A Slice of Paradise Found in Nha Trang, Vietnam

After spending our days attempting to avoid the scams of Hanoi we were ready to head South. Our original plan was to purchase an open bus ticket that would bring us down the coast of Vietnam stopping in all of the places that we had previously been interested in but as usual plans have changed yet again. The last thing we were about to do was jump on another bus after our nightmare of a ride from Vientiane to Hanoi.

We could potentially hire some Easy-Riders and have them whisk us down the coast to Hue, Hoi An, and more but again it’s just too tough to trust who the “real” Easy Rider is and who’s the impostor. We we’re finished with tip toeing across the streets while nearly being killed by the dizzying motorbike traffic. No, we didn’t plan to fly at all during our travels in Vietnam, but we said screw it. With a click of a button we were booked on the next Vietnam Airlines flight from Hanoi to Nha Trang, Vietnam.

As we pulled up to the curb the Ha Van Hotel staff scurry out to offer to help us with our bags and to welcome us to our home for the next few days. Check-in was smooth and before we knew it we were shown to our beautiful room. We were extremely impressed with the rooms at the Ha Van, they were nothing like anything we had stayed in before. We stayed in the “Standard Double Room” which had a nice big bed, air-conditioning, private bathroom, small couch with a coffee table, free Wi-Fi, refrigerator, cable television and full breakfast included. ($26 USD/night).

As far as I know, the Ha Van Hotel has the only rooftop lounge/bar in town. I highly recommend that you check it out, and no you do not have to be a guest of the hotel to hang out up there. The rooftop restaurant also serves your daily morning breakfast with an amazing view that looks over the city and the airport in the distance. As for breakfast, this place is no joke! They serve a big, scrumptious American breakfast each and everyday. The best part is that this breakfast is included in your room price and let me tell you that these guys don’t hold back at all. They give you one serious breakfast!

During our first night in town we dined at a highly recommended Mexican restaurant called El Coyote. The chicken fajitas were a sizzling plate of heaven on earth and the portions were more than enough for one person. You cannot tell me that your mouth isn’t watering right now. Overall, we thought the food was good, the service was borderline non-existant, and the prices were about average for western food in Vietnam. The only small issue we ran into at El Coyote was a decent sized rat that darted across the the tile floor and right by our table. Yuck! This had us both questioning ourselves whether our chicken fajitas were really “chicken” fajitas?

The following morning we headed over to a sweet beach side spot called the Lousiane Brewhouse. This is the place to go if you’re looking to catch some rays by the pool or the beach. The Louisiane Brewhouse is probably the best spot in Nha Trang when you’re looking for a combination of good food, drinks, a swimming pool, and access to the beach and sun loungers. Try to arrive here early in the morning in order to secure your lounge chair. They rent daily for a cool 30,000 VND ($1.53 USD).

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to explore and experience much else while in Nha Trang due to being stuck in bed for the following five days. It was sort of a scary situation because I had all of the symptoms of Dengue Fever minus the headache behind the eyes and rash. I was sleepless, had a temperature of 104, and couldn’t eat a thing for about three days. On the second to last morning I decided that I would take myself to the local hospital if I didn’t feel better by that evening. Luckily enough, I ended up recovering from what ever sickness I had. The only problem was that we were now leaving Nha Trang on our way to Saigon and I felt like there was so much more that Nha Trang had to offer. Please don’t skip out on Nha Trang, you’ll love it!

In our case we mentioned to the driver during the ride that we were staying at the Ha Van Hotel, he immediately offered to take us directly to our accommodation after he dropped everyone off at the Old Airport. His first offer was 40,000 VND ($2.04 USD), to which we politely declined. We’ve been in Asia far too long to take the first offer from anyone so by the time we we’re dropped at our hotel we had him down to 20,000 VND ($1.02 USD). Good deal if you ask me!