Nha Trang and Dalat, Vietnam

Nha Trang/Da Lat

I was sad to see Saigon go but eager to see what our next destination had in store for us.  For most of the trip, I’d been the one doing the planning, strategizing, and general selection of the locations we visited.  On the flight from Indonesia to Vietnam, Caleb had virtually read the Lonely Planet book on the country from cover to cover and had rattled off a ton of ideas for places to visit and things to do.  I decided to ride passenger for this country and I have to admit, so far, I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome!

Caleb and I had looked at the various ways to make the 350-mile journey to Nha Trang from Saigon and this time, we decided to take an 8-hour afternoon train to enjoy the scenery as we meandered north along the coast. There are numerous levels of comfort a train can offer depending on ones budget from hard, cramped bench seating without air conditioning all the way up to climate controlled private rooms with full beds and tables.   We paid the extra couple of bucks and opted for a nice sleeping cabin with four beds, two other unknown guests would surely be joining us.  We snagged a cab and made it to the train station with only minutes to spare, which is unfortunately becoming a trend as of late.  We hopped aboard and made our way to our designated room and were greeted by a couple of middle aged, Vietnamese men.  They took the lower bunks and we grabbed the upper ones, which made looking out the window nearly impossible.  Disappointed with the fact that I wouldn’t be enjoying the scenery much, Caleb and I deferred to some day drinking to make the event more entertaining.  The train ride gave me some much-needed time to catch up on the blog while Caleb watched a plethora of episodes of the Starz series “Spartacus”.  I attempted to mingle with the locals but they didn’t speak a lick of English, so instead, we ate a bunch of their food, which seemed for some reason to bring them enjoyment.

We arrived in Nha Trang around 9pm, grabbed a taxi, and made our way to our hotel.  Our accommodations were at a wonderful little hotel called Hein Mai. We each got our own queen-size bed in the 700 square foot room for under $10 each per night.  We got our act together, freshened up and made our way to the front desk to ask where the place to go would be.  We were directed to a bar not 100 yards away attached to a place called the Backpackers hotel.  I’d read about the place much to rave reviews but we had opted not to stay there as apparently the walls are paper-thin and the bar goes until 5am.  Ours was close and much nicer. 

I grabbed a couple of drinks from the bar and walked to the outside seating area where I quickly asked a group of 10 or so rowdy looking guys and girls if I could join.  It was quite the mix as these people were from Scandinavia, South America, and even a couple of American guys from Texas. We chit chatted, played games, and swapped stories till the wee hours of the morning before finally heading back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. 

I woke up early in the morning, excited to see what this city had to offer.  We had read that Nha Trang was an up and coming beachfront community, currently at a population of a little more than 100,000 but that it was expected to triple by the end of the decade.  After snagging a complimentary breakfast downstairs, Caleb and I made our way to the street, greeted by clear blue skies and 85-degree weather in search of a place that rented motorbikes.  We soon found one and after agreeing on a price, headed to the main road where we spent the next several hours cruising the beachfront and enjoying some back roads.  At one point we headed North out of the city and away from the tourists through some incredible mountain highways and small fishing villages.  The beautifully constructed highways seemed to have been created just for us, as there was NO ONE in sight, simply spectacular!

Caleb chasing the cow!

We began to head back towards town around 4:30 and I decided to pull off the main road near a river community to try and find some food.   As we drove past a slew of restaurants, staff members would come out into the street to try and win our business.  We settled on a 3-story restaurant in the middle of town in order to take advantage of the open-air views from the top floor.  Once in, a guy directed us to these giant saltwater pools where to our surprise contained a plethora of live seafood from over 13 species of shrimp, numerous types of fish, gooey duck, shark, clams, you name it.  We settled on a pound of shrimp and a half pound of gooey duck as we watched our guy bare hand them and shove them into an iron cage.  Soon, he threw the live shrimp in the cage right onto a hot BBQ and the gooey duck into a steamer.  From the time these creatures were swimming freely with pleasure in their posh artificial environment to the time they were in my stomach was no more than 10 minutes!  Soooooo good!

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the evening.  Before we headed out for drinks, Caleb and I decided to try and find a motorcycle rental place that rented larger, more cruiser style motorcycles as the majority of the ones you find are simple, 100cc scooters.  We found a company called Easy Riders that we’d heard great things about in the past and decided to stop in.  After speaking with the receptionist, we learned that while the most powerful bikes were already spoken for, there were some smaller 250cc ones that were available.  We decided to book them for the following morning for a day ride to the city of Da Lat, a 6,000-foot climb in elevation and a 100-mile journey to the Vietnam Highlands.  From other travelers we’d met in recent weeks, this ride was supposed to be nothing short of incredible. 

