Vietnam: The country is tropical and has made a remarkable recovery since the long period of wars the country endured.

Vietnam Trip

March 2010

NHA TRANG and DA LAT

Our next visit was a flight to Da Nang which gave us access to the beach and fishing town of Nha Trang. We took another boat to a beautiful secluded beach where we spent a few morning hours mostly resting on lounge chairs and having massages at an incredibly inexpensive price ($9). This was a nice respite from the fast pace of the trip. Later we visited a very busy fishing village on Mieu Island. We also made a trip to the famous China Beach that the war veterans used during wartime.

Nha Trang is one of the most important tourist hubs of Vietnam, credit goes to its beautiful beaches with fine, clean sand and the clear ocean water with mild temperatures all year round. The city is located on the beautiful Nha Trang Bay, chosen by Travel and Leisure in two succeeding years as one of 29 most beautiful bays in the world. Nha Trang is surrounded on all three sides by mountains and a large island on the fourth side, blocking major storms from potentially damaging the city. Nha Trang is a venue for annual sailing boat racing from Hong Kong. In recent years, the city has welcomed many 5-star sea cruises. The city’s cuisine is famous for its fresh seafood.

Da Nang Airport has been the main airport of the city. This airport was used by the United States Air Force and South Vietnam Air Force during the Vietnam War. This airport is expected to expand and become an international airport in the future, our tour guide informed us.

After Nha Trang, we traveled overland to Da Lat, located in the central highlands at an titleitude of 4800 feet.

DA LAT

Da Lat was a former vacation retreat for French colonial officials. It was nice and cool here; the mountain air was hetitlehy. We met some of the hill tribe members, and they entertained us with dancing and a rice wine drinking ceremony. We also visited the University of Da Lat and met students who enjoyed practicing their English with us while we toured their campus. Later we took a cable car to the hilltop to visit another Buddhist pagoda.

Located in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Da Lat was originally the playground of the French who built villas in the clear mountain air to escape the heat and humidity of the coast and of Saigon. Da Lat's high titleitude (4800 feet) and fertile landscape make it one of Vietnam's premier agricultural areas, producing varieties of fruits, vegetables and flowers that don't grow in the lowlands.

Da Lat is famous, however, for its beautifully crafted silk embroidered pictures, which can be purchased at a massive mark up from the many galleries around Da Lat or at a fraction of the price from the central Da Lat market.

While in Da Lat, we also visited The Crazy House, one of the strangest hotels ever and certainly Vietnam’s most eccentric piece of architecture. In a city dominated by conventional French colonial villas and modern concrete blocks, the Hang Hga Guesthouse is an unexpected architectural delight. The bizarre fairy tale tree house was nicknamed Crazy House by locals due its unconventional appearance. It has become one of Dalat’s most visited sights. Hang Nga’s status as the daughter of the former president of Vietnam has undoubtedly given her license to build this structure. She trained as an architect at Moscow State University. It is a random assortment of rooms and cubbyholes connected by a network of bridges, ladders and passageways to form a maze-like structure. The free form concrete buildings, are mingled with a giraffe, spider webs, caged birds and other curious items. We loved it!

NHA TRANG and DA LAT

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