Nha Trang Beach and Goodbye Sam
From Saigon we took an overnight bus to Nha Trang. It's only 440 kms, or about 270 miles, to Nha Trang, but the bus took us over 9 hours. Despite how long it took the ride was actually quite comfortable. The seats on sleeper buses in Vietnam are too small for a tall guy like me (I'm six foot two) but I can still lay nearly flat.
Nha Trang is a well known beach spot for international tourists and Vietnamese alike. The town has a long strip of beach and hotels, kind of like a mini Miami Beach. There are a few bar and nightlife spots, but nothing like the one down in Florida.
Vietnamese beach culture is also a far cry from South Florida. Like most Asians, in an attempt to be pale Vietnamese try their hardest to avoid the sun. This obsession with pale skin has historical roots; when most people lived in rural areas and worked the land, only the wealthy were able to escape manual labor out in the sun. Hence pale skin became a sign of wealth and status. Although Vietnam is urbanizing and industrializing, pale skin is still highly prized.
It's common to see women covered from head to toe - not for any religious reasons - simply to avoid the sun. Vietnam is a hot, tropical country, especially in the south, where even at night temperatures rarely dip below 70 Fahrenheit (low 20s Celsius). Despite this you'll often see people wearing jeans and jackets. Many women wear socks (with flip flops) and gloves while driving their motorbikes.
At the beach you will see Vietnamese guys shirtless, and some women don bathing suits, but many also keep their pants and long sleeves on while they take a dip in the ocean. In the early afternoon, when the sun is at its strongest, Nha Trang's beach is full of Western tourists. Where are all the Vietnamese? Well come out at dawn and you'll find out. Many are so serious about avoiding the sun that they would rather go to the beach at 5 am than noon.
After living in Korea and then spending nearly a year in Southeast Asia I am used to this obsession with pale skin. It still strikes me as strange, however, when I see someone wearing a jean jacket in 90 degree weather or a women completely covered at the beach. I've come to appreciate pale skin more, but there is a limit; some women who never get out under the sun just look feeble and sickly to me.
Anyway back to our visit to Nha Trang. Mike, Sam, and I spent three nights in town, mostly hanging out on the beach, relaxing during the day, and drinking at night. The nightlife isn't much to write home about, but there are a handful of bars and late night spots clustered on one street near the center. Most places shut down rather early, so if you want to continue your night the options are limited. I guess that's a good thing, since the bars weren't exactly overflowing with customers. Twice we finished the night at a place called Why Not? Bar, which had lots of outdoor seating, pool tables, and a dance floor. It seemed an apt name - it's 2 am, everywhere else is closed, and we have a whole lot of nothing scheduled tomorrow morning - so why not?
On one of those nights when we ended up at Why Not? Bar we met two Slovenian backpackers. As the time approached 4 am and the bar quieted down they didn't yet seem ready to go to bed. Someone suggested we go to the beach - so we grabbed a couple to go beers and headed out. In our good judgement we thought it'd be fun to go for a swim, leaving our valuables in the sand. Now intoxication played a part, but we were also just pretty stupid.
The beach seemed quiet, but not long after we got away from the shore two guys ran up and stole our things. As luck would have it a Russian couple was walking along the beach - why at 4:30 am is beyond me - and they yelled at the robbers. Startled, the thieves dropped several things before running away. By the time we swam back and tried to run after them they were long gone. Mike got his valuables back, I lost my wallet and cash but somehow they had dropped my credit and ATM cards, and Sam, well he wasn't so lucky. Sam not only lost his phone and wallet, but his shorts as well. It's a funny story now, but at the time Sam wasn't amused. After cancelling his cards we got a late night (or early morning) sandwich at a food cart and he was just sitting there in his boxers telling anyone who passed by, "don't go swimming, they'll steal your shorts!" I think he was more upset about his new shorts than his wallet!
As it turns out I got a free wallet out of the ordeal. The thieves stole mine, but in their rush they dropped another one which belonged to nobody in our group. I just found it with our stuff in the sand; actually it's kind of fancy and I've been using it ever since! So in the end I traded my old wallet, along with about $25 in local currency, for a new one! Don't know if I would have paid that much for it but at least I got a good story.
After three nights in Nha Trang with (most) of our valuables intact we planned to take another bus back to Saigon. Since the Chinese New Year holiday had just ended the roads were crowded and most of the buses full. Many residents of Ho Chi Minh City moved there for the work opportunities and go back to visit family or relatives in hometowns further north. Once the holiday is over there's a mad rush back south - the direction we happened to be going. We wanted to spend another night with Sam in Saigon, but the day we planned to leave most of the buses and all trains were full (of course going in the opposite direction things were wide open). We had to wait another day and take the night bus, plus pay about twice the price (still only $10 more), but it was just a relief to know we'd be back in time for Sam's flight.
We arrived the morning of March 2nd and Sam flew out that evening. Mike and I spent one more night in Saigon and then were off to Phu Quoc, an island in the far south of Vietnam. More on that next time!
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| Sleeper bus in Vietnam; I wish I was that short! |
Nha Trang is a well known beach spot for international tourists and Vietnamese alike. The town has a long strip of beach and hotels, kind of like a mini Miami Beach. There are a few bar and nightlife spots, but nothing like the one down in Florida.
