Nha Trang beach and Khanh Hoa

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Upon arriving to Nha Trang, most tourists will pass through downtown. Beyond the rows of businesses and homes will be Nha Trang beach. Tran Phu Boulevard is Nha Trang most famous thoroughfare. It runs the length of the beach with several major hotels located within a few steps from the beach. Unlike most major city in Vietnam where the primary mode of transportation is the motorbike, many people of Nha Trang still walk or use the bicycle as their means of getting around. This adds to the tranquillity of the town. There is very little pollution or noise from motor vehicles.

On any given day, between 5:00 am to 8:00 am Nha Trang beach is filled with local people taking in the fresh sea breeze, socializing, playing soccer, badminton or practicing Tai chi. Most people in Nha Trang fear being darken by the sun. For this reason, the window between 5-8 am (where sunlight is less intense) is peaked with activities. Another reason is that many go to the ocean for a morning swim, to exercise and to listen to daily news (from the many conspicuously placed loud speakers on electrical poles). In Nha Trang, going to the beach is a family affair. One often see generations of families going to the beach together. However, by 8:00 am the beach is magically emptied of all the hustle and bustle of earlier activities to once again return to silence and serenity.

Hon Chong
Chong has two meanings in the Vietnamese language. The first is to stack. The second is husband. Hon Chong is located on a stretch of rocky mass of land famous for the thousands of smooth rocks stacking on one another. There are two clusters of such rocks in the area called Hon Chong. The first is further out in the ocean and the second is located near an islet called Sat Thon. The cluster in the ocean is most impressive since there are large boulders stacking on one another seemingly out-of-balance, yet remaining stable.

There is a boulder as large as a small hill supporting another boulder as large as a small house at its peak. On the side facing the shore, there is an imprint of a large hand with five fingers clearly outlined. The locals call this rock Hon Chong or the Husband.

The cluster with the name Hon Vo or the Wife is not far away. The rocks in Hon Vo cluster are as large as those in Hon Chong, but the they are closer together. A somewhat romantic person explained that this name came about because the rocks here snuggle against one another.

Thap Ba (Po Nagar Cham Towers)
The Po Nagar towers once stood at the entrance of Cai river, where the river meets the ocean. The towers stood in isolation on a rock foundation, but over many years the towers and the land it stands on became part of the land mass as the river changed its flows.

Today, the tower is north of the river and the rock formation it stood on became known as nui Cu Lao or Mount Cu Lao. The town of Vinh Phuoc at the base of the mountain was once a fishing village, known as Xom Chai and Xom Bong.

Po Nagar towers complex was built between the 7th and 12th century. The most beautiful towers were built in the year 813 and 817. Most were destroyed and only four towers are still standing. Each tower is a shrine to a different deity.

One tower is the shrine to Xiva, one of three most powerful deities in Hinduism. One tower is dedicated to Ganexa, the son of Xiva. This deity has a human body and an elephant head. Po Nagar is the tallest tower, also known as Thap Ba (Tower of the Lady). Po Nagar or Uma is the wife of Xiva the supreme. Po Nagar towers stands 23m in height and was built around 817.

Bricks were used in the building of Po Nagar. The four-sided structure is topped by a pyramid with a statue of the four armed Xiva riding Nandin the enchanted ox at the apex. The exterior of the tower is covered by intricate rock carvings of dancers, people rowing boats, grinding rice or hunting with bows and arrows.

The interior is airy and cool. An alter made of granite is placed at the base of the statue of Po Nagar. Po Nagar is a goddess with ten arms. She is also the goddess credited for her help with teaching people how to farm. Her statue was originally made out of hard incense wood. The statue was removed by the French in 1946. A new statue with more Vietnamese features is its replacement. The Po Nagar towers complex is an example of Chams architecture and art at its height.

Cau Da
Vietnam's first active Oceanographic Institute was built in 1922 at Cau Da (Rock Bridge). The ocean in Nha Trang is quite deep. Here the water is approximately 200 m deep. Beyond 100 km, the depth drops to 2000 m. The Oceanographic Institute was built to study the diverse marine life in this area.

The Institute still has samples of sea creatures of this area. Although the institute does not have the modern equipments and facilities to be considered in the same caliber as most western aquariums, it still maintains a fair sample in smaller aquariums. In all, 23 good size aquariums are on display. The institute also has a vast collection of dead samples on display.

