Welsh Davids Travel Blog: 19 August - To and at Nha Trang (Vietnam)

Our arrival at Nha Trang was a bit of an event with a fight between the bus driver (and helpers) and some of the group (the others really, as we are no longer what could be called a group). Because we are a large number of people we were supposed to have been taken to our hotel but the driver refused to do so. As none of the Vietnamese spoke English and none of us spoke Vietnamese we ended up with our baggage thrown out on the street, some people shouting, then pushing and shoving with the result that some of the others were pushed to the ground, threatened with a steel bar by the driver, hit by the driver then threatened further by him wielding a knife. Apart from bruises no-one was seriously hurt and we left the bus with our hotel only being two minutes away from where we stopped anyway. All this could have been avoided if our illustrious leader had just said to leave the bus and walk in the first place. This was all to have been reported to the police once we arrived at the hotel but nothing happened. As I understand it the reason given was that it was decided that if the attack was reported then it would reflect on the reputation of Madventure/UKTOOZ. What a rubbish company if is more concerned about its reputation than the safety of its clients. Apparently further travel with this bus company was cancelled!!

There was one bright side to the journey. There were two little French girls on the coach and they had very bright silk sleeping bag liners to sleep in. The colour was enough to keep me awake, and perhaps one of them too as she talked and sung quietly for hours. When she did go to sleep the coach stopped for a break so she woke up again and her father was not amused.

The Sea View Hotel, but no sea view! Not a complaint as in the past there may have been a sea view but since the hotel was built others had been built around it and the view had become blocked. At 0600 hours, with all the excitement over, I went for a walk along the beach to find it very very busy. Realising that it was a Sunday and probably not a working day, the place was busy with people swimming (most adults and children wearing life jackets); sunbathing (not many Vietnamese do this); exercising by walking, doing Tai Chi or similar, or just relaxing. By 0700 hours a lot of people had left as I assume that their exercising was over and the others did not want to stay out in the sun. The area along the promenade, about 10 kilometres long, was clean and had plenty of trees and grass which were obviously well looked after. There were water points along the promenade for people to wash off the sand and sea water before going home.

All along the promenade there were new huge hotel complexes being built, many with gardens and water features. This place is kind of like Blackpool but to a much higher standard and is considered to be the main holiday place for the Vietnamese.

Photographs of the city