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| Nha Trang beachfront; the beach long and wide, but it would have been nicer without the giant avenue blocking the city from the sand. |
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| Sam's photo of the beach at Nha Trang |
Vietnamese beach culture is also a far cry from South Florida. Like most Asians, in an attempt to be pale Vietnamese try their hardest to avoid the sun. This obsession with pale skin has historical roots; when most people lived in rural areas and worked the land, only the wealthy were able to escape manual labor out in the sun. Hence pale skin became a sign of wealth and status. Although Vietnam is urbanizing and industrializing, pale skin is still highly prized.
It's common to see women covered from head to toe - not for any religious reasons - simply to avoid the sun. Vietnam is a hot, tropical country, especially in the south, where even at night temperatures rarely dip below 70 Fahrenheit (low 20s Celsius). Despite this you'll often see people wearing jeans and jackets. Many women wear socks (with flip flops) and gloves while driving their motorbikes.
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| I haven't seen this fad yet...maybe in China! |
At the beach you will see Vietnamese guys shirtless, and some women don bathing suits, but many also keep their pants and long sleeves on while they take a dip in the ocean. In the early afternoon, when the sun is at its strongest, Nha Trang's beach is full of Western tourists. Where are all the Vietnamese? Well come out at dawn and you'll find out. Many are so serious about avoiding the sun that they would rather go to the beach at 5 am than noon.
After living in Korea and then spending nearly a year in Southeast Asia I am used to this obsession with pale skin. It still strikes me as strange, however, when I see someone wearing a jean jacket in 90 degree weather or a women completely covered at the beach. I've come to appreciate pale skin more, but there is a limit; some women who never get out under the sun just look feeble and sickly to me.
Anyway back to our visit to Nha Trang. Mike, Sam, and I spent three nights in town, mostly hanging out on the beach, relaxing during the day, and drinking at night. The nightlife isn't much to write home about, but there are a handful of bars and late night spots clustered on one street near the center. Most places shut down rather early, so if you want to continue your night the options are limited. I guess that's a good thing, since the bars weren't exactly overflowing with customers. Twice we finished the night at a place called Why Not? Bar, which had lots of outdoor seating, pool tables, and a dance floor. It seemed an apt name - it's 2 am, everywhere else is closed, and we have a whole lot of nothing scheduled tomorrow morning - so why not?
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| Why Not Bar before things get crowded |
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| Oh I almost forgot we also went on a "booze cruise." It really wasn't much of a party cause 90% of the passengers were Vietnamese or Chinese families, but we did meet a few people our age. (I'm on the top left with a hat next and to Mike; Sam is below us sporting the beard) |
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| One fun part of the "booze cruise" was jumping off the boat and getting free shots of a homemade cocktail; don't ask me what was in the drink though! |
On one of those nights when we ended up at Why Not? Bar we met two Slovenian backpackers. As the time approached 4 am and the bar quieted down they didn't yet seem ready to go to bed. Someone suggested we go to the beach - so we grabbed a couple to go beers and headed out. In our good judgement we thought it'd be fun to go for a swim, leaving our valuables in the sand. Now intoxication played a part, but we were also just pretty stupid.
The beach seemed quiet, but not long after we got away from the shore two guys ran up and stole our things. As luck would have it a Russian couple was walking along the beach - why at 4:30 am is beyond me - and they yelled at the robbers. Startled, the thieves dropped several things before running away. By the time we swam back and tried to run after them they were long gone. Mike got his valuables back, I lost my wallet and cash but somehow they had dropped my credit and ATM cards, and Sam, well he wasn't so lucky. Sam not only lost his phone and wallet, but his shorts as well. It's a funny story now, but at the time Sam wasn't amused. After cancelling his cards we got a late night (or early morning) sandwich at a food cart and he was just sitting there in his boxers telling anyone who passed by, "don't go swimming, they'll steal your shorts!" I think he was more upset about his new shorts than his wallet!
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| Shop catering to Russian tourists; there are a bunch of Russians who go on vacation to Nha Trang and you'll see lots of Russian along with English. Good thing two of them were out on the beach at 4:30 am! |
As it turns out I got a free wallet out of the ordeal. The thieves stole mine, but in their rush they dropped another one which belonged to nobody in our group. I just found it with our stuff in the sand; actually it's kind of fancy and I've been using it ever since! So in the end I traded my old wallet, along with about $25 in local currency, for a new one! Don't know if I would have paid that much for it but at least I got a good story.
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| Someone told me my new wallet was made from sting-ray; I just did a Google search and yep, that's the kind I now have. Disclosure: I didn't buy it so don't get on me for using animal products! |
After three nights in Nha Trang with (most) of our valuables intact we planned to take another bus back to Saigon. Since the Chinese New Year holiday had just ended the roads were crowded and most of the buses full. Many residents of Ho Chi Minh City moved there for the work opportunities and go back to visit family or relatives in hometowns further north. Once the holiday is over there's a mad rush back south - the direction we happened to be going. We wanted to spend another night with Sam in Saigon, but the day we planned to leave most of the buses and all trains were full (of course going in the opposite direction things were wide open). We had to wait another day and take the night bus, plus pay about twice the price (still only $10 more), but it was just a relief to know we'd be back in time for Sam's flight.
We arrived the morning of March 2nd and Sam flew out that evening. Mike and I spent one more night in Saigon and then were off to Phu Quoc, an island in the far south of Vietnam. More on that next time!
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| I didn't feel all that bad for Sam, as he caught his first class flight back home (this was at the airport lounge in Tokyo) |
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