After a great day island hopping around Nha Trang we were interested to investigate the city itself. We both wanted a hassle free day from all the taxi and cyclo drivers, so we decided to hire a cyclo driver for the day. The guest house receptionist recommended a nice local driver for us and off we went. Two people on a small cyclo can be quite a snug fit. I sat on a wood plank slightly elevated from the seat, legs spread so that Yen sit in the seat..and we headed off north from our hotel..
Past the Nha Trang cathedral along the train station we went to visit the Long Son Pagoda. We checked out the local temple complex and went up the hill to see the gigantic white seated Buddha statue on top of the hill.
From there we went through the hustle and bustle of the center of town over the Cai river bridge to visit the Po Nagar Cham Tower. This temple showed us a glimpse of what My Son must have been like in the past. Relaxing with a nice ice coffee in the shade of the trees around the temple and a view over the river we had a nice break past the hottest hour of the day. Around midday most locals usually find some shady area for midday nap or so, since the heat from 11:30 to 13:30 can be quite unbearable.
Afterwards we jumped on the cyclo again and went a bit further north to Hon Chong Promontory, where a little rocky peninsula protrudes the sandy beaches. Scrambling around the rocks and marveling at the giant hand print on one rock we had a great time in the sea breeze. A nice fresh cold baby coconut for each of us after our rock scrambling and walk was heaven.
Before we headed home again on the cyclo I had a few meters of a test drive on the cyclo with Yen on the front seat. My legs are WAY to long for the geometry of the cyclo and Yen definitely didn’t trust my cycling skills. Although there were not cars around at all ;-))
After a quiet evening we left Nha Trang the next day heading south along the coast to Mui Ne beach. We were hoping to find a nicer beach and a quiet atmosphere there. Our dissappointment was quite big when we got there. Onshore winds brought all the rubbish floating around at sea onto the beach and made it anything but appealing to relax there. We stayed at the Austria Vietnam house and enjoyed the pool … our curiosity of another Vietnamese/Austrian couple lead us to this place.
The next day we went for a cycling trip to the fairy canyon and wandered along the river there. The cycling got us to look forward to the pool again. Mui Ne seems to be a nice place. You could even hire a proper windsurfing or kitesurfing equipment there. It seems to be good for windsurfing normally. Check out http://www.windsurf-vietnam.com/ for more. Unfortunately luck was not with us and we decided to head on. We left Mui Ne the same day heading south towards Saigon.
The bus trip to Saigon took the rest of the day and we arrived exhausted in the big city. All we did was get accomodation, organise ticket to Can Tho, eat and fall asleep. The next day we left with a local mini bus to Can Tho. This local transport only cost 35000 dong and was a lot more comfortable than the tourist trips we had in the days before…
and it got us to the Mekong Delta just fine.
