NHA TRANG CITY INFORMATION

Nha Trang city has a metropolitan area of 251 km² and population of about 500,000 . It borders Ninh Hòa town by the north, Cam Ranh city by the south, Diên Khánh town by the west and the South China Sea to the east. The city is located on the beautiful Nha Trang Bay, which was chosen by Travel and Leisure in two succeeding years as one of 29 most beautiful bays in the world. Nha Trang is surrounded on all three sides by mountains and a large island on the fourth side (in the ocean directly in front of the city’s main area), blocking major storms from potentially damaging the city.
Nha Trang has a tropical savanna climate with a lengthy dry season from January to August and a shorter wet season from September to December, when 1,029 millimetres (41 in) of the city’s total annual rainfall of 1,361 mm (54 inch) is received from the northeast monsoon. During the wet season extremely heavy rainfall from typhoons is not uncommon, though the city is shielded from the worst winds.

Wikipedia, the world’s largest internet encyclopedia has described it as follows: “Nha Trang is well known for its pristine beaches and excellent scuba diving and is fast becoming a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers as well as more affluent travelers on the Southeast Asia circuit. It is already very popular with Vietnamese tourists. Nha Trang Bay is widely considered as amongst the world’s most beautiful bays. Tourists are welcome to participate in the Sea Festival, held biennially. Nha Trang was the site of the Miss Universe 2008 Pageant on July 14, 2008 and it will also host Miss Earth 2010.” Participants at boat races starting in Hong Kong as well as large luxury ships cruising Asia make stopovers in Nha Trang.

Before becoming Vietnamese Nha Trang was part of the Cham Empire. It was a small fishing village until the 19th century when it was recognized that its beauty would make it an ideal bathing spot. This triggered then its transformation into a leading resort town in Vietnam. Its rapid development in the years to come should turn it into one of East Asia’s best beach resorts.

WEATHER & CLIMATE

Nha Trang is known for the best weather in Vietnam. The weather is beautiful from February through October with plenty of sunny days when visitors can spend time on the beach. The best diving is during the spring months. The rainy season takes place from October through January during which period only limited swimming and diving is possible. The weather can then be grey, the waves choppy and the waters sandy.

The rainfall is less than anywhere else in the country, humidity is moderate and the area is not threatened by storms since it is protected by the Truong Son Mountains and the Ca Pass.Throughout the year the temperatures are moderate, ranging from an average low of 19 degrees Celsius (sixty five degrees Fahrenheit) to an average high of 29 degrees Celsius (eighty five degrees Fahrenheit).  During the hottest months of the year (July and August) humidity is higher. But fresh winds from the sea make humidity bearable particularly in the evening and at night.

NHA TRANG BEACH

Nha Trang is one of the 29 most beautiful Bays in the world since Aug/2003
Nha Trang is well known for its beaches and scuba diving and has developed into a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers, as well as more affluent travellers on the Southeast Asia circuit; it is already very popular with Vietnamese tourists, with Nha Trang Bay widely considered as among the world’s most beautiful bays. Tourists are welcome to participate in the Sea Festival, held biennially. Nha Trang was the site of the Miss Universe 2008 Pageant on July 14, 2008 and Miss Earth 2010 was held on December 4, 2010. Nha Trang has been approved to host the 2016 Asian Beach Games.

DOC LET BEACH

The long white sand dunes rise tens of meters above pine trees. Beyond the dunes is the 10km wonderful beach with pure blue clear sea-water and thousands of waves tapping ashore. Here, visitors will have a chance to visit a traditional fishing village, Hon Khoi salt-fields, Heo Mount – a former revolutionary base dotted with glorious military victories of Khanh Hoa’s people in two wars of resistance against the French and American aggressors.

XQ EMBROIDERY NHA TRANG

Starting from motive power of self seeking, self mediation, and return to origin of national character, married couple artist, artisan Vo Van Quan and Hoang Le Xuan researched, drew out new trend of embroidery aimed to restore traditional career falling into oblivion.

Mrs.Hoang Le Xuan was descended from Hue family inherited all of high precise skill of embroidery. Mr.Vo Van Quan, an artist with creative brain and patient attempt already together with Mrs.Xuan drew new trend for career, combined between embroidery art and painting art to create new color for Vietnamese embroidery.

From 1990-1992 both of them invented embroidered works with subject: “Refer to a country, refer to a human life” very Vietnamese character.

End of 1992 they came to Da Lat to open career class and trained embroiderer , to raise new embroidery art universalized folk .

Early 1994 established XQ Da lat silk embroidery cooperative team with total 10 artisans.

