Travelling around the world counjures images of relaxing on deserted beaches and bathing under tropical waterfalls. We’ve been learning that this is rarely the case, but for the last week we’ve had a taste of that life around Nha Trang.

Nha Trang is a beach resort in South Vietnam, a holiday destination for Vietnamese people and foreigners, (especially Russians – a bizarre link). We’d planned to turn up and enjoy golden beaches while catching up on some of our forgotten fitness. It got off to a bumpy start though, which all started in Da Lat.

We’d had some hotel faff on our last night, and were in a different hotel, but our first place had agreed that the shuttle bus could still collect us from there. Unfortunately they didn’t inform us when the shuttle bus arrived, and so we missed our lovely bus to Nha Trang. Realising we’d been left behind, we got a taxi to the bus station and the company explained the efforts they had made to contact our hotel, kindly putting us on the next bus. Sadly this wasn’t such a nice bus, and we were stuck with the dud seats at the back, which would barely fit someone of Vietnamese size, let alone me.

It got better though, as both of us had become rather ill that night with stabbing stomach pains; on the bus ride I developed a fever. Ness describes how I looked like a corpse on the bus, as if they were transporting a dead body on the rear seats. It wasn’t a pleasant trip.

After a slightly grim hotel in Da Lat, we were braced for a rocky stay here. We arrived at our hotel and it was lovely. Located right in the centre but not noisy, it was positively luxurious by our standards. We collapsed into the bed, Ness fetched some bread to keep us going, and we just rested. It was perfect!

After a 12 hour sleep we were feeling miles better. Not enough to want to be active, but ready to face the world. We decided to opt for slightly more western food for a while, until we were settled, so found a bakery. The Vietnamese won’t be challenging the French for their baking skills!

Pastries and pizza supplied for the day, we found a Highlands Coffee (a big chain here) and settled down with a view out across the beach to scattered islands and the South China Sea. We spent the day planning and were able to finalise our itinerary for the next few weeks – a big weight off our minds!

The next day, feeling refreshed, we decided to explore the town and enjoy the local beach. Caucasian attitudes to sun were perfectly on display here, as we sat in the coffee shop during the midday sun, the beach had a scattering of white people. In a town where white people are still unusual, there was not a single dark skinned person on the beach between 10am and 3 or 4pm. By the mid afternoon, all of the Caucasians would have waddled off the beach looking like lobsters, and those sensible folk native to hot countries would come out to enjoy the pleasent afternoon sun and warm sea.

At least we know our weakness, so we stayed hidden until later in the afternoon, and went out just before the locals. We had some quiet for a few minutes, but soon the beach was heaving with Vietnamese and Chinese tourists. We stood out(!), especially Ness who felt an uncomfortable amount of attention, and we decided after a while to take a different approach. It was impressive though to look down a 7km crescent beach and see every metre crowded with people.

The next day we got on a bus and headed to Bai Dai beach. A 45 minute drive from Nha Trang, the 16km long beach has only recently been made accessible by the government, and so huge lengths of it were deserted. The bus dropped us at the far North end, and we started walking down. We passed a few stalls early on, but after 45 minutes we were a few kilometres from the nearest person.

Unfortunately, plastic waste is a huge problem on beaches in this part of the world, so much of the sand was covered in rubbish. Fortunately, the few resorts which have been built over the last 3 years keep their section of the beach clear, and also clear some distance either side. We were able to find a spot far enough away to be on our own, but close enough to a resort to have a clean bit of beach.

With no shelter and the midday sun approaching, we needed a solution. I dove into some foliage behind the beach and found some sticks. Combined with our towels we had a bivvi, and some shelter.

We spent the day relaxing in our own little bit of paradise, disturbed by nothing other than the lapping of the water on the golden sand, and the occasional passing crab. It is remarkable how easy it was to while away the day gazing across the sea at the islands and mountains surrounding this vast bay.

As the afternoon settled in, we broke free of our makeshift shade and into the sea. About as hot as a warm bath, cool enough to refresh but warm enough to lounge, we paddled, floated and splashed our way through the afternoon.

As the sun began to dip behind the mountains, we dismantled our shelter and padded our way back along the beach and to the bus stop. A few patches of sunburn where the sand had rubbed the sun cream off, but feeling deeply soothed and at peace.

