Introduction to Nha Trang, Vietnam Nestled below the bottom lip of the Cai River, some 260 km north of Phan Thiet, Nha Trang has earned its place on Vietnam's tourist mainline partly on merit and partly owing to its location. By the time the Nguyen lords wrested this patch of the country from Champa in the mid-seventeenth century, the intriguing Po Nagar Cham towers had already stood, stacked impressively on a hillside above the Cai, for over seven hundred years. They remain Nha Trang's most famous image, yet it's the coastline that brings tourists flocking: the town boasts the finest municipal beach in Vietnam, scuba-diving courses are available here, and there are plenty of day-trips to outlying islands too. It's worth bearing in mind, however, that the Nha Trang region has a rainy season lasting from November through to early January. Most new arrivals in the city make a beeline for the municipal beach, a grand six- kilometre scythe of soft yellow sand that's only five minutes' stroll east of Cho Dam market. The Pasteur Institute at the top of Tran Phu, the main drag running parallel to the beach, houses the Alexandre Yersin Museum (Mon–Sat 8–11am & 2–4.30pm; $1.80), which profiles the life of the Swiss-French scientist who settled in Nha Trang in 1893 and became a local hero, thanks not to his greatest achievement – the discovery of a plague bacillus – but rather because of his educational work in sanitation and agriculture, and his ability to predict typhoons and thus save the lives of fishermen. Yersin's desk is here, with his own French translations of Horace still slotted under its glass top; so, too, are the barometers and telescope he used to forecast the weather, and his phenomenal library. The huge White Buddha seated on a hillside above Long Son Pagoda in the northwest of town is Nha Trang's major landmark. It was crafted in 1963 to symbolize the Buddhist struggle against the repressive Diem regime, and around its lotus-shaped pedestal are carved images of the monks and nuns that set fire to themselves in protest. Nha Trang City Beach Upon arriving to Nha Trang, most tourists will pass through downtown. Beyond the rows of businesses and homes will be Nha Trang beach. Tran Phu Boulevard is Nha Trang most famous thoroughfare. It runs the length of the beach with several major hotels in Nha Trang located within a few steps from the beach. Unlike most major city in Vietnam where the primary mode of transportation is the motorbike, many people of Nha Trang still walk or use the bicycle as their means of getting around. This adds to the tranquillity of the town. There is very little pollution or noise from motor vehicles. Hon Chong Chong has two meanings in the Vietnamese language. The first is to stack. The second is husband. Hon Chong is located on a stretch of rocky mass of land famous for the thousands of smooth rocks stacking on one another. There are two clusters of such rocks in the area called Hon Chong. The first is further out in the ocean and the second is located near an islet called Sat Thon. The cluster in the ocean is most impressive since there are large boulders stacking on one another seemingly out-of- balance, yet remaining stable. There is a boulder as large as a small hill supporting another boulder as large as a small house at its peak. On the side facing the shore, there is an imprint of a large hand with five fingers clearly outlined. The locals call this rock Hon Chong or the Husband.The cluster with the name Hon Vo or the Wife is not far away. The rocks in Hon Vo cluster are as large as those in Hon Chong, but the they are closer together. A somewhat romantic person explained that this name came about because the rocks here snuggle against one another Thap Ba (Po Nagar Cham Towers) The Po Nagar towers once stood at the entrance of Cai river, where the river meets the ocean. The towers stood in isolation on a rock foundation, but over many years the towers and the land it stands on became part of the land mass as the river changed its flows. Today, the tower is north of the river and the rock formation it stood on became known as nui Cu Lao or Mount Cu Lao. The town of Vinh Phuoc at the base of the mountain was once a fishing village, known as Xom Chai and Xom Bong. Po Nagar towers complex was built between the 7th and 12th century. The most beautiful towers were built in the year 813 and 817. Most were destroyed and only four towers are still standing. Each tower is a shrine to a different deity. Cau Da Vietnam's first active Oceanographic Institute was built in 1922 at Cau Da (Rock Bridge). The ocean in Nha Trang is quite deep. Here the water is approximately 200 m deep. Beyond 100 km, the depth drops to 2000 m. The Oceanographic Institute was built to study the diverse marine life in this area.The Institute still has samples of sea creatures of this area. Although the institute does not have the modern equipments and facilities to be considered in the same caliber as most western aquariums, it still maintains a fair sample in smaller aquariums. In all, 23 good size aquariums are on display. The institute also has a vast collection of dead samples on display. Hon Yen Hon Yen is most famous for Yen Sao which is the name of the nest of Salangane or swifts. The locals harvest the bird nests (considered a delicacy) used in soups. These nests are processed and exported to Taiwan and Hong Kong. The birds build their nest high on the walls of the cave on the islands. To access the nests, harvesters must climb on ladders fashioned from bamboo. Because the caves must remain dark lest the birds are scared off, many climbers fall to their death every year trying to harvest the nests. The bird nest comes in two types, white and red nests. The nest are fashioned by the Salangane that make their homes in caves. The nest are made out of the birds saliva. Usually, a typical bird creates one nest a year during springtime using both parents saliva. Because there is such a demand for their nest (thought to have medicinal qualities), the locals began to remove the nest several times a year causing the birds to have to continue producing the nests. The red variety of nests are a result of the birds having to create so much saliva for the new nests that they cough up blood along with their saliva causing the nest to take on the red color of their blood. This variety of nest costs their weight in gold or more in the retail market of Hong Kong or Taiwan. Source: getvietnamvisa.com .