da Lat is tourism: more than 80,000
or so foreign tourists visit here every year.
The Da Lat area was once famous for its big-game hunting and
a 1950s brochure boasted that ‘ a two-hour drive
from the town leads to several game-rich areas
abounding in deer, roe, peacocks, pheasants,
wild boar, black bear, wild caws, panthers,
tigers, gaurs and elephants’. So successful were
the hunters that all of the big game is now
extinct. However, you will get a whiff of Da
Lat’s former glory by viewing some of the
‘souvenirs’ about town:
What will stick in my mind most is the appalling stuffed
animals they seem so fond of in Da Lat. These
seem to have spread all over
Vietnam, but the citizens of Da Lat in
particular have taken taxidermy to news lows. We
had a terrible fit of the giggles as we left the
Ho Chi Minh mausoleum in Hanoi, when thought
surface of what Dalat animal stuffers could have
done with Ho Chi Minh, if the stuffing contract
hadn’t been given to the Russians. – Tony
Wheeler.
The city population includes 5000 members of hill tribes, of
which there are said to be some 33 distinct
communities in Lam Dong province. Members of
these hill tribes, who still refer to themselves
as montagnards, can occasionally be seen in the
market places in their traditional dress. Hill
tribe women of this area carry their infants on
their backs in a long piece of cloth worn over
one shoulder and tied in the front.
Dalat is often called the city of
Eternal Spring. The average maximum daily
temperature here is cool 240C and the average
minimum daily temperature is 150C. the dry
seasons runs from December to March and even
during the rainy season, which lasts more or
less from April to November, it is sunny most of
the time.
HISTORY:
The local area has been to various Montagnard groups for
centuries. In the local Lat language, ‘Dalat’
means ‘River of the Lat Tribe’.
In 1893, the first European to claim the ‘discovery’ of Dalat
was Dr Alexander Yersin, a protégé of Louis
Pasteur and the first person to identify the
plague bacillus. The city itself was established
in 1912 and quickly became popular with
Europeans as a cool retreat from the sweltering
heat of the coastal plains and the Mekong Delta.
At one point during the French colonial period
some 20% of Dalat’s population was foreign, as
evidenced by the 2500-odd-chalet-style villas
scattered around the city.
During the American War Dalat was, by the tacit agreement of
all parties concerned, largely spared the
ravages of war. Indeed, it seem that while South
Vietnamese soldiers were being trained at the
city’s military academy and affluent officials
of the Saigon regime were relaxing in their
villas, Viet Cong (VC) cadres were doing the
same thing not far away in their villas. Dalat
fell to
North Vietnam forces without a fight on 3 April
1975. There is no problem with left-over mines
and ordnance in the Dalat area.
Dalat was first city in
Vietnam to introduce a city water purification
system that provides potable water from the tap
( an 80% Danish government-funded project).
Orientation: Dalat’s sights are very spread out, and the
terrain in and around the city is hilly. Still,
trekking around in Dalat is make easier by cool
temperatures. The city center is around Rap ¾
cinema (named after the date on which Dalat was
liberated in 1975), which is up the hill from
the central-market building.
Xuan Huong Lake is a prominent landmark on the
southern side of the town. A delightful walk (or
jog) around 7km lake road provides an excellent
city orientation and a very nice overview of
Dalat, including the French influence. A long
the way are the Dalat Flower Gardens, views of
the golf course and the grand old villas on D
Tran Hung Dao. A stroll up steps to the HotelSofitel Dalat
Palace garden provides spectacular views. From
there, head up to the post office and higher
quality buildings of old and news along D Tran
Phu. The best way to enjoy the forests, sites
and cultivated countryside around the Dalat is
by foot, motorbike or bicycle some suggested
routes include: Heading out on D 3 Thang 4,
which becomes National Hwy 20, to the pine
forests of PrennPass
and Quang Trung Reservoir. Going via the
Governor-General’s Residence and up D Khe Sanh
to Thien Vuong Pagoda. Taking D Phu Dong Thien
Vuong from Dalat University to the Valley of
Love. Going out to Bao Dai’s Summer Palace and
from there, after stopping at Lam Tam Ni Pagoda,
heading via D Thien My and D Huyen Tran Cong
Chua to Du Sinh Church. See the Around Dalat
section later in this chapter for attractions
that are located on the outskirts of Dalat.
