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Nha Trang - Vietnam's most famous seaside resort-town. It's more lively and urban in character than other beach destinations like Mui Ne and Phu Quoc. It's also the scuba diving centre of Vietnam
Saturday 12th November
We arrived in Nha Trang around 6am, we jumped in a taxi to our hotel - which turned out was only round the corner! Luckily we were able to check in straight away so we went to bed! We got up around 1pm headed out to explore and grabbed some lunch. We spent the afternoon walking along the beach. We met up with Cat and Sarah and went out for dinner, Sarah headed home while Joe, Cat and I headed out to party! We got home around 2am quite drunk from all the happy hours cocktails!
Sunday 13th November
We were all feeling a little worse for wear this morning, we forced ourselves to eat breakfast then headed out to Vin Pearl - (An island with a waterpark, small amusement park and luxury hotel) we reached the island by cable car from Nha Trang - it is 3311 metres long. It was built in 2007 and uses 7 offshore support towers, which all stand in the sea. The tallest is 115 metres high from which however 40 metres are under water. It is the longest cable car in the world to cross the sea. It was actually quite scary on the cable cars!
When we arrived at Vin Pearl we all went straight on the swing chairs - thinking it would be quite gentle… Joe was green by the time it stopped!! We wondered about the amusement arcade - went on some bumper cars and watched a 4D show before having a go on a little rollercoaster. We wondered through an underwater aquarium and a small shopping complex to the water park. We decided to grab some food before swimming. We were really surprised to see you could get a meal for £1 so we all ordered a chicken burger with chips and a drink. Halfway through eating Sarah found a big bit of plastic bag inside her chicken burger!!!We didn't finish our food after that!! Our stomachs were churning! We spent the afternoon in the water park going down the different water slides. It wasn't the best waterpark - the staff were the most miserable people I think I've ever met. It was quite dirty (there were rats roaming around!)And the health and safety was pretty much non-existent! But we still had a good day. We headed back to the hotel around 4 and chilled out for a couple of hours before heading out to dinner - We found an amazing Italian - Yum! It was our final meal with Cat and Sarah too as they were moving on quicker than us because Cat is doing a charity bike ride in Cambodia.
Monday 14th November.
Today Joe and I rented a motorbike to see some sights in Nha Trang. We first went to The Po Nagar towers (which once stood at the entrance of Cai River, where the river meets the ocean. The towers stood in isolation on a rock foundation, but over many years the towers and the land it stands on became part of the land mass as the river changed its flows.) Po Nagar towers complex was built between the 7th and 12th century. The most beautiful towers were built in the year 813 and 817. Most were destroyed and only four towers are still standing. Each tower is a shrine to a different deity. One tower is the shrine to Xiva, one of three most powerful deities in Hinduism. One tower is dedicated to Ganexa, the son of Xiva. This deity has a human body and an elephant head. Po Nagar is the tallest tower, also known as Thap Ba (Tower of the Lady). Po Nagar or Uma is the wife of Xiva the supreme. Po Nagar towers stand 23m in height and were built around 817.
Next stop was the Long Son Pagoda - it was founded in the late 19th century and has been rebuilt several times over the years. The entrance and roofs are decorated with mosaic dragons constructed of glass and bits of ceramic tile.We then climbed the 150 steps to the giant sitting Buddha at the top - The statue was built on the site of the original temple and the statue was cast in 1964 before being installed the following year. From the ground up, the statues is 24 m. around the statue are statues of seven arahants. We didn't stay long here as we were fed up of constantly being hassled to buy fans or postcards!
We spent the rest of the time riding around trying to waste petrol! We stopped at a supermarket where we bought some cheese and crackers and went and sat on the beach to have a little picnic! The driving did get a little interesting when it turned to rush hour and we were part of 1000's of bikes trying to get around! We made it safely to drop off the bike then went back to the hotel where we were invited to a party on the roof terrace for someone leaving where we enjoyed free punch and a buffet!
Tuesday 15th November
Today we arranged the bus to our next stop (Mui Ne) and then went to the Thap Ba natural hot springs - From the hot springs website - "Therapeutic mud bath and salty mineral water can help cure chronic rheumatism, gynaecologic inflammation, bone tuberculosis...The mineral mud in Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre is an inorganic mud especially rich in Sodium Silicate Carbonate as well as some other micro-element.These elements stimulate the nerves under the skin, creating reaction in the whole body through the cerebral cortex.The stickiness of the mineral cleanses the skin, leaving it finer and smoother.The absorption of the minerals is significantly enhanced when the mud is warmed to 37-39 C.
When we arrived at the mud baths we changed and were told to take a salty mineral shower, next we got into a bathtub that was filled up with mud. It was very watery mud, it was weird - we were floating in water only about 10 inches deep. We laid here for about 30 mins (we didn't know how long to stay in as no one bothered to tell us how long or when to get out!) Next we sat in the sun for 15 mins to let the mud dry then took another mineral shower to wash all the mud off.
We were taken down to another area of bath tubs where we had to walk through some jets of salty mineral water before getting in the tub to soak for 40 mins. (From the website - The salty mineral water in Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre, rich in sodium silicate chloride, is taken from 100m deep underground thus ensuring absolute sanitation.The mineral water penetrate the skin, depositing NaCL and some other elements and will clean and rejuvenating your body.It will also increase your immune system and capability of resisting inflammation.The effect can be clearly seen in patients of stress, arthritis, muscular, joint rheumatism and diseases of the nervous system.)
The water was so hot, I think it was about 40'c. We managed to do about 30 mins sitting in it. After we had a swim in the salty mineral pool before getting changed and heading back to the hotel. Our skin felt amazing and we felt very relaxed! We we're so relaxed we only made it out for a quick dinner and we were in bed by 9!
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