NhaTrang - beach city

Attraction:

- Historical & Cultural Vestiges: Alexandre Yersin Memorial Sites, Am Chua Temple, Dien Khanh Citadel, Dien Khanh Temple of Literature, Institute of Oceanography, Khanh Hoa Provincial Museum, Long Son Pagoda, Phu Cang Communal House, Po Nagar Cham Towers, Tran Quy Cap Temple, Vo Canh Steal.

- Scenic Landscapes: Cam Ranh Bay, Con Se Tre Tourist Site, Dai Lanh Beach, Doc Let Beach, Fairies' Stream, Hon Chong (Chong Rocks), Hon Mun Island, Nha Phu Marsh, Tam Island, Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre, Tri Nguyen Fish Lake, Tru Beach, Van Phong Bay.

- Cultural Travel: Ca Ong Worshipping Festival (Cau Ngu Festival), Khanh Son Stone Instrument, Thap Ba - Po Nagar Festival.

- Ecological Travel: Ba Ho Spring.

The coastal city of Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa province, Central Vietnam, lies on the trans-Vietnam highway, 1,278km from Hanoi, and 448km from Ho Chi Minh City.

Nha Trang is endowed by nature with deep, quiet and warm waters all the year round, surrounded by archipelagoes, islands, mountains and white sand beaches - a wonderful and attractive tourist resort. To the north of Nha Trang stands the Chong mount which looks like a wide open hand over the sea. Far offshore, the Yen (Swallow) Island appears with lush green colours where salangane nests have been harvested for years to make the traditional "bird's nest" tonic and food.

The 7km white sand beach of Nha Trang is often called Vietnam’s Mediterranean Area, considered one of the jewel along Vietnam's long stretching coast line. Nha Trang is sunny all year round, with an average temperature of 23°C due to northern winds.

The rainfall is less than anywhere else in the country and the area is not threatened by storms since it is protected by the Truong Son Mountains and Ca Pass. From Ca Pass, one can see Ro Bay (Vung Ro), Hon Do...

Hon Tre Island is 36km² and belongs to a group of islands located southwest of Nha Trang. It takes two hours to reach Hon Tre Island by rowboat and only 20 minutes by ferry.

Nha Trang benefits from topographical advantages of the sea, islands, mountains, and deltas. West of Nha Trang, there are endless mountain ranges where a wide variety of animals and birds live.

Nha Trang has many specialties. Especially, bird’s nest soup, or swallow’s nest soup is very famous in Nha Trang and round Vietnam. The magnificent coral seabed in Nha Trang makes it ideal for scubadiving and snorkeling.
Nha Trang Bay is recognised as one of 29 most beautiful bays in the world.

Attraction

1)Historical & Cultural Vestiges

• Alexandre Yersin Memorial Sites

Location: Alexandre Yersin Memorial Sites includes 3 places:
- Doctor Yersin’s library in Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, Khanh Hoa Province.
- Linh Son Pagoda, Suoi Cat Commune, Dien Khanh District, Khanh Hoa Province (the former workroom of the doctor in Suoi Dau).
- Alexandre Yersin’s Grave in Suoi Cat Commune, Dien Khanh District, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Alexandre Yersin Memorial Sites was built to commemorate Alexandre Yersin who devoted 50 years of his life to work in Pasteur Institute.
Alexandre Yersin (1863-1943) was born in Switzerland to a Swiss father and a French mother. He studied in Switzerland and later moved to France where he obtained a degree in medicine.
He traveled to Nha Trang for the first time in 1891. At the end of 1899, he came back and established the Pasteur Institute. He devoted 50 years of his life to microbiology, virology, and epidemic research and he was the one to develop a vaccine against the bubonic plague.
Living modestly, he gained the trust of Con hamlet villagers. He traveled in the mountains and recorded his observations. He also recommended to the government to establish a hill station in what is now Dalat.
Yersin died in Nha Trang on 1 March 1943. According to the instructions in his will, his body was buried with his face touching the ground and facing the sea so that he could forever embrace his second homeland.

