Solo Dolo in Nha Trang

I was super jazzed to do a little solo trip to Nha Trang this weekend. Nha Trang is in South Vietnam, so it’s my first time being in the South. I just wanted seafood and sun to be honest. And maybe a pina colada on the beach. 

As soon as I stepped off the plane, I got Miami and LA vibes even though I haven’t been to either of those places. There were palm trees swaying, I saw the sun for the first time in what seemed like years, and I felt that feeling of tropical heat in my face. You know the exact feeling I’m thinking about. But it was all set against the back drop of a city. This sounds super lame but even as I was on the bus on the way to the city, I was so happy I felt like crying.

Since I’m traveling alone this weekend, I figured I’d stay at a hostel because Nha Trang is known for being really popular among travellers so I thought I might make some friends. It’s also a lot cheaper.

So when I got here, I wasn’t able to check in right away since my flight was so early, so I dropped my stuff off at the hostel and went for a long walk with my camera. I was walking for almost three hours, just taking photos and taking everything in. It was sunny and hot and for awhile I just sat on the beach looking around. Street food in Vietnam is everywhere, and Nha Trang was no exception. You could smell the meat and seafood being cooked right on the side of the road, and on the beach, women would walk around carrying pots and cook huge lobsters right in front of you for your lunch.

Eventually I got hungry so I found a little seafood restaurant. Remember how in my post about Thailand I mentioned I ordered a salad that was so spicy that I was almost physically sick? Yeah, well I ordered that same salad. Even though it’s not as spicy as it was in Thailand, I was still sweating while eating it. But it’s just sooooo good. It’s a vicious cycle because I’m literally dying of spice but I continue to fork food into my mouth?? Apparently I also like beer now, so I ordered one of those too. On my walk home, it started raining. But it wasn’t a miserable and cold rain like it is in Hanoi during this time. It was a warm and tropical rain, the kind that smells good. 

Once I got back to the hostel, everyone was hanging out in the common room drinking and playing cards. Obviously I had to get in on this. We played Kings Cup, which is basically the universal drinking game. I met some really cool new people, and we all had a huge family style Vietnamese dinner and then attempted to find a bar to go to afterwards. After about 10 minutes of walking aimlessly trying to find said bar, I decided to get ice cream and head home. 

I had to wake up kind of early the next day because I signed up to go snorkelling. The hostel has a really nice rooftop where they serve breakfast and dinner, so I had a fried egg sandwich with tomato. Sounds boring, but it’s actually really good and I’m probably going to start making it at home.

We went snorkelling on Hon Mun island, and it was wild. I’ve been snorkelling before at like… Sauble Beach… which was nothing compared to what I saw here. There was coral everywhere and I saw so many colourful fish. There was one that was my favourite. It was black and turquoise striped, and I think it’s called a Major Sergeant fish, so it has a pretty badass name too. It was incredible, but it also kind of gives me the heeby-jeebies because the ocean is so vast and dark and mysterious and you never know what’s down there. Also, I made eye contact with this one fish for like 10 seconds straight and I was getting pretty worried he was going to attack. On the snorkelling trip, we also had a huge meal. There was calamari and octopus, rice, tofu, morning glory, omelettes. The list goes on.

During my snorkelling trip, I met three lovely ladies that are also from Canada. We ate sushi and wine for dinner and went to a music festival they were holding here. It was right on the beach and the vibes were sooo good with the waves crashing right beside us and the moon and the music.

Day three was Sunday. I decided to rent a motorbike and take a day trip to Doc Let Beach, which is about an hour drive. I was debating between the beach or the Ba Ho waterfalls, but I decided on the beach since I wanted to get some good quality reading time in. The drive to the beach was lovely. Green jungle to my left, beautiful crystal blue ocean to my right. The sun was shining and it was a super nice day. I burnt pretty badly the day before at snorkelling, and it only got worse at the beach. The kind of burn where I had to sleep on my back all night because if I slept any other way, it would hurt. I also applied sunscreen at least 4 times during snorkelling, so that gives you an idea of how hot the sun was. Or maybe I just burn really easily.

When I got to the beach, I set up camp and immediately ordered a banana smoothie. Delish. Got some good reads in and then went for lunch at a quaint little spot right next to the water. I ordered lobster tom yum and coconut water. Imagine how #lifegoals I felt drinking coconut water on the beach in Vietnam.

My friend Roy, who I met the other night at the hostel, happened to be at the same beach as me. He did the same thing as I did and rented a bike for the day. So we hung out for a little while at the beach and drove home together. We also had dinner at a place called Cheap Cheaps. It sounded like my place to be since I’m ballin’ on a budget right now. And the food was really good. Vietnamese and seafood. Highly recommend. Plus they had a cute little balcony upstairs that you could look out to the street from, which is where we got to eat.

After dinner, we decided on some ice cream (Romy’s Italian Ice Cream. If you’re ever in Nha Trang, PLEASE go here). I went there the night before too, and loved it so much I had to go back. You can tell it’s the real deal. I ordered banana flavour and it was actually the colour of a banana, not that bright yellow colour that is obviously fake. 10 stars for Romy.

I loved Nha Trang. I think it was my favourite place I’ve visited in Vietnam so far, and it’s totally different from the North.

P.S. On my last and final day, I chilled at the beach for the most part and then got Romy’s Italian Ice Cream again. Ugh. I miss it already. Might have to go back to Nha Trang for the sole purpose of getting another almond and pistachio cone.