The taxi, flight and transfer at the other end had been organised by the efficient staff at The Prince, we said goodbye to a bleary eyed manager and were on our way.
On the way we observed hundreds of people doing their early morning work outs. Tai Chi, aerobics, running or, just walking vigorously ( or not so,). What an interesting sight it made at 5.30am. Now there's a great way for the NHS to sort the state of the nations health out - take the mobility scooters off the slackers and make them excercise in the mornings.
Da Nang airport was busy at 6am, it was also busy getting an extension built. Mark my words, this will be the place to be in Vietnam in years to come.
Safely through check in we hung around departures, complete with Burger King and boarded a half empty Vietnam Airways flight. We were up and down in just over 45 minutes and landed to a rather warm 27 degrees and sunny - time to hit the beach.
The road to the resort starts off skirting new and partly built holiday complexes, climbs into the hills then twists down to the town Italian Job style, the view over the various bays is worth it though, even if the driver is mad and trying to overtake everything in sight.
The high rise that greets you has a look of a Spanish resort. There is a dual carriageway running the whole length of the sea front, immaculately manacured gardens all palm trees and topiary line the road with golden sands stretching for miles - clean, tidy and managed by the various hotels that line the frontage.
We came down to earth when we pulled up in front of our hotel, just under five minutes from the beach, for the first time we thought Booking.com had let us down. The manager seemed surly, there was no welcome drink, cooling towel or briefing on local attractions. We handed over our passports, collected the keys and took the lift to the 7th floor of the St Pauls Hotel.
Our room was tired looking but clean and tidy, the fridge worked, there was a jacuzzi (which we never used) as it took us 2 days to work out how to get hot water. Once again, no plug in the sink and loo roll was a bit scarce, but hey - this was their deluxe room, it was the only one with a balcony, the air con worked and it was only £6 a night per person with breakfast. (Worse would come later!)
So, at 9am on a hot Good Friday morning we strolled into the Fashion Cafe adjacent to the hotel and got our first taste - of - Russians. It seems like a lot of things in this town are owned by them, this place included. So, after reasonable baguettes, poor coffee, and questionable service we tottered off for a recce of the place - beach here we come.
Our nearest set of beach beds and parasols were managed by the Star Hotel, a massive high rise on the corner of the main road and turn off to our humble digs. It was just over three quid to rent a bed, towel and parasol for the two of us all day. What a bargain. Plus, tipping the lads, who pocketed the money themselves, ensured they looked after us all day. Another hotel ran a beach bar to get the all important cold drinks from so what more could we want. Now to just slap on the sun cream and enjoy five days of bliss. Sorry to all those back home but on this phase of the tour we are NOT roughing it too much!
That first evening we strolled along the prom to a beach-facing, multi storey shopping centre, just for a look. We passed by a BBQ joint selling crocodile. I mean, a fully skinned, legs on as well, fully fledged croc. They leave on the head so you can tell it isn't a large lizard!
We discovered a fancy eatery on the fourth floor complete with its own swimming pool so as you do, I ordered a T Bone exported from Oz and Lynn had the stuffed chicken. I told you we weren't roughing it.
We slept well the first night apart from the noise of the construction sites (working round the clock) and the barking dogs. Still, I've heard worse through the night on Lancaster Road.
(In the next post I'll explain what else Nha Trang has to offer)
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