Drinking and Diving

I have been in Nha Trang for a couple days now and I have to say that on the whole it is a rather unremarkable city. There are really only three main cultural attractions here. The first is the Long Son Pagoda, built in the 1930s, just on the edge of town and the second is a large white buddha above the pagoda on a hill. The Buddha was built and dedicated in 1963 to honor the monks who burned themselves in protest of the President Diem's repression of Buddhism. I already mentioned this in the Hue, Hoa's, and Hoi An post below.

In addition to these two recent additions to the city, there are the four small Po Nagar Cham Towers. These were built by the same people who constructed My Son. These four were built between the 7th and 12th centuries. Not surprisingly, since these towers were never bombed during the American War they are in much better condition than there more celebrated cousins to the north.

So, aside from these three things you are left with two things to do in Nha Trang: Drink and Dive. The town has approximately a dozen dive shops and at least twice that many bars and clubs. I spent my first day in Nha Trang canvassing the town's dive shops to find one that I liked. I settled on Rainbow Divers and after two days of diving have been very pleased with my choice. They are exceedingly professional, extremely safety conscious, and a riot of fun.

As of writing this post I have done two days of two-tank boat dives, or four dives total. It has been AMAZING! I have never seen so much color before. Nha Trang makes Hawaii, and even some parts of Tahiti look like a bland desert. There are tons of soft corals that gracefully sway back and forth in the currents. I have seen sea anenomes with clown fish in them that look exactly those from Finding Nemo. I have also seen some of the most incredible small gobies and blennies that practically glow with blues and pinks. Unfortunately renting a camera costs more than two dives so I do not have underwater pictures to show you. If anyone REALLY wants to see pictures and they promise to pay me $50 USD when I get back I will rent a camera for my next dives. ; )

So besides diving, you are left with drinking. The bar scene is great and the ones that are run by westerners play great music. If you ever make it down this way I recommend the Sailing Club and Guava. Joanne and I met up with Lucy and Don (mentioned before) and have been have a great time out sampling the various happyhours around town.

I am going to be in Nha Trang for one more full day and then am taking the night bus on the 28th to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).