• Am Chua Temple

Location: Am Chua Temple is situated on Dai An Mount in Dien Dien Commune, Dien Khanh District, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Am Chua Temple was built long ago to dedicate to Lady Goddess Po Nagar.
According to the legend, this was place where the Goddess descended on earth. The temple was restored many times, and today it looks nicely. Every year, on the first, the second and the third day of the third lunar month, the festival is organized at the temple which is attracting many Cham and Viet people to attend.

• Dien Khanh Citadel

Location: Dien Khanh Citadel is situated on Dien Khanh Town let, Dien Khanh District, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: The Dien Khanh Citadel was built by Nguyen Anh in 1793 with an area of 36,000 square meters according to the Vauban military architecture which was popular in Western Europe in 17th - 18th centuries.
The citadel's wall was in an in equilateral hexagon of 3.5m height. The outer face was vertically constructed while the inner was a little bit sloping by two terraces forming a favorable pavement. Inside the corners, there were large fields which were convenient for military resident. On the top of corners there stood fortresses of 2m high with canons above. On the roof of the citadel, there planted closet bamboo and other barricade trees. Surrounding the citadel were moats of 4 to 5 meters deep, 10 meters wide, flooded by water.
At first the citadel had 6 gates but nowadays it remains only 4 ones which are East Gate, West Gate, Front Gate (to the South), Back Gate (to the North). There had been here royal palace, private residents of feudal mandarins, warehouses and jails...
Dien Khanh is one of the oldest citadels in the south of Vietnam and it is one of the precious vestiges for studying ancient citadels.

• Dien Khanh Temple of Literature

Location: Dien Khanh Temple of Literature is located in Phu Loc Town let, Dien Khanh District, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: At the present, the Temple of Literature keeps only 2 steles aged by the 11th year of King Tu Duc which help us to further understand the history, the culture, the living style of Khanh Hoa people.
During the time of feudal Confucian tradition, high above there was Quoc Tu Giam (National Temple of Literature), under which were provincial Temples of Literature, where recorded the works of talented scholars. In 1803, King Gia Long announced a royal decree on building a Temple of Literature in Phu Loc Town let, the district of Hoa Chau - nowadays is Dien Khanh District.
Going through all changes of time, this Temple of Literature rehabilitated 4 times in 1892, 1904, 1941, and 1959 and has still been in its original architecture.
At the present, the Temple of Literature keeps only 2 steles aged by the 11th year of King Tu Duc which help us to further understand the history, the culture, the living style of Khanh Hoa people, the completion of the Temple of Literature in 1854, and a introduction on the competition-examination success of local laureates, dignitaries, village notables, and students from the beginning of Nguyen Dynasty to Tu Duc Time. With such thickness of history, the Temple of Literature possesses a significant value of study, and tradition of respecting knowledge, which all enriches the nation's vestiges.

• Institute of Oceanography

Location: Institute of Oceanography is located on an elevated land, at 1 Cau Da St., next to Cau Da Wharf, about 6km from the centre of Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Institute of Oceanography, which was established in 1923, was one of the first centres for scientific research in Vietnam.
Nha Trang is an excellent location for tropical oceanographic research because it is close to the ocean, of course, and the waters are deep.
The Marine Animal Museum shows more than 20,000 sea and freshwater specimens, as well as living creatures that are kept in glass tanks.

