Nha Trang

At the end of our 9-hour train journey from Da Nang, we finally arrive in Nha Trang for our first "beach holiday" part of the trip. We've booked an AirBnB for 6 nights and it turns out to be even better than expected - a 29th floor apartment with a balcony and a view right across the bay. We even have a rooftop swimming pool, and the surrounding streets have several small restaurants and bars for us to enjoy.

We're staying out of the central part of Nha Trang, in the northern end of the bay across the Cai river. After a day of relaxing we're ready to hit some of the sites so we hop in a taxi to the Long Son Pagoda with a huge seated Buddha on the hill behind it.

We're at risk of being "pagoda'd out" so we next head to the main beach and promenade for some cocktails and a wander around the seafront area. The temperature has risen sharply as we've come south, and it's around 26 degrees each day. Sounds perfect, but the humidity hovers between 70-90% so it's pretty sticky out!

While stopping at an ATM we see a bank branch setting up a team dinner on the footpath outside their door. It's quite strange to see uniformed staff sitting on the tiny plastic stools in their skirts and white shirts, but they seem to be enjoying themselves.

After that we spend another few days mostly relaxing and hanging out at the pool or in the apartment. Mark heads out a couple of times for more sightseeing, including the Ponagar Temple and the Hon Chong boulder formation a little way down the coast. We also hit the nearby beach for a swim one afternoon.

Nha Trang is known as "Little Russia" in Vietnam, as large numbers of wealthy Russians come to spend the winter here. Our apartment building and the nearby restaurants all have lots of Russian people wandering around, and many establishments have signage or menus in Russian as well.

We've thoroughly enjoyed our week in Nha Trang, and the highlight has definitely been the beautiful views from the apartment and from the pool, especially at sunset. On Tuesday morning we head south again, with another long train ride ahead of us, this time to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).