Nha Trang was the second stop in Vietnam on this South-East Asia cruise on Spirit of Adventure. I had done my homework on Saigon, but had no idea what to expect of this city.
It turned out to be a beautiful place. We were moored in a bay surrounded by islands and a picture-postcard view every which way you looked. Just by the ship was what Tuan said was the longest cable car over water in the world - 3km long - that led to the Vinpearl resort on one of the islands. The journey across took 10 minutes.
The strip along the 9km beach is lined with local hotels, but international names are moving in. There's a new Novotel, a Sheraton is close to being finished and work has just started on a Crowne Plaza.
I suspect in five years or so, when they might also have built a new international airport, this place could really take off as a holiday spot.
There was a tour to a Vietnamese village or to a beach resort, but I opted for the city tour, which included a stop at the Po Nagar Cham towers, a Hindu place of worship built by the Cham people who used to live in this central Vietnam area, and the Long Son Pagoda, from where you could walk up 150 steps to a big white Buddha statue built in 1954 and standing 24 metres high.
At least the guides said there were 150 steps; in 94 degrees of heat it felt like a lot more.
We drove past the French cathedral and then Tuan pointed with pride at the Victory column. "Victory over who?" I asked, slightly bemused. "The Americans," he told me. My mind whirred and clicked, remembering that the guides in Saigon regarded the fall of South Vietnam as a defeat.
Then Tuan revealed he had been born after the war. Different generation, different education, different take on the whole thing.
We also had time to wander around Dam market, so-called because it was built on marshland, which was a lively tangle of humanity, motorbikes and stalls selling everything from evil-smelling dried fish and sweets to vegetables, luggage and clothes.
I managed to get lost in the vortex that was the clothes section having made my big purchase of the day (one $2 t-shirt!) and was eternally grateful, after passing the same stalls the second time, to tag onto passengers from another coach who were to scared to enter the fray alone and were following their guide around.
I have to say, that despite all the dire warnings about "bad men" who would follow you and try to steal your bag and stallholders who would rip you off, I felt absolutely safe. Just a little stupid when I couldn't get out!
That's it from Vietnam. Spirit of Adventure is now crossing the South China Sea en route to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo. I'll see you there.
Jane Archer