• Khanh Hoa Provincial Museum

Location: Khanh Hoa Provincial Museum is situated at 16 Tran Phu St., Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: It preserves approximately 10,000 objects, more than 5,000 documents and pictures which are belong to the different periods of history.
Khanh Hoa Provincial Museum (Phu Khanh Provincial Museum in former) is established in Jun, 1979.
Among these are many precious objects. In the museum there are several symbol object collections such as: Stone Axes Collection; Stone Adornment Collection that belongs to the Con Hamlet Culture (3,500 years ago); Nha Trang Bronze Drum Collection (dated back 2,000 years ago); Champa Stone Carving Collection (between the 9th century to the 14th century); Ancient Money Collection (between the 9th century to the 18th century); Commercial Ceramic Collection (between the 9th century to the 18th century); the collection of weapons in the war against French and American.
The displaying system is on the themes: the ancient culture in Khanh Hoa; the revolutionary struggle traditions of the Khanh Hoa people and Khanh Hoa Party Committee; the life and the work of President Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969); the theme of Vietnamese Heroine Mothers of Khanh Hoa Province.
Every year, Khanh Hoa Provincial Museum receives more than 20,000 foreign and domestic visitors. At the same time, the museum is published several researching value works, such as a series research books: “Khanh Hoa - a cultural aspect of a region”, “Con Hamlet Culture”...which were highly apprised by the domestic scientists.

• Long Son Pagoda

Location: Long Son Pagoda is situated at the foot of Mount Trai Thuy at 22, 23/10 Street, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: The pagoda was first built on Mount Trai Thuy in 1886 and named Dang Long Pagoda. In 1900, the pagoda was damaged in a storm and was rebuilt down the mountain in its present location.
The Khanh Hoa Buddhist Studies Foundation originated here in 1936. The pagoda underwent further restorations in 1940, 1971, and 1975.
There is a huge white statue of Skamania Buddha sitting on a lotus pedestal, which erected in 1964-1965, 24m high not including its pedestal being 14m high.

• Phu Cang Communal House

Location: Phu Cang Communal House is located on the territory of Van Phu Commune, Van Ninh District, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Phu Cang Communal House is on an average 1,700sq.m large in of which the history inclined to the settlement of Viet group in the village since 17th - 18th centuries.
The main house is 8m long, 9m wide dividing into 3 compartments, constructed by four-pillar architecture with 16 wooden pillars, rowed by 4 equivalently. The front door of the house was engraved with shapes of sacred creatures, sophisticated designs and three words "Phu Cang Dinh". The interior was decorated by rural furniture as common as in other communal houses. There have altars of the gods, of the Goddess Thien Y A Na, of Tran Duong - a Deputy General who grouped up people according to King Ham Nghi's appeal for French resistance in Khanh Hoa Province.
Many honors and presents bestowed on Phu Cang Commune House during the war, among them are a supreme honor for the god of the commune (Call Thanh Hoang), an ancient bell and a command drum.

• Po Nagar Cham Towers

Location: Po Nagar Cham is situated on Cu Lao marble hill, 2km north of Nha Trang, in Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Po Nagar Cham Towers were built between the 8th and 13th centuries. The largest of the four remaining towers was built in honour of the Goddess Po Nagar, also known as Lady Thien Y Ana or Lady Mother of the Kingdom.
She spent part of her life in teaching new weaving and agricultural techniques. The 22.5m tower contains her sandstone statue sitting cross-legged on lotus-shaped stone estrade. The statue is 2.6m high (including the Yoni-shaped stone pedestal). The statue has ten hands, eight of which each holding a specific object illustrating the intellect and power of her. The remaining towers were dedicated to different gods: the southeast tower, the northwest tower and the south tower.
Not only are the towers famous for their architecture and sculpture, but they are also well-known for their great significance in history, nationalism, and archaeology.
Standing on the top of the hill, one can admire the beautiful landscapes of the coastal region of Nha Trang.

• Tran Quy Cap Temple

Location: Tran Quy Cap Temple is located in Dien Khanh Town let, Dien Khanh District, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: The temple was built on a land called Go Chet Chem - Hill of Head-cut (a name given after the death of Tran Quy Cap), which is by the bridge of Can River.
Tran Quy Cap was a strong-willed patriotic scholar in Duy Tan movement, who led local people in the resistance against French colony.

