Vietnam: Nha Trang

Glad to be back by the beach again, we took a walk along the seafront and ended up at the National Oceanographic Museum. This was a quirky little place with a mix of information and exhibits.  

Upon entering, there was an area with several posters explaining the damage littering can do to ocean life. Having grown up in Cornwall, we're both used to messages like this but we found it so encouraging that it's slowly becoming worldwide knowledge. The next section had some larger tanks with animals such as small sharks, rays and turtles in them, as well as smaller ones with various fish. All tanks included an information card about the species in several languages which was really useful. The next room housed a humpback whale skeleton which had been discovered in 1994, and there were posters around the room of various other whale skeletons. Finally, the last building contained hundreds of preserved fish in jars (quite creepy!) and a preserved sea cow, while upstairs had other large preserved animal exhibits such as a dolphin and turtles. 

Once we'd walked back to town, we headed to the night market expecting to grab a few bargain tshirts but sadly we were greeted with a single small street of tourist souvenirs. As the night had ended quicker than expected, we made the most of it and got an early night. The next morning we hired a bike so we could see more of the local attractions. First we headed to Ba Ho waterfalls, about 30km north of Nha Trang. These weren't the most impressive waterfalls we'd ever seen but they were possibly one of our favourites! The main waterfall had three different levels, all of which were a scramble up rocks but worth it for the beautiful view. We took a quick swim in the top level which was very refreshing after the climb.

We had planned to then spend a few hours at Thap Ba mud baths, but when we arrived it was a hotel and spa with various mineral pools and a man-made 'mud' bath (it basically looked like dirty water!) which were all individually priced and quite expensive, so we decided against this! Instead we headed 20km south of Nha Trang to a surf beach, but after 15 minutes of struggling with our boards against choppy waves we had to admit defeat. The last stop on our list was an Impressionist museum. However, to match the theme of the day, after driving around town for a while we couldn't seem to find it, and as it was late evening we gave up and headed back for food.

We had also been recommended a hostel about an hour north of Nha Trang which we wanted to spend some time at. It was almost a resort, in the sense that it was in the middle of nowhere so everyone stayed at the hostel. We only spent one night here as there wasn't much to do other than sunbathe, but we did manage to plan more of our trip after Vietnam before heading back to Nha Trang. From there, we took our first Vietnamese night bus up to Hoi An.

Accommodation: Truong Giang Hotel, 1 night, 240,000 vnd for a private double room. The hotel was a central location close to the seafront. Our room was clean and individualised with a cute picket fence painted onto one wall, and the bathroom was a decent size with a warm shower. Our room included AC and a TV. The hotel did offer breakfast but unfortunately not the morning we stayed there as the chef was ill. The staff were really friendly and helpful too. 7/10. 

Ninhvana, 1 night, 190,000 VND for a bed in a dorm room. 

We had been imagining Ninhvana like a mix of the hostels we had stayed at in Mui Ne and Koh Rong, which maybe set the bar too high. It was a really nice hostel, with clean dorms and showers, but the 2 pools we were promised looked more like ponds which put us off using them. We were also excited to do some kayaking or paddle boarding but these had all been locked away due to recent bad weather. Despite this, with the right group of people it could be a really nice place to spend a few days, but we got quite unlucky and shared a dorm with a group of lads who were clearly wanting their time here to be more of a 'Magaluf' holiday... 7/10. 

Mojzo Dorm, 1 night, 130,000 VND for a bed in a dorm room.

Slightly further into town, this hostel was also a great location and again the staff were really helpful with planning our days. The dorms were clean and comfy but there was some construction work going on outside all night so we didn't sleep as well as we could have. Breakfast was included here which was a buffet up on the rooftop bar. 8/10.

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