Date 30 January 1996 officially established XQ Da Lat limited with some achievements as follows:

Highly evaluated by Central High graded leadership: “Restore traditional career of nation”.
To be granted certificate, certificate of merit, golden medal for product.
To be praised by writers and artists circle.
To be loved by customers in domestic and in abroad, and evaluated highly about fine arts value.
Together with desire of popularizing to develop more traditional national career, we established branches on every where.
Date 20 april 1994 established XQ Co Do Silk embroidery Center.
Early 1995 XQ Saigon silk embroidery Center was established.
Date 27 November 1997 established XQ Nha Trang silk embroidery Center.
Date 01 April 1999 established XQ Nha Trang silk embroidery Center.
December 2003 established XQ Ha Noi silk embroidery Center.
·Especially date 29 December 2001 XQ Historical Village was opened officially, created a square for XQ artists , embroiderers created meanwhile kept and developed more about a career, a national culture characters.

OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE NHA TRANG

History and location
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Located at 1 Cau Da St., about 5km from Nha Trang City Center, at the foot of the outcrop where Bao Dai Village is constructed, is a grand French-colonial building which houses the National Oceanographic Museum of Vietnam. It is an interesting aquarium in which you can gain the exact image of Nha Trang marine environment. Opened to the public on September 14th, 1922, today it is still a popular destination for both domestic and foreign tourist.

What to see
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Nowhere can people expect to see a more extensive collection of living beings from the Eastern Sea like in this museum, particularly in areas like the bays of Thailand, archipelagoes of Paracel (Hoang Sa) and Spratly (Truong Sa), shore regions of Vietnam and the gulf of the Vat Bô.
The collection of this museum spreads out over two floors. The ground floor is home to fish tanks of varying sizes that house all manner of marine life. All kinds of fish you would find in the sea area of Khanh Hoa Province are presented there: reef sharks, turtles, living coral, anemones, puffers, lionfish, clownfish, sea horses, and a whole array of colorful reef species, some of which can be found in no other place in the world. Each of them has a label indicating their name, origin and characteristics in Vietnamese and in English.
The upstair floor is for exhibiting specimens, local boats and fishing artifacts, plus an 18 metre long whale skeleton. Over its long history, this museum has been holding more than 20000 specimens of tropical marine creatures. Apart from the real fishes, there are also rare species’ skeletons or bodies preserved in formaldehyde solution. There are even finds of endemic species from Kampuchean Vietnamese seas and from other nearby countries, some of which are extremely rare, like the dugong or sea cow. Kids are often very excited to visit the big tropical turtles and crocodiles.
Apart from the museum aquariums, there are also many of the theme rooms in the National Oceanographic Museum of Vietnam which focus on marine science featuring the history of its research equipment and technology such as: “From Light to Life” (features algae and phytoplankton), “Life in a Drop of Water” (microscopic aquatic organisms), or rooms illustrating coastal natural disasters, sacred legends, traditions and culture of Vietnam fishing.

HON MUN ISLAND NHA TRANG

In the south east of the island, there are many high rise cliffs with dangerous wattles forming caves and grottoes, in particular the stone here is black as ebony. So that people call it as Hon Mun. Beside, Hon Mun Island is considered as a biggest and richest aquarium of Southeast Asia Sea. Having a total area of 160 square kilometer, in which 122 km2 is the sea area, and the rest is the area of all island. In the black stone caves of Hon Mun, this is the home of swallow. Moreover, the location of island is near to the the hot sea currents from the equator, so given a advantages to the corals and various type of tropical sea creatures are growing.  Thus, Hon Mun is very well-known by a stunning coral ecosystem this is a first marine conservation of Vietnam.

Today, this place is approved as the area most marine biodiversity in Vietnam by the World Wildlife Fun (WWF). At a depth of 10m of the sea, it is the home to an abundant and diverse group of marine species. According to statistics, there are about 2.000 marine species in which 1.500 was found in Hon Mun. Over the depth of 18m of sea bed, there is a big surprise with many caves and grottos where some species are gathering.

Coming here, visitors can not miss activities such as: Bar floating on the sea, diving to explore coral reefs, glass bottom boat … admire the color coral and sea creatures. Hon Mun and area for scuba diving are protected area, so the protection of the environment here is a serious problem. The marine species are becoming a living museum, so that the fishing and violating them are absolutely banned. Furthermore, there is a regulation for visitor during their trip is not drink beer, alcohol and throw garbage into the sea.

Nowadays, Hon Mun is becoming the attraction for who love diving and discover the sea life.

NHA TRANG CATHEDRAL

One of the destinations that you should not be overlooked when it comes to the coastal city of Nha Trang Vietnam is the stone church, the address on the 12m height between the city center.

Every year, Nha Trang city, attracts many tourists to visit and vacation. In addition to the famous scenic beach with beautiful white sand beach, the famous island of Hon Tre, Hon Tam to complete the game on the sea, resort Vinpearland, Vung Ro Bay, Long Beach Cam Ranh. There are many points to the culture and history are on in the city.

