Thursday 12 January 2012

Part 3: Countdown to 2012 @ Nha Trang

Since the start of our stay in Nha Trang, we have booked our train tickets, Vinpearl Amusement Park tickets and 4-island boat tour with Jungle Travel. Jungle Travel is widely recommended by Tripadvisor members. Sad to say, they did not live up to our standards. 
 While they provide good service, they also charged you ridiculously! I only discovered that when our hotel offered the Vinpearl tickets, and it was actually cheaper.
We also realised that they have charged us higher for our train tickets. We made the payment in the morning and were told to collect the train tix later at night. We did exactly that and what we saw made our jaw drop! The price stated on the tickets were again much cheaper than what we've paid for! Great job, Jungle Travel!
At least, thinking about the 4-island tour helps to cool me down abit. :)

3rd day: 4-Island Boat Tour!

Our 3rd day in Nha Trang was filled with fun, booze and lazing on the boat in the open sea.
Costing only US$7 per person, this boat tour is probably the best boat cruise we've been!
The boat brought us around the islands off Nha Trang coast - Mot Island, Mui Island, Tranh Island..and one more, I can't remember.


At the first stop, you get to explore the island's aquarium at a fee of 50,000vnd. The island was really small and most of us prefered to chill out at the cafe instead.

We spent about 30 mins on the island before heading for the next stop. This time, there is no beach. At least, I didn't see any! ;p

We swam..some snorkelled but ended up disappointed.
At that point of time, the water was just not suitable for snorkelling.
 


After swimming, it was time for lunch! We had some Vietnamese dishes like veg, omelette, rice, meat. Pretty simple yet authentically Vietnamese-style! I like!  


After lunch, people started to warm up with one another...and it's time to start the party!!

We partied hard on the boat for about 1 hour..and in the open sea with the floating bar!

No one had an idea what they actually drank! Tasted like cheap cheap gin!


Boat party was mad!!

The tour ended at Tranh Island. There, you'll have to pay 20,000vnd as "entrance fee". 
It was a short stretch of beach, not sure if there's people living on it. We ended the day, sunbathing and napping by the beach..a nice way to end off the madly fun boat tour!


After the boat tour, we came back to our hotel for a short nap....soon, it's time for dinner! :)


hungry wungry me!

fried fish with chilli salt..recommended by the waitress at Com Ngon Lanh but I don't like..
too dry!

Chicken Pho

4th day: Explore Northern Nha Trang!

We decided to book a car with driver to explore the north of Nha Trang.  Jungle Travel quoted 1.2million vnd which is approximately S$70.00! Seriously?? Thank god I checked with another two agencies, and we settled for $42 by a hotel operator. At 9.00am, we were picked up by the driver from our hotel and headed to Doc Let Beach. It was a 1hour drive to the beach, and wasn't easy locating it.

 Throughout the journey, we saw many rice fields, mountains, and also passed by villages.
It was a good experience to see how they live, work and play.

Doc Let Beach was nice..
paid 20,000vnd for its entrance fee..

We were so hungry by the time we reached (we didn't have breakfast!) and decided to have lunch at a eating place along the beach. 

Totally unprepared for this! Surrounded by heaps of them, persuading me to buy
their seafood!

Fresh seafood!

so so yummy! Fresh mussels and clam!

Barbecued prawn! 

We relaxed at the beach for about 2 hours before heading to our next destination - Ba Ho Waterfalls! It was challenging getting to the waterfalls. Pity the driver, man..I don't think he was expecting the harsh and muddy terrains..am very sure deep down, he was cursing us like hell! ;p

When we finally reached Ba Ho Waterfalls, we had to pay an entrance fee (again??) of 10,000vnd. Actually the guard wanted to charge me higher..he was hesitating, thinking of a suitable price when I asked how much, stopping only when I saw a scribbled paper with 10,000vnd on it. At first, I thought the waterfalls was somewhere near...but it wasn't!


We chanced upon a few ladies and one of them offered to guide us to the location.
You actually have to overcome huge rocks and slippery trails to get there!

But what we saw, was definitely worth all the efforts!

Captivated by the view of the waterfalls!

Having a dip! Brrrr....it's cold!

Yay! We made it! A great experience!


After a fun day of swimming, we decided to venture the historic side of Nha Trang by exploring Po Nagar Tower. Located on a small hill at the mouth of the Cai River at Nha Trang, the temple Po Nagar is named for a goddess of local origin who is said to have created the earth, eaglewood, and rice. The temple was built during the Hindu period of Champa, and thus the image of the goddess takes the form of Uma, wife of Siva.




It has been a day well-spent ...had dinner at Cafe Des Amis. A recommended place by Tripadvisor members. Service was great, no doubt about it! The owner actually spent some time to have one or two conversation with diners. However, the food wasn't great..at least not for me..


This cute little boy will grow up to be a very fine man. :)


Time for celebration...it's new year's eve!


There was a Heineken Beach Party...it was massive but people were hardly dancing! No idea why.. Most of them cuddled up at the beach with drinks. As soon as the clock strikes 12, the sky lighted up with beautiful and colourful fireworks!




Darling and his new friends! :)

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Happy New Year!


Probably one of the most memorable new year celebration I've had so far.. 

Last 2 days at Nha Trang was spent relaxing at the beach most of the times.
We explored Bai Dai Beach or Long Beach... it was very quiet, there were only two of us - tourists! The rest were all Vietnamese..

There's seafood kelong there..but wasn't the best place to eat peacefully..kena chase by dogs! wth!

Bai Dai Beach (pronounced as "Bai Yai)

We bid goodbye to Nha Trang...to the big waves, to the people...till we see you again!

Nha Trang with its huge waves!

our fav minimart! ;p



Gonna be a while till my next trip to Nha Trang! Gonna miss you!

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