• Vo Canh Steal

Location: Vo Canh Steal is located west of Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Vo Canh Steal is one of the cultural heritage vestiges just has been founded in Vo Canh Village.
Khanh Hoa was an ancient land of Champa which marked by Vo Canh Steal and many other vestiges which spend for those who are interested in researching.

2)Scenic Landscapes

• Cam Ranh Bay

Location: Cam Ranh Bay is in Cam Ranh Town, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Cam Ranh Bay is regarded as one of three ports that have the best natural condition in the world with closed-area of 60km² and the average deep of 18-20m.
Mountains are surrounding so that the territorial waters are out of winter. Cam Ranh takes only an hour to International Maritime Line by seagoing vessel(Haiphong is 18 hours).
Trade port in Cam Ranh Bay is called Da Bac which is in Ba Ngoi Town, so it is also called Ba Ngoi Port.

• Con Se Tre Tourist Site

Location: Opposite and 3km away from Nha Trang Coast, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Just 15 minutes by boat, you will be able to arrive at "Con Se Tre". From a stone island, now "Con Se Tre" was converted into one of the most poetic tourism resorts in Nha Trang City.
Tourists can find at Con Se Tre a lively image of old villages, which once and for all have appeared in our dreams today or your childhood in a peaceful space, clean seashore, poetic settings, traditional customs and perfect services.

• Dai Lanh Beach

Location: Dai Lanh Beach is situated in Van Ninh District, 80km north of Nha Trang, close to the National Highway 1A.
Characteristic: Dai Lanh is one of the most beautiful beaches with wonderful nature: white and mostly sand along with casuarinas.
Long time ago, Dai Lanh Beach with beautiful nature had been ranked one of the famous landscapes in Vietnam. Dai Lanh Beach has calm, clear blue water as well as soft, white sand (offering safe swimming conditions). A fresh water source runs from the bottom of a mountain through the beach.
Dai Lanh scenery had been carved on one of the Nine Urns which is standing in front of The Mieu yard in Hue by King Minh Mang. Dai Lanh Beach, visitors can travel to the fishing villages in Khai Luong and Dam Mon.

• Doc Let Beach

Location: Doc Let Beach is situated on the Ninh Hoa coastal area, 50km north of Nha Trang.
Characteristic: It has long white sand dunes of tens meters high with pine trees separate the main land from the sea.
Overcome to sand dune, visitors will step on a very wonderful beach with fine sand and contemplate expanses of sand along the seaside of 10km long with pure blue clear sea-water and thousands of light waves inshore. Coming to Doc Let, visitors will have a chance to visit a fishing village, Hon Khoi salt-field, Hon Khoi Cement Factory, Heo Island- an old base with many glorious victories of people in Khanh Hoa through two wars against French and American.

• Fairies' Stream

Location: Fairies' Stream is located in the south of Dien Khanh District, more than 20km from Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: It current starts from Hon Ba Mountain, then flows down gorges, surrounding trees and crossing valleys; before flowing down to Suoi Cat Commune, the stream meets a natural dam and divides into two branches.
One goes to the north to the rice fields and another overflowing a hard rock, platform to the east, joining the Cai River.
The charming scenery has given birth to many legends; fairies would leave Heaven to come bathing at the stream. Male deity played chess on stone blocks. Foot prints left by a giant who, in a moment of enchantment when seeing the fairies swimming, slipped and nearly fell down into the water.

• Hon Chong (Chong Rocks)

Location: Hon Chong is located 3.5km from the centre of Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: It consists of massive rocks lying on top of one another.
Hon Chong is divided into two parts. One part is situated offshore and the other is in the sand dunes at the Cu Lao Fishing Hamlet. The offshore cluster includes layer after layer of massive rock emerging from the sea. These layers of rocks act as natural wave breakers.
The Hon Chong Promontory, located in the sand dunes, looks like the work of a giant, who carelessly put several massive rocks together. On one side of the rock, facing the sea, there is a deep handprint with the five fingers close together.