With our plans set, we moseyed our way on down to a local hotspot and soon found a table of two girls to mingle with.  Randomly, after introducing ourselves to Jessica and Shoshana, we learned that they were also fellow Americans and from Chicago!  Both girls had also been traveling for several months and it seemed like they’d been to the countries that we were about to head to next.  We exchanged stories over the next few hours as we indulged in a fair amount of locally brewed beer and spirits.  Towards the end of the night, we asked what the girls were doing the next day.  They told us they’d booked a trip on a booze cruise and were headed out in the early morning for the all day adventure.  We explained to them about the motorcycle ride we were about to embark on to Da Lat and they said that they’d heard so many wonderful things about the city but were bummed thinking they wouldn’t have time to get there.  I looked at Caleb and we both nodded in agreement before I said “Cancel your trip tomorrow and head out with us for the day on the back of the bikes!”  The girls were thrilled, asked if we were sure it was ok and quickly scurried back to their hotel to cancel their previous engagement.  After a few more celebratory cocktails in anticipation of the adventure to follow, the four of us headed to bed for a good nights rest before the next morning began.

Caleb and I went to snag the bikes at 9am sharp before picking up the girls up.  When we arrived at the motorcycle shop, two similar looking bikes were sitting out front waiting for us.  One was nice and shiny and the other had bits of rust, some scratches, and generally looked in subpar condition.  I was taught as young boy to never judge a book by its cover.  After getting the key from the receptionist, I took a few minutes to introduce myself to the rustier looking motorcycle I soon learned went by the name of Helen.  I had seen women like Helen before.  She was middle aged, late 40’s, maybe early 50’s and from the way she first looked at me, I could tell she wasn’t a big fan of men.  Many had come into her life only to leave, she was bitter, she had been mistreated, and I foolishly assumed through my youthful charm I could bring her to change her mind, that I wasn’t like all the others that had come before me.  I was different and I’d allow her to have fun once again.   I started her up and headed down the road to get her some fuel, she was thirsty.  Sitting at the gas station, the attendant began filling up the 3-gallon fuel tank and instantly began pointing and yelling underneath the bike.  I looked down to find fuel pouring out of the carburetor just as fast as it was coming in.  Helen looked at me with that big headlight as if to say “I’m the boss, b$*#h”.

I pushed Helen over to a mechanic who happened to be across the street and within minutes, he fixed the problem, a lose fuel hose and assured me I’d be all right for my trip.  I filled up the tank once more and headed out of town.  5 miles into to the drive, I lost second gear, Helen was not pleased with me.  I pulled over, got off her and had a chat.  I said “Listen, I understand you’ve had a rough life and I’m probably not what you want to see, if you don’t want to be nice to me, fine, I get it, but don’t take it out on poor Jessica on the back seat, she’s a girl just like you, I’ll prove to you I’m different over time, just help us get to where were going, please”.  After a few moments of silence, Helen agreed!

The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect and with nothing but a T-shirt and shorts on, the wind felt incredible blowing through our hair.  Along the 100-mile journey we meandered on beautiful, lightly trafficked highways through endless rice fields, mountainous regions and lush jungles.  He stopped at many places along the way in villages, incredible waterfalls and took countless awe-inspiring photographs.  It was hands down one of the greatest rides of my entire life and the girls were spectacular passengers.  

We found the mini golden gate bridge!

Close call!!

Rice Fields!!

Standing on the edge of a magnificent waterfall, absolutely stunning!

Prior to beginning the trip, I had assumed it would take us maybe 3 hours to get to Da Lat where we’d maybe spend 3 or so hours in the city before the ride back prior to dusk.  As we got closer to the destination, we realized that just wasn’t going to be the case.  The original 3-hour idea soon became 7-hours and we realized there was no way we were going to be able to make it home before sunset.  After a quick chat with the girls, we unanimously agreed to find a hotel for the evening and leave the next afternoon, allowing us time to see the city.  We arrived into Da Lat and I pulled in front of nice looking restaurant in order to pull up Wi-Fi on my cell phone to check Trip Advisor.  I found directions to the highest ranked hotel on the website and a soon navigated my way to the front door.  I walked inside the Dreams hotel and told them I wanted the best room for 4 people available.  They brought us up to our room, which was incredible.  High ceilings, beautiful beds and a balcony overlooking the city all at the absurd price of $30. 

