The last three days have been nothing but pure relaxation, which is all I ever really wanted out of this vacation. These days, sitting and doing nothing definitely excites me. If you are looking for a cheap vacation in an amazing place with friendly people, I definitely recommend Nha Trang.
Yesterday we woke up early and headed to rooftop restaurant of HaVan, our hotel, and had the free breakfast. The breakfast is amazing…Vietnamese coffee, delicious crusty baguette dragon fruit, rhambutan, watermelon, an omlette and a banana, all of which was included in our room rate (except a tiny bit more for the coffee). Then we decided to head to the beach, since it was the only sunny day in the five day forecast.
Walking down the public beach, we found a popular spot for locals. It looked like a place for business deals and coffee with friends. We used it as a place to unwind with a lover. A few beers, gin and tonics, and a rain shower later, we walked back down to the beach and into the water. It was brown and sandy from the recent monsoons, but warm nonetheless.
We made our way back to the hotel and asked around for a good place to get massages. The friendly Frenchman who runs the joint mentioned two places, one of which was Su Spa. Su Spa was awesome and he, “…went and felt like, aahhh!” We had to go. So, we booked “The Su Experience” and boy let me tell you, was it an experience. We first walked in and were escorted to a seat next to the coy pond (which, thank God I didn’t put my feet into, I almost did, but then I realized the fish weren’t the sucker fish). A few minutes later we were offered robes, and eventually taken to our rooms of relaxation.
First the masseuse washed our feet in cool water and scrubbed them down. Next, two people rubbed us down from head to toe in oil. We just basked in bliss while four hands worked us over. Then, one person rubbed our scalps and one rubbed our feet, integrating hot stones into the treatment. The person working on the head area dug into our scalps in the nicest way and then worked her way into our face. Meanwhile, the person on the feet pushed hot stones into our pressure points. Back to the face. First, a milk and honey mask that I wanted to eat, then another seemingly edible concoction is slathered on from forehead to neck, mmmm. Then, the face is finished off with a cold cucumber mask. After that, a full frontal (meaning everywhere but the naughty bits) massage ensues. I have never felt more like royalty in my life. Needless to say, we did not do much else that evening, just ate an Italian dinner, relaxed and watched Animal Planet (which I really miss!).
Day 3
Today we woke up to another awesome breakfast and booked a private taxi tour to a couple places around town, the first place was the Long Son Pagoda, a beautiful temple with a 46 foot tall Buddha statue. It is said that you can see the statue from almost anywhere in the city. The feeling one experiences there is one of awe and peace (but expect to be asked to buy something or give money along the way). Next, we went to the Po Nagar Cham Towers, built in the 8th century, another place where one can experience beauty and peace. Traveling during rainy season has it’s drawbacks, but the one good thing is that there weren’t too many visitors around, so we were able to get some awesome photos.
We stopped by our hotel for a bit of freshening up and then headed to the beach again. Along the way we encountered a group of friends drinking bootleg liquor out of a big water bottle. They poured us each a shot, it wasn’t too strong, even a little sweet. They have us some rhambutan and then we said goodbye. We ambled in the sand with smiles on our faces, and ended up at the beer bar we went the day before (which has an excellent choice of unique brews and tasty food), Lousiane Brew House, and there met a sweet couple from Brasilia, she works in Qingdao and he in Brasilia. We hung out, drank, ate some food, and planned our next day…a boat tour with our new Brazilian friends.