Hon Yen
Hon Yen is most famous for Yen Sao which is the name of the nest of Salangane or swifts. The locals harvest the bird nests (considered a delicacy) used in soups. These nests are processed and exported to Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The birds build their nest high on the walls of the cave on the islands. To access the nests, harvesters must climb on ladders fashioned from bamboo. Because the caves must remain dark lest the birds are scared off, many climbers fall to their death every year trying to harvest the nests.

The bird nest comes in two types, white and red nests. The nest are fashioned by the Salangane that make their homes in caves. The nest are made out of the birds saliva. Usually, a typical bird creates one nest a year during springtime using both parents saliva. Because there is such a demand for their nest (thought to have medicinal qualities), the locals began to remove the nest several times a year causing the birds to have to continue producing the nests.

The red variety of nests are a result of the birds having to create so much saliva for the new nests that they cough up blood along with their saliva causing the nest to take on the red color of their blood. This variety of nest costs their weight in gold or more in the retail market of Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Nha Trang Bronze Drum
These are the two drums dating back to the Dong Son Civilization (about 2,000 years ago).

Nha Trang Drum I has a face diameter of 52 cm, a height of 42cm and a bottom diameter of 57 cm. The decorative design forms a 12-wing relief star with stylized design of peacock feathers between the wings. Geometric designs are short parallel lines and circles with a dot in the middle. The main brim on the surface of the drum consists of designs of 6 lac birds flying counter-clockwise. On either side of the drum is a couple of braid handles in the shape of rice ears.

Nha Trang Drum II is 50 cm in height, 62 cm in face diameter and 67.5 cm in bottom diameter. In the middle of the drum face is a relief star with 10 wings with short parallel lines in between the wings.

The presence of these two drums have all the more enriched the profile of Khanh Hoa???s Metal Age.

These drums are showing in Khanh Hoa Provincial Museum.

Tam Island

Tam island Tourist Resort is an attractive site of sea-island eco-tourism. The site still maintains the primitive natural features with its tropical evergreen forests and the clam sea. Lining the long sandy beaches are the 20 bungalows facing the ocean half-hidden in the flower bushes, the coconut palms and the tropical vegetation. Here, the tourists can enjoy the wonderful nights at sea with camp-fires, songs and games in the immense environment of the sky and the ocean. The stay will be all the more attractive with can wine and delicious seaproducts from T???m Island Restaurant. Then a long walk round the island will bring you to every corner on this small paradise.

The resort was selected as ???One of the most pleasing destinations in 2004??? by consumers.
Come to us and you will be considerately served. Our three restaurants can hold 1,000 diners at the same time and serve a wide range of dishes from common ones to specialties. You can select for yourself and your company a menu up to the taste at VND 25,000 to 200,000 per person.

You can also choose to take part in thrilling activities with only VND 120,000 to 200,000 per person. You can participate in diving tours to admire the beauty of the ocean floor or contemplate the beauty of the island from high above in the sky in your parasailing trip, or chase the ocean waves on the jetskis.??? Volleyball matches on the beach, kayak races, mountaineering trips ... or, more leisurely, just sunbathing can bring you unequal relaxing feelings.

Hon Mun

Named Hon Mun because in the South East of the Island, it has highrise cliffs with dangerous wattles forming caves and grottoes, especially its stones are as black as ebony, which could rarely be found in other areas.

In the black-stone caves of Hon Mun, every year flocks of Yen birds migrate to the area and build their nests. Due to the island's location adjacent to the hot sea-currents from the equator, suitable to the development conditions of corals and various types of tropical sea creatures, the sea bed of Hon Mun is home to an abundant and diverse group of marine species, an interesting and useful place for researchers, oceanographers and tourists to observe and explore more of the sea creatures' life.

Con Se Tre
Location: Opposite and 3 km away from Nha Trang Coast, just 15 minutes by boat, you will be able to arrive at "Con Se Tre".
From a stone island, now "Con Se Tre" was converted into one of the most poetic tourism resorts in Nha Trang.

Tourists can find at "Con Se Tre" a lively image of old villages, which once and for all have appeared in our dreams today or your childhood in a peaceful space, clean seashore, poetic settings, traditional customs and perfect services.

Tri Nguyen Water Palace
As the greatest water palace works nationwide at present, Tri Nguyen Water Palace was opened in 1998.

The construction was designed and built up after the model of a fossilized sailing boat. Here, the visitors can relax, entertain themselves and contemplate the livelihood of marine species.