After settling in, the four of us went out for a nice dinner before hitting up a bar that the locals claimed was the hottest spot in town.  We rolled in and the place was empty but the bartender/owner coerced us to stay.  We enjoyed a copious amount of drinks while playing pool and watching Caleb play Connect Four with the owner wagering $10 per game.  He lost every single time, terrible for him, wonderful for me to watch!  We moved from the bar after a few hours and had the great idea to go to a Karaoke bar.  Finding one is easy, finding one that’s not actually a front for a brothel proves much more difficult.  The four of us finally found a spot that looked as legitimate as we were probably going to get and told the front desk we wanted to go sing.  Confused as to why we wanted to do this and not actually purchase prostitutes, the girls and us were lead reluctantly to a private room.  They had a giant flat screen with a computer hooked up to it as well as two wireless microphones.  The next few hours were spent sharing a bottle of vodka we’d ordered and singing our hearts out to such classics as “I Will Always Love You” by the late Whitney Houston and “All The Leaves Are Brown” by the Mammas and the Pappas.  We finished off the evening with some Ban Mi’s (Vietnamese sandwiches with meat) and a hand full of boiled quail eggs before heading back to our hotel for a well-deserved nights sleep.

The next morning we woke up to the sound of rain hitting the rooftop.  While Caleb and I took showers, the girls headed out to buy ponchos for all of us in anticipation for the wet ride back.  After having breakfast at the hotel with some amazing South American girls and listening to their travel stories, Jessica, Shoshana, Caleb and I loaded up on the bikes and headed out of town.  On the way out, we hit up a place called Crazy House which was said to be a must visit location while in Da Lat.  The house had been designed by a Russian architect and continuously constructed since 1990 with work still in progress.  You can't really get picture of the entire place, check it some pictures online.  

After wandering around for more than an hour and literally watching Caleb take over 200 photographs, the four of us hit the road once again.  We stopped briefly at a flower garden before finally making the journey back to Nha Trang. 

Once back in Nha Trang after the three-hour ride, we said our goodbyes to the girls and headed to our hotel for some much needed relaxation.  The rest of the day was spent lounging around watching TV before meeting up with the girls for a late night dinner at a nice restaurant where we indulged in a variety of Ostrich and Crocodile dishes.  Delicious!!  We decided to call it early that night as Caleb and I were exhausted from the two-day trek, falling asleep before 10:00 PM.

We slept in the next morning and went out and had a small breakfast before visiting another motorcycle shop to rent some bikes for the day.  Caleb had heard of a beach roughly an hour North that was supposed to be spectacular.  Barefoot and nothing but some board shorts on, we headed down the highway soaking up the sun along the coast on the motorbikes.  We arrived in a little over an hour to a small village where we somehow managed to find our way to the secluded beach with only one seemingly deserted resort.  Upon stepping our feet in the sand, we couldn’t believe the sight before us.  The beach was at least 5-7 miles in length, 30 yards wide, and sand so soft, white and fine it looked as if it were made from flour.  The water was as blue as one could possibly imagine and in both our opinions, light years ahead of the beaches and waters of the famed Phi Phi islands of Thailand.  The temperature was warmer than bath water as Caleb and I spent more than an hour just drifting on our backs with the current.

On the entire beach, there were only two other people, literally.  After playing in the water, we made our way to some lounge chairs where we spent time researching the countries of Lao and Cambodia in our guidebooks, as they were the next countries we were going to enter.  At one point, one of the other two people on the beach whom we’d assumed were on their honeymoon came over to say hello.  Oddly enough, they turned out to be fellow Americans and we soon brought our chairs together to get a chance to know one another.  Aman and Angela were from New York, recently engaged and four months into their yearlong journey to every continent on Earth.  Their story was absolutely incredible.  Aman, had recently quit a long and successful career in banking with the firm JP Morgan before proposing to his now fiancée, Angela and asking her to travel the world with him.  Angela said yes and quit her career as a white-collar criminal defense attorney at a top Manhattan law firm to join.  We chatted for more than an hour before parting ways and agreeing to meet up at a nice spot back in Nha Trang for drinks at 8:00 PM.

Caleb and I made it back in time to take a quit nap and get ready for our engagement with our newly made friends.  We’d already purchased tickets for a night train to the city of Danang, 13 hours North along coast that left at 10:00 PM.  We got checked out of the hotel before meeting Aman and Angela at a lovely upscale beachside restaurant.  We spent the next hour and half conversing with them and hearing more about their backgrounds while sipping some freshly made mojitos.  We discovered that they were also heading to the next city we were staying and exchanged emails to ensure another meeting in the coming days.  They were an extreme pleasure to get to know and the story of their journey is absolutely incredible.  They actually have their own website where their blog is posted at www.wanderlustasap.com, it’s amazing.

Our time in Nha Trang was phenomenal due in part to our low expectations that were completely blow out of the water and the both remarkable places we saw and people we met.  100% a MUST, MUST see if visiting Vietnam!  Now off to the train!