Located at a height of 12 meters between the city center, cathedral Nha Trang is the place attracts many tourists, the filming and photography at home and abroad. The official name of the church is the Cathedral of Christ the King, but often people in the area mentioned is called a simple stone church, the church Nha Trang, Nga Sau church. More common still is the church called Mt. The church is one of the architectural features unique French style.

Ideology spread beautiful lifestyle of Catholics in Nha Trang, cleric Louis Vallet (1869 – 1945) spent his enthusiasm for building the church. After he died, his grave is located at the foot of the church.

September 3, 1928, the church was constructed on a small mountain called snout Mount Cotton. The name of the church as well, hence the mountain. Interesting point is to create space on the mountain, it has been used about 500 mines crust.

The church was built entirely in the style of the West by the Catholic church. Architecture is similar to the church in Sapa and some other places in Nha Trang Vietnam. A bell hangs high in the middle third bell is easily identifiable points of the Western Catholic Church.

The church is a beautiful space to be the photographer and film favorite. These couples also choose to place the church shooting their wedding photos. Church open to all weekdays between 8 am and still maintain the lead lecture in the morning and afternoon.

PONAGAR TEMPLE NHA TRANG

Po Nagar is a Cham temple tower founded sometime before 781 and located in the medieval principality of Kauthara, near modern Nha Trang in Vietnam. It is dedicated to Yan Po Nagar. The goddess of the country. Who came to be identified with the Hindu goddesses Bhagavati and Mahishasuramardini and who in Vietnamese is called Thiên Y Thánh Mâu.

A stele dated 781 indicates that the Cham King Satyavarman regained power in the area of “Ha-Ra Bridge”, and that he restored the devastated temple. From this inscription can be deduced that the area previously had come under temporary foreign dominion, and that foreign vandals had damaged the already existing temple. Other steles indicate that the temple had contained a mukhalinga decorated with jewelry and resembling an angel’s head. Foreign robbers, perhaps from Java, “men living on food more horrible than cadavers, frightful, completely black and gaunt, dreadful and evil as death” had arrived in ships, had stolen the jewelry and had broken the linga. Though the king had chased the robbers out to sea, the treasure had been lost forever. The steles also indicate that the king restored the linga in 784. A stele dated 918 by the Cham King Indravarman III states an order to build a golden statue to the goddess Bhagavati. Later steles report that the original statue was stolen by the Khmer, and that in 965, the king replaced the lost statue with a new one. A stele dated 1050 says that offerings of fields, of slaves, of jewelry and of precious metals were made to the statue. Later steles indicate the celebration of a cult in honor of the goddess Yan Po Nagar, as well as the presence of statues dedicated to the principal deities of Hinduism and Buddhism.
In the 17th century, the Viet people occupied Champa and took over the temple tower, calling it Thiên Y Thánh Mâu Tower. A number of Vietnamese legends regarding the goddess and the tower have come into being.
The Po Nagar complex is situated on Cù Lao Mountain. It consists of three levels, the highest of which encompasses two rows of towers. The main tower is about 25 m high.
Durga, the slayer of the buffalo-demon, is represented on the pediment above the entrance to the temple.

The temple’s central image is a 1.2m tall stone statue of the goddess Yan Po Nagar sitting cross-legged, dressed only in a skirt, with ten hands holding various symbolic items. According to Vietnamese scholar Ngô Vǎn Doanh, these attributes show that Yan Po Nagar was identified also with the Hindu goddess Mahishasuramardini or Durga, the slayer of the buffalo-demon. Another sculpture of the goddess as Mahishasuramardini may be found in the pediment above the entrance to the temple: it depicts the four-armed goddess holding a hatchet, a lotus and a club, and standing on a buffalo. This sculpture belongs to the Tra Kieu style of Cham art from the end of the 10th century or the beginning of the 11th century.

SALANGANE ISLAND NHA TRANG

Location:  Salangane island (Yen island) 17km from Nha Trang.

Description: Far offshore, visible from Nha Trang Beach the Yen island appears with lush green colors where salangane nests have been harvested for years to make the traditional “bird’s nest” tonic and food.

Tourists can visit caves where the swallows create their nets on the rocks and enjoy a delicious and nutritious food prepared from swallows’ nests and sugar candy which in the past was reserved only for kings.

Detail: Salangane Island 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 bird’s nest is fashioned by the Salangane that make their homes in caves.

The nest is made out of the bird’s saliva. Usually, a typical bird creates one nest a year during springtime using both parents saliva. As 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.

Yen Islands is not only known as the Salanganes nest, but also the only one has the beautiful twin-beach. Come here, you can visit the Salangane Cave where many workers bamboo stairs to get the nest on the high cliff. It is really the unforgettable sight. By glass bottom boat, you can see fantastic coral-reefs which are covered with multi colored fishes, and enjoy swimming, snorkeling in clear, smooth water on the twin-beach.