Nha Trang, Vietnam - 1 of 3

Nha Trang is a resort city in South Vietnam known for its modern hotels, beaches, and restaurants. Historically, the city was known as Kauthara and was under rule of the Kingdom of Champa for 13 centuries. We remember being here and being so surprised at how different it is from most of Vietnam. Last time we went to a pagoda, a Temple and an orphanage. The most beautiful street of Nha Trang is Tran Phu Street along the seaside, which people call “the Pacific Coast Highway” of Vietnam. In addition, with the world’s longest cable car to Hòn Tre Island and Vinpearl, there are resorts and amusement parks there (they call it Vietnam's Sentosa or Disney). With a population of 550,000, in an area of only 97 square miles it is a very busy city. Nha Trang is knows as a key destination for many Vietnamese and Russian tourists (many military personnel from Russia have settled here too).

This visit to Nha Trang, we thought it would be interesting to do a “rural life tour” of the area and get away from the hotels of “downtown Nha Trang” (funny, huh?). First we went to a farm and local village out of town to see how people lived and we also went to a pagoda in the countryside. We saw the homes and properties and the types of neighborhoods in these areas ... and their water buffalos. On the way, we saw miles and miles of rice paddies. We visited a 100 year old home, shrine where we were served tea and fruit in a beautiful outdoor setting.

We then visited a Temple that was “local” but had no religion … very interesting. Next, we went to a place where we watched floor and table mats being made of bamboo. Interestingly, we had purchased mats 5 years ago with the same pattern but could not determine it these patterns meant something special. We went to a beautiful village pagoda and watched as monks prayed their very repetitious mantra and prayer, almost trance like meditation. We saw a little boy practicing his meditation “with his parents” and learning when and how to bow. We watched as rice meals were made from rice paster and got to taste it. We went to another home to see how rice paper for spring rolls are made. The simple wheel with a technique to roll on the rice out of the oven was very hot and a tedious process of making the rice paper and drying it out.

Lastly, on the way back, as everyone stopped to shop, the two of us, searched out a Vietnamese coffee shop (not too hard to find since there are more here than Starbucks in the US…really) and we had a great cup of coffee!Leia mais