• Hon Mun Island

Location: Hon Mun Island is situated on the south of Nha Trang Bay, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Named Hon Mun because in the south east of the island, it has high-rise cliffs with dangerous wattles forming caves and grottoes, especially its stones are as black as ebony, which could rarely be found in other areas.
In the black-stone caves of Hon Mun, every year flocks of swallow migrate to the area and build their nests. Due to the island's location adjacent to the hot sea-currents from the equator, suitable to the development conditions of corals and various types of tropical sea creatures, the sea bed of Hon Mun is home to an abundant and diverse group of marine species, an interesting and useful place for researchers, oceanographers and tourists to observe and explore more of the sea creatures' life.
In Hon Mun, visitors can dive or take grass-bottom boat to admire the color coral and sea creatures.

• Nha Phu Marsh

Location: Nha Phu Marsh is situated in Ninh Hoa District, about 15km away from Nha Trang Beach to the north, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: It has peaceful waves all year around. In the middle of the sea and blue and clear sky, the cluster of dreamlike islands looks like the sails to be filled with winds going offshore.
Lao and Thi Islands have become attractive ecotourism resorts for international and domestic tourists when visiting Tram Huong area. Lao Island is named "Monkey Island" because there are hundreds of monkeys living in flocks in the wild forest led by King and Queen monkeys and they are friendly with visitors. As coming to Lao Island, tourists can enjoy entertainments and recreational activities e.g. sea bathing, boat racing, horse riding, fishing, visiting in flowers, birds and golden fishes parks, especially circuit performances of elephants, bears, monkeys, dogs and cats.
On Lao Island, there are guest houses and accommodation establishments available which bear in-depth traditional identities and unique characteristics of Vietnam. The Thi Island's wonderful natural landscapes are implied as a warm invitation to all visitors to come where green and wild natural forests still exist. There are some areas for breading ostriches, stags and deer.

• Tam Island

Location: Tam Island is located in Vinh Nguyen Ward, to the south of Nha Trang Bay, 3 nautical miles from Nha Trang Port, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Tam Island offers many kinds of water sports such as jet skiing, boating, windsurfing, parachute pulling, adventure diving... Other than that, tourists can enjoy camp-fire nights on the fascinating island.
Carpeted with a green tropical forest throughout 4 seasons, the long sandy coastline winds like a mermaid exposing the smoothness of the Creator by thousands of pampering waves onto the shore all day and night. Underneath the uneven cliffs is the blue water as clear as crystal abounds with many kinds of coral reefs blooming in hundred-pink and thousand-purple colours, and hundreds of schools of fish swimming heartily here and there like visitors flocking to festivals. All seem to be fairy like and dreamlike.
There are 200 nice and colourful camps on the island. When attending the camp-fire, visitors will drink can wine, eat baked-meat and sing all night.

• Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre

Location: Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre is situated on 25 group, Ngoc Son Hamlet, Ngoc Hiep Ward, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: It is a kind of the unique health care service appears the first time in Vietnam: bogging down in the mud, bogging down in hot spring water, warm swimming pool and spraying hot spring water.
The hot spring mineral water and also mineral mud silica are recognized on the medicine good for health. Besides the effect of relaxing and the stimulating of nervous system acting, the hot spring water and also mineral mud have effect to the skin that curing normal skin disease and making the skin whitest and softest.

• Tri Nguyen Fish Lake

Location: Tri Nguyen Fish Lake is situated on Bong Nguyen Island, also called Hon Mieu Island, Nha Trang Bay; half an hour from Cau Da Port, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: It is a lake on the sea which people dam up with stone embankment. Hundreds of nice and precious marine creatures are bred in the lake, looking a real marine museum.
Visitors may take a walk around the lake or seating on the house close to the edge of the water, they can see many kinds of colourful sea-fish that live in the clear blue water of the lake.
In the island also has Bai San Beach, one of the beaches that are attractive to many visitors.

