Day 68 - Nha Trang, Vietnam

Today we arrived in Nha Trang, Vietnam!

I can't believe I am here in Vietnam!  Today was a perfect day and our tour was exceptional!  We opted to discover the real Vietnam.  Having traveled so far to get to this beautiful country, we took a tour designed to bring us closer into the lives of the people here.  We traveled through the city of Nha Trang - seeing the most usual ways of traveling. Thousands of motorbikes and bicycles crowd the streets!  People on these motorbikes carry the most unusual types of things!

 

We stopped at an embroidery factory - wow! The girls working there were creating the most intricate works of art!  It was amazing to see them creating the most elaborate needlework.  Teams of girls were each working on a piece of fabric and each team was embroidering something different. 

Next we were off to the countryside to see village life up close and personal.  We drove through narrow, unpaved streets, past paddy fields. We saw men and women outside in the rice fields working and people along the street selling foods and fruits in small pop up markets. 

 As we were driving through the countryside on our way to the next stop, we passed more paddy fields.   One time as we rounded the street, we saw two water buffalo plowing and a team of about 5 women hacking away at the field.  

We then stopped at an orphange.  In order to get up to the houses, we walked along a dirt road and passed small houses along the way.  One house was full of children and when we walked by, they all started screaming and chanting hello, hello, hello.  We passed by a house that had multi colored yarn in the yard that would be used for weaving mats.  Eventually we made our way to a courtyard and alongside the grass was a long cement building with about 5 separate rooms.  On the steps up to the rooms, tiny shoes were set in rows.  Once I entered the room, to my surprise it was a classroom!  Students sat in rows of desk, a teacher at a chalkboard in the front, her desk off to the side.  As soon as we stepped in the room, the students rose and began reciting verses and verses of songs, poems, and other words in English! They were showing how well they could speak English! It was amazing!  We went from room to room, they students were separated by age. In one classroom, each child was practicing their cursive writing and the students were only about 8!  I stood there awhile to observe the work of the students! I continued on from classroom to classroom. It was great to see the learning that was going on at this school and I had to remind myself that this was an orphanage.  Next we went to the toddler/infant room.  Instead of a bunch of toddlers all crying, they were seated against the wall laughing and smiling!  Volunteers from all over the world, were here to help take care of the children.  

Outside the orphanage was a giant temple and inside monks were chanting.  It was an amazing thing to observe.  

After leaving the orphanage we went to a house to see villagers weave their mats. Their bedroom was upstairs and a small kitchen was in the corner. In order to make one of the mats, three women were working on creating just one!

Next we passed a giant Buddha that was on the edge of the hillside.  But in order to get great view, you had to climb down the hillside and under a set of wires!

We were off to discover more of Vietnam and we drove to a small village where they were binding traditional conical hats.  There were several women on the street each binding the hats and weaving them together.  They were selling them for 40,000 Dong.  One U.S. dollar buys 20,000 Vietnamese Dong!   

Then we were on a way to see the Vietnamese people manufacture their rice paper and noodles.  On the drive to the shop, we passed fields and fields of rice paper drying on large racks.  We almost ran some over on one of the small side streets!  Eventually we made it to the factory. There was a woman carrying out the stacks of just made paper to be put on the racks to dry.  Once inside the "factory" there was one women putting the rice paper mixture into a machine, another putting the racks onto a belt in which the rice paper mixture was placed on, other woman taking the rack off, then one women taking the dryed rice paper and placing it through a machine to be cut into noodles!  It was so hot in 

there and we were told they make $5.00 a day!

We traveled on and passed a school that was just letting the students out!

Then we went to a historical home built in the ancient ways.  The house was turned into a shop where they sold hand woven blankets and scarfs.  There was a large outdoor courtyard where they fed us fresh fruit and hot tea!  The fruit was really good, especially the bananas!

Again we were off to a restaurant on the water! Although when we were walking into the restaurant, there were live chickens running around! There was even one on top of a motorcycle! We were seated at tables on the water and were served spring rolls, rice and noodles then there was a  giant fondue pot where they put a bunch of seafood and vegetables in to cook!  When the food was done, we each had soup with octopus, shrimp - complete with the tail, tuna, eel and some other strange sea life!  Bananas for dessert!

Right off of the restaurant was a dock with several boats, so we took a river cruise down the Cai River.  We meandered down the river and saw family homes and boats along the way!  The scenery was beautiful! We got off of the boat in a fishing village.  The boats in the water were extremely colorful and made for a wonderful sight!  Alongside the dock, there were these small round boats, just big enough for one person, that people use by standing up and paddling.  We must of got to the dock at breaktime, because some of the fisherman were sleeping in their hammocks.  

Our day was still not over!  We walked through the streets of the town until we got to Po Nagar Cham Towers.  These beautiful Hindu towers were a series of temples atop a high hill.  We were able to go into the temples - although we had to take off our shoes.  Each temple was decorated very nicely with offerings to the gods set around the alters.  The views from up here were magnificent!  There were 

several gardens and statues set up around the temples.  

After spending some time here, we traveled to an outdoor and indoor market!  Around the outside where tons of food vendors as well as local souvenirs.  Although inside there was a maze of stalls selling everything you could imagine even bolts of fabric.  It was set up in a circle and other stalls deeper in the center, then there was a second floor!   The good thing is that everything is extremely cheap here and people persistently approached us to buy their goods.  Most of the fun at the markets is bargaining with the people to take a lower price!

Our day was almost over and what a wonderful day it was! We continued through the city, passing beautiful beaches and a line of hotels and other attractions to draw tourists.  Our guide told us that there are brand new 5 star resort hotels along the waterfront to small, family run hotels!  There are also a variety of restaurants, ranging from sophisticated dining experiences to family style so there is something for every budget and taste!   This was a great city with tons to experience! Everyone had a great time and took tons of pictures including Jeff!!! Here are some sights of the city!