Nga Trang's "holiday beach" town. A shining jewel in the tourist crown of Vietnam is Nga Trang. It's changed out of sight over the last ten or so years. The main beach is a very developed foreshore these days. Twenty years or more ago it must've been absolutely stunning. I'm sure anyone who was fortunate enough to visit then including ex-servicemen who served at Cam Ranh Bay in the '60s and early '70s would surely testify. To change the subject, here's a Nga Trang business idea? Provide machines that disperse reasonably priced premium drinking water. It works in Malaysia. In most towns, in key locations, there's refreshing, cheap water available. And the dispensers of cool, clear water are not only used by 'cheap Charlie' backpackers. There, the locals often refill plastic containers!
It's a hot enough day for cool, clear refreshing water as I wander along the main beach just below high tide mark on easy-to-walk-barefoot sand. That littoral strip is where I feel most comfortable. In the central bay the beach is manicured...kept very respectably clean. Foreign tourists sun themselves. I focus on moving on along in the heat. From a disused wharf I survey the view back along the bay to the esplanade and the main tourist beach in it's centre.
I have no real idea of what's in store up ahead. But I have the feeling it might just get interesting though. I'm still feeling kind of euphoric having extricated myself from Hanoi. Walking on for at least an hour, I pass along the village foreshore where it's really still like Nga Trang must've been not so long ago. I then manage to scramble around the rocks then up the hill with the Oceanographic Institute overlooking the Cau Da villas. The resulting view in all directions from the Institute is well worth the effort. And I avoid paying an admission fee! That's just the way it turns out. An excellent exploration of the south end of Nga Trang bay and along the Cau Da village foreshore.
Aug. 05. I visit Long Son Pagoda by accident really. I'm 'en route' on foot trying to find the local bus station. I don't want to endure another 'sleeping bus' down to Vung Tau. This Pagoda with it's huge Buddha is near the bus station. Or so I find out. I approach it from the Cai River side. I see the back of the hill. I see the back of the giant Buddha sitting on it. I'm thinking "I'm lost". I'm way off my mark. But I'm not one to give up and turn back. I continue to follow the street that skirts around the hill between the river and the main road. Suddenly, bingo! There's the station. After purchasing my ticket on a direct bus to Vung Tau for the next morning I visit the entrance to the Pagoda. I stop off for a couple of well-earned cold drinks...cokes that is.
I don't really go in. I have a good enough view of the 'Giant Seated Buddha'. I see a couple of birds playing around on Buddha's head! I just sit observing the comings and goings. I chat with some young women who are helping with the Pagoda renovations. Then I amble off taking a more direct route back to the central alley and my room. Another bus trip's in store in the morning.