Annual trip to Nha Trang

It's that time of year when I haul 40 odd assorted kids to Nha Trang for a week. Mostly beach games, swimming and Vinpearl amusements. There's very little time to take the kind of pictures I like best but here's a selection of snaps from the seaside.

I was knackered after the week and it's taken another week to get these uploaded, I now understand why parents like amusement parks and all inclusive resorts.

Nha Trang again

I accompanied a class of students to Nha Trang for the annual school trip so there wasn't much time to enjoy myself and wander off for photo opportunities that weren't full of students making their special camera poses.

I unexpectedly liked the Oceanographic Institute with the exception of the too small enclosure they have for the seal. The specimen room was stunning, I expect places like this exist in every research establishment but doubt they are open to the public. Row upon row of pickled sealife of all types.



You can never have too much plankton in my book.



Vinpear Land, apart from the animal show mentioned in an earlier post, was fun. The major hit was the Pirate Ship alternatively dubbed "The Seasickness Machine", you can see why.



Also on Vinpearl I saw a particularly Vietnamese take on Snow White:



She was accompanied not only by the dwarfs but by a tribe of small bouncy animals:



There were a few moments of peace at Po Nagar towers





But mostly it was wiping off bird pooh, prying students out of cafes and headcounting, headcounting, headcounting. I think we all had a good time of different sorts.

Vinpearl "attractions"

I was in Nha Trang this week and was offered chances to see elephant and bear shows, ride ostriches or watch dog and monkey shows. Vietnam still likes performing animal shows. I've had conversations with people about their cruelty or being inappropriate ways to treat animals but no-one so far has responded wth anything other than some comment about the animals being cute or clever.



I suspect Vietnam hasn't had the luxury of being able to get all worked up about animal dignity having some bigger concerns to get sorted out.



The pictures here feature animals used in a very popular show at Vinpearl Land, Nha Trang. I find them heartbreaking and avoid them. I also support Wildlife at Risk who are doing a good job in education and practical rescue and protection programmes.

Holiday Travel

We joined the world traveler set and got ourselves an open tour ticket from Saigon - Mui Ne - Dalat - Nha Trang, a trip of around 700km at a cost of $15 each. There are several buses that do these tickets but we opted for An Phu travel which we booked through the TNK Office on De Tham who offered the times that suited us best.

I've read long tirades about the open tour buses but generally I found this a good way to get around with a few provisos. First of all we were promised "We garanteed all buses are A/C, brandnew with more leggsroom". They're not, they don't and they haven't. However they all left around the time they were meant to and arrived where they were meant to nearly on schedule.

I didn't get any pictures of the first bus we were one which was a pity because it was half sleeping bus, half sitting. I snagged a horizontal seat once we'd spent an hour tootling around Backpacker District picking up stray passengers and snoozed most of the way to Mui Ne only fully waking up when our driver got particularly enthusiastic with the brakes.

On arrival the tour buses operators will try to sell you a room in one of their hotels or trips during your stay but you're not held captive, there are options.

1. Pre book your hotel (or say you have) and after a while the bus will take you to the door of your accommodation
2. Have a look at what they have to offer, it might not be so bad after all
3. Jump a Xe Om, get a Taxi or walk to where you're going

We chose option 1 and had a cold beer in their affiliated cafe for half an hour and watched the world do very little indeed

We confirmed our travel the day before we left and our next trip to Dalat was in a less attractive bus without air conditioning unless you count open windows.



On the HCMC to Mui Ne route there was a stop at a petrol station to pee and buy fruit and snacks, there aren't any such facilities on the way to Dalat but they did manage a scenic stop to cool the bus and stretch your legs on the way.



Look carefully, you should be able to see the extra brake. The scenery was outstanding on the way and made up for the bus being a bit on the rough side. When we arrived we opted for a taxi the quicker to get a shower and wash the dust off.

The Dalat Mui Ne run was in a little Mercedes Ben - not a typo.



Which was comfortable and well driven and, after essential repairs, got us into Nha Trang in three hours.





So Open Buses, not a bad way of getting around, I'd happily use them again, just remember it isn't always exactly what it says on the tin.