• Tru Beach

Location: Tru Beach is situated on Hon Tre Island in Vinh Nguyen Ward, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: This is one of the most natural idyllic and finest beaches in Khanh Hoa, especially the purity of sea water and beach, and the surrounding environment.
Though the beach is on island but the waves are soft thank to Hon Tre Mountain lying as a standing wall that prevented the ocean storm and wind. Not far from the main beach there is a small fishing village, located at the foot of mountain. Visitors can come here to know the habits of the fishing village, enjoying coconut fruit and fresh fruits.

• Van Phong Bay

Location: Van Phong Bay is located 50km from Nha Trang toward the north.
Characteristic: There is a sand hill that is 18km long, situated between the main land and two islets creating a bay with a very beautiful landscape.
This beautiful landscape is endowed with wonderful natural sceneries and beaches of fine sand, an ideal temperate climate, surrounded by hills, mountains and tropical forests. The sea is all the more embellished with colorful coral reefs, vestiges of mangrove forests, rare sea creatures in an ideal environment. These are great potentials for the development of ecological tourism in Van Phong. In the plan toward the year 2010, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism declares Van Phong as "the most important region for tourism development". There are many forms of water sports and uphill tourism here, including sea diving, water skiing, sail boating, mineral water bathing and hunting.
At present, Van Phong is ranked 1st of the 4 ideal sea tourist centers by the Sea World Association.

3)Cultural Travel

• Ca Ong Worshipping Festival (Cau Ngu Festival)

Time: The 15th day of the twelfth lunar month.
Place: Some fishing villages in Khanh Hoa Province.
Objects of worship: Ca Ong.
Characteristics: Incense offering ceremony, procession of torch, horn playing by a team of women, drum beating by a team of men, the first incense burning by a boy, boy singing, ba trao singing.

• Khanh Son Stone Instrument

Location: Khanh Son Stone Instrument is in Khanh Son District, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: Khanh Son Stone Instrument is a kind of the most primitive instrument of mankind.
Besides the discovery of the instrument, excavations and investigations also prove the presence of the signs of creating the instrument right at the place. And this instrument was created by the Raglay people.
Khanh Son is mountain district of Khanh Hoa and is also the land of tales and legends with To Hap Valley full of glorious victories during the two wars of resistance against the French and the Americans. In recent years, this name has become known to the whole country and the world thanks to the discovery the "Stone musical instrument", a kind of the most primitive of mankind (discovered in February in Western Highlands by a French, Mr Condominas).

• Thap Ba - Po Nagar Festival

Time: 20th to the 23rd day of the third lunar month.
Place: Vinh Phuoc Ward, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province.
Objects of worship: The Goddess of the Region (the Cham).
Characteristics: Rites: washing statue and clothes changing, offering dance to Goddess, ghe racing, boi singing at night.
The Po Nagar Festival is biggest religious festival in the region, is held at Po Nagar Tower which located on the hill near the mouth of Cai River, north of Nha Trang City. The festival is organize to commemorate the Mother of the Region who according to Cham legends, created the homeland, maintained race, discover rice tree, taught people how to cultivate. The Goddess of the Cham had become the Goddess of the Vietnamese inhabitants .The festival involves the singing and dancing to welcome people, stage performance and many fun games take place joyfully in the front of the main temple.

4)Ecological Travel

• Ba Ho Spring

Location: Ba Ho Spring is located 25km north of Nha Trang, Ninh Hoa District, Khanh Hoa Province.
Characteristic: The spring has its source on the peak of the Hon Son Mountain, at an altitude of 660m.
The spring flows from the mountain to the sea, three times broadening its bed creating three lakes: Ho Nhat, Ho Nhi, Ho Ba. The natural landscape is of utmost interest, and it is a very attractive sight for tourism...