Port 19 Nha Trang, Vietnam

Hello! Xin chàu one more time!

Today is April 14th, 2024, and we sail through calm waters on our approach to Nha Trang, Vietnam.

The city appears on the shoreline. Haze from the humidity obscures the details, but this city is much larger than I thought it would be!

With the ship at anchor, this is our view across the bay. Vinpearl is a recreation resort, and one gets there via the cable cars we see to the right.

We step onto shore in a construction zone! The building we see is the only way we are allowed to go on this dock. As we begin to walk, a small van pulls up and the man gives us a ride to the building! It’s a shuttle that no one mentioned!

As we walk through the building to find our tour bus, we see it is a shopping mall!

Once onboard the tour bus I laugh when I see the Tom and Jerry image on the bus next to us! Nicely done!

We meet Hieu (pronounced “Hugh”), our tour guide. He tells us the language spoken here is Cham, not Vietnamese or French! But he and the bus driver both speak Vietnamese as their first language. His English is excellent, and he let us know he learned English at university, taught by an American instructor! He was one of only two men in a class of forty!

Driving from the port, the city looks a little rough. Worn down, overhead wires everywhere! Messy!

But before long, we are in a much more modern high-rise section of town! No telephone poles and messy wiring!

We learn Nha Trang is celebrating its 100th anniversary, 1924 to 2024!  There are “100 Year” signs at every major intersection!

Getting close to the river, I spot this beautiful temple rising from the trees!

We leave the bus and walk along the river to the marina. This man rowing by in a bekiboat caught my attention. His bekiboat appears to be fiberglass, not bamboo like those we saw earlier!

We finally make it to our boat. Life preservers are required – not very comfortable, but we adapt!

As we leave the marina and enter the river, I am amused by a couple of men paddling around on small square floats, possibly styrofoam! These are older men, not kids!

Once again, we pass near the beautiful temple we saw earlier! Hieu tells us this is a Cham temple, built by the Hindus. This resembles the many temples we saw portrayed on the wall and diorama at the Cham Museum in Da Nang. Hieu tells us the temple is built using lightweight bricks that weigh only 1/3 of modern-day bricks, assembled using glue rather than mortar!

In the river are two small, rocky islands, near the entry to the ocean. The first island is all rock. The second island, shown below, is home to a Shrine to Whales. The people of Nha Trang believe whales are their protectors.

Our boat travels under several bridges. One is a large steel bridge built by the French for the railroad. Others, like the one here, is a simple wood bridge built and maintained by the locals! I was surprised to see the motorbikes zooming across, floorboards rattling as we passed underneath!

Hieu smiles as we approach the old house that is our next stop. This home is a 4th generation house, making it about 200 years old!

 

As we walk along a shady path toward the house, we see multiple bird cages with beautiful birds inside! I apologize for the poor focus, but I want to share this Red-Whiskered Bulbul – gorgeous! This one has a white crest and back. I’ll show another in a moment!

We arrive to this area and are seated at tables with trays of fruit! We are served mango, papaya, dragonfruit, watermelon, and banana! Yummmmmm!  Orchids are hanging all around the dining area!

When we are done eating, we are told to feel free to tour the house. We start walking! Here is one of the beautiful orchids at the edge of the dining area.

And, as promised, we encounter another Red-Whiskered Bulbul! But this one has a black crest and black. Still gorgeous!

We approach the house through this elaborate, hand-built porch!

Inside the entrance are these frames introducing the owners of the home. These are the 3rd generation owners, the parents of the present owners!

The most beautiful part of the home is dedicated to the shrine!

Examples of live edge wood carving are everywhere! They have made wonderful chairs and tables out of natural wood, carving each from a single piece of wood!

The kitchen is the room that doesn’t fit the history of the house. But it is certainly far more modern than what the original house had 200 years ago, right?

We leave the house and walk into town. Hieu leads us into this mat weaving shop! We see a demonstration and have a chance to shop.

These two women have an amazing tempo! The near woman has a long stick with a notch. She inserts a mat strand in the notch and when the far woman rotates the weaving comb, pushes the rod between the threads and pulls it out quickly, leaving the mat strand in. The comb taps it into place, and the next strand is inserted! How do they do it so fast and keep the color changes correct? Obviously lots of practice!

Joy falls in love with the purple and green mats they had already woven. She asked for four placemats, but these were not finished yet. It would take about two hours to finish them. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work for our tour timeline!

Back on the bus, we head back to the dock. We see smoke! We pass fields that were recently harvested and are being burned to prepare for the next crop.

Approaching the beach, the cranes show how robust the growth is in Nha Trang!

Back on board, we can see the lifeboat davits waiting for the tenders to complete their jobs bringing everyone back to the ship.

Soon Insignia is heading back out to sea! Nha Trang fades into the haze.

Goodbye, Nha Trang!

Next stop – Saigon, Vietnam!

Editor’s Note: I am officially one year behind schedule on this blog. But I intend to continue capturing our trip. However, I reserve the right to interrupt this and post our African safari if I decide to change direction in the near future…