 |
| Good Morning from Nha Trang! |
Between Brunei and Nha Trang we were very grateful to have a “sea day” . It wasn’t just any old “sea day”. It happened to be November 7……Beth’s Birthday! I won’t say how old, but she’s now eligible for Social Security!
 |
| A birthday surprise for Beth, compliments of our Cabin Steward and NCL. |
We enjoyed spending about a month in Vietnam four years ago. We loved it, and while this time we would only have two days we were looking forward to our return visit. The people are friendly, the scenery is great and the food is amazing (an inexpensive)!
Nha Trang is a beach resort town located on the South Central Coast. It was a port that required tendering, but it went pretty smoothly and we were off the ship early and with a plan…..go where our feet take us. They ended up taking us on a great journey!
The first mile or so was through a traditional local community where the shops were opening and the local restaurants were doing a brisk breakfast business. We then reached the start of what has made Nha Trang so popular, the beach. A really long beach. Just over four miles in length.
 |
Our kind of beach,
a great path, lots of shade and plenty of benches. |
 |
| The exercise stations along the path stayed busy all day |
 |
| This beach is a long one!! |
 |
| Not just for decorations, also for sale! |
It wasn’t too long on our walking journey into town that we made a detour into a beachfront bar and restaurant. Our intentions were to get Vietnamese Coffee, which is a powerful potion of really strong coffee and sweet condensed milk. Although it was still early it was already plenty hot, so we ended up with a couple of nice Mocha Frappuccino’s. After seeing the table next to ours get a couple of bowls of Pho, we quickly gave into temptation and ordered our own. As I mentioned earlier, the Vietnamese food is fantastic….it was a nice start to the day!
 |
| Hot and Delicious Pho! Two Mocha Frappuccino’s, Pho and Fresh Limeade…..eleven dollars! All at a gorgeous beachfront location. |
The beach had a nice boardwalk with plenty of benches and shade trees……a perfect combination! At one of our rest stops two nice young ladies from the local university asked us if we would do a five minute tourist survey. Now how they figured out we were tourists is beyond me, but we were happy to help them out. At the end we asked them for a recommendation for lunch. They suggested grilled meat roll. Because of the work they were doing they could not recommend a specific place, however thanks to TripAdvisor and Google Maps we were soon on the trail.
 |
| Resort hotels, shops and restaurants along the waterfront |
 |
The beachfront monument plaza was quiet when we were there. We understand it’s a popular gathering spot in the evening.
|
 |
Nice decorations….they looked real from a distance
When we arrived at our chosen lunch restaurant it was packed with what appeared to be locals. We had a little trouble communicating, but with a little help from a nice couple we finally figured out they didn’t take credit cards or US dollars (many places accept both). Disappointed, we headed for the door to try to find a place to exchange some money. As we walked away, the gentleman who had been our interpreter told us to come on back in, that lunch was on them. We couldn’t believe the kind gesture and certainly didn’t turn it down. As it turns out, they were from Vietnam but currently live in Oregon. This was their first time back. We enjoyed visiting with them while eating a delicious meal. Their kindness was appreciated and it will certainly be paid forward.
After lunch we slowly started making our way back to the ship, following the same tree lined waterfront path. Our feet had taken us on a memorable journey around Nha Trang. When it was all said and done we had put in a little over eleven miles. When we got back on the Norwegian Jewel we were a little sweaty and a little tired…..we sure could use a massage!
|
