Nha Trang, Vietnam

The weather was warm enough to have breakfast on the porch - a first! 

Our port lecturer talked about the huge Russian Resort Vinpearl.  A cable car running continuously between the islands delivers the rider to the Vinpearl amusement park and resort for a mere US $18.00.  However they refuse to give the ship any safety information for the cable car, so she could not recommend that we take it.  My take on it was that the Russian’s refusal might just have been a way to keep us from infiltrating their paradise. Nonetheless, we did not go, as we had a scheduled tour.

She had a number of other ominous warnings that made us glad we were on a tour.  Evidently some past cruises have taken the pedicabs and ended up in a side alley where they were forced to pay more money before they would let them leave.  If you take a taxi she recommended that you make him sign a contract regarding where he was taking you, the amount it would cost and pay only when you were delivered.  She also mentioned that you needed to wait until he got in the car and started it, as it might not have any gas.

Our small tour guide Wee with driver Ging (phonetic spelling) took us to a variety of ‘factories’.  They were nothing like what we call factories except that they produce a product.

The first factory was a couple of ladies weaving mats. One of our willing group assisted for a while.

The second one was an embroidery factory. Lots of girls/women were busy stitching throughout the factory.  The results were stunning


The third stop was an orphanage. On the walk there we were besieged by small entrepreneurs hawking fans and postcards.  They were too cute to turn down.

7 postcards for US 1$

Unfortunately the children had the day off so the only ones there were 5 or 6 small ones sleeping and one baby. If I understood him correctly he said that one of the ways that children ended up in the orphanage is when young boys/girls fall in lust, have babies, can’t pay to get married, the child ends up in an orphanage because it is not allowed to have a child with unmarried parents. Then the child is moved to other orphanages away from the birthplace.


Our guides description of a woman’s life was far less than what we have in the US. According to him they don’t go to school, work in family factories, stay home and clean, cook, go to market and generally do all of the work men don’t want to do. I wouldn’t last long.

On the road to Buddha we were accosting by a roving band of cows. Our guide stopped the bus so we could be blessed by them but by the time we got out of the van they were gone. Terry took the blame for scaring them off.

While we were snapping pics, one of the guys found some money in the ground rolled up.  He gave it to the guide who told him that it was fake money that people buried at a Buddhist funeral. So he replaced it in the ground where it appears the fire/funeral took place.

Next stop was an illustration of a typical house, basically in three parts.  The middle part was the area where the worship took place. Generally there would be a picture with Buddha.  In one wing would be the men, in the other women and children.  Men and women were separated.

Choices for employment in Nha Trang were limited to tourism and fishing.  Most young people move to Saigon, as there was only one university in Nha Trang.  Mostly older people and poorer people stayed here and worked in the ‘factories’.


Buddhists believe that after death a couple of possibilities exist - you might be reborn as a person, an animal, achieve immortality or go to hell forever.  That is why they behave as well as possible during life.  Actions that get you into trouble include telling a lie, disrespecting your parents, killing a living being - which is why many of them are vegetarians.

Before the helmet law was passed ridiculous amounts of people were transported on one motorbike - we saw a picture with EIGHT on one bike.  They still manage to transport all kinds of cargo on a bike.
The next factory was a Rice Paper factory. This is the kind of  paper that is used for spring rolls and Terry confirmed that the restaurants in the area obtained their rice paper from this factory. As fascinating as it was, I’m pretty sure there’d be no FDA approval of the plant.

Our next stop was lunch, a beautiful little restaurant by the CAI River. Spring rolls were served - and we ate them. They were good.  As usual they served much more food that we could eat, or would eat, some of it we just couldn’t be sure what it was.  What I did recognize I
consumed…dragon fruit, cucumbers, tomatoes, tuna,

We did see a Buddha.  He is the big one.  We are the miniature ant looking creatures below him.

Last stop was the Market.  While it wasn’t as crowded as the last one we visited, it was still more than we could handle.  Terry did find a cobra inside a bottle.  Evidently drinking it has the same effect as Viagra.  I told Terry he didn’t need it.

The tender home was fun since we got to sit on TOP of the tender and watch the cable cars on their way to Vinpearl, take the requisite pictures of the Diamond Princess, and think about what we were going to see on our next trip to Dha Nang.  We didn’t see the 5 star Russian Resort or take the questionable cable car, ride a pedicab, go to Oceanographis Museum, see Longson Pagoda or Sleeping Buddha. Terry thinks I’m nuts. He may be right.

I think I forgot to mention this stop, the family hat making factory. these 3 ladies are related. Great Grandma on the right is in her 80's and still weaving hats. I had to buy the one for $2.00 US

No social security or pension plans here.

From our balcony we watched another gorgeous sunset as we set sail for Saigon