The next day we had planned to get out quite early to visit somewhere else, but on our way we stumbled across the Rainforest Cafe. Set in the urban centre of Nha Trang, bamboo walls shoot up three stories as a maze of stairs, nets and slides criss crossed through the jungle in this little enclave of somewhere different. Our breakfast extended with juices and coffee and just enjoying this slightly insane but absolutely awesome atmosphere. Ness looked at her watch and realised it was midday…. oops!! We resigned ourselves to a day of chilling in the town.

The next day we were quicker.. another breakfast in the Rainforest Cafe, but awake, in and out much more quickly. We hopped on a bus to Ba Ho, a fairly remote area (not the bus we intended, bit of an awkward experience, but that’s another story), and were dropped off at the end of a rural road.

We knew that it was a 3km walk to our destination, but of course it was longer. This was quite entertaining as we came across lots of dogs. Despite living with a German Shepherd in the UK, Ness is nervous around dogs in these countries, I think she thinks they are all rabid and vicious. Every other house would have a dog trotting around outside wagging it’s tail, and Ness would go running. It amused me anyway!

We eventually arrived at the Ba Ho waterfalls. This trip had been under Ness’ leadership, and I’d not been hugely interested. From what I’d read I was expecting a river, some little waterfalls, a makeshift ticket office (who knows whether the person actually owns the land), and a lot of litter. What we found was a beautiful, immaculately clean area, tastefully developed with paths and a few cafes.

We walked along the river past the cafes and some pedalos (Ness knew not to ask this time!) until the path ran out and we were scrambling over boulders. We came to the main attraction, 3 blissful lakes set under waterfalls, a few hundred metres apart from each other.

The first had a few other people there, likewise for the second, but the third was very quiet. We dumped our stuff and dived into the refreshing water.

We had our lunch at the top lake with nobody else around, enjoying the peace of the lake surrounded by high rock walls and jungle. After another swim and enjoying a shower under the waterfall, we made our way down through the lower lakes.

At the middle lake you could climb up sections of the falls to play in deep pools, or sit on swings above the lake. The bottom lake was for cliff jumpers, tall rocks over a deep lake…. Ness’ dream but my nightmare!

7 hours went too quickly, and we had to begin our walk back to the bus stop, lest we miss the last bus and have a long trip home!!

Sliding into our beds feeling deeply at peace, it was an early night before an early flight. We had planned to catch busses and trains up through Vietnam to see places such as the beautiful and historic city of Hoi An, and the world’s biggest caves at Phong Nha-Ke Bang. Sadly the practicalities of travel had gotten in the way, and we found ourselves flying over most of Vietnam to the capital, Hanoi.

Hanoi is spoken of very warmly, and it is a nice city. Clean and developed, with wide boulevards and green spaces, it is a far more pleasent city than Hi Chi Minh or Phnom Penh, but it is still a bustling city in the developing world, and so is never going to make us feel at home. One thing did stand out though, our hosts at the Hanoi Family Homestay.

Huong runs this homestay cross hotel, with help from her family including her charming daughter ‘Anna’. The hotel itself is nothing special, but what made it so special was the warmth of their welcome. Huong’s family welcome their guests with arms so wide it is unbelievable. She invited us and her other guests for dinner (without cost to us), and so of course we accepted. We weren’t prepare for what we would recieve… A huge spread of Vietnamese cuisine, undoubtedly the best meal we have had since leaving home. Having expected a modest meal, as we sat in the kitchen, dish after dish was brought to the table, it seemed never ending!

The highlight wasn’t the food though, it was the company. Around the table was us, Huong, Anna and other family members, a Japanese couple, an Australian (she had been due to go on a food tour but the guide hadn’t arrived…it worked out for the best for her!), a Moroccan who was working for Huong, and a German who had recently moved to Hanoi. It was a wonderful experience to gather such a mix of people around a family dinner, and ensured that we would be returning to Huong’s welcome later in our travels.

We were up at 0530 the next morning ready for a bus to our next adventure. Huong was so generous as to be up with us, making us pancakes before our journey. We bid her farewell and got on our bus to Sapa, excited to be amongst the mountains again!

Our next post will be one of trekking through mountains and rice paddies, but if you’ve enjoyed this blog and fancy reading another then please take a look at our others here

If you’re visiting Hanoi in a budget then we’re reccomend the Hanoi Family Homestay mentioned above.

For information on finding Ba Ho waterfalls, click here, or for Bai Dai beach click here.