{"id":3552,"date":"2026-10-08T11:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T15:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/?p=3552"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T15:51:15","slug":"n-is-for-na-trang-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/08\/n-is-for-na-trang-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"“N” is for Na Trang (Vietnam)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes our ABC game just doesn\u2019t line up in alphabetical order, such was the case with our time spent in Na Trang, Vietnam.\u00a0 Today\u2019s activity actually took place on March 30, 2026, a couple of days before Halong Bay. Today was a welcome late start.\u00a0 We would be on tour from 9:45-3:15pm.\u00a0 One of our shorter adventures.<\/p>\n

We ported at Cham Ran, which is a military base.\u00a0 As we disembarked, we were repeatedly warned that no photos were to be taken, until outside of the military zone.\u00a0 We would be under constant surveillance until we were off the base, which ran for about 20 miles through some of the most pristine waterfront and beautiful forest that I have ever seen.\u00a0 I would say that the military here enjoys some pretty fine accommodations along the pure white sand beaches!\u00a0 These photos were taken just beyond the base.<\/p>\n

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Once outside the base, we entertained ourselves along the one and a half hour journey to Na Trang by simply observing outside the bus window.\u00a0 I will be eternally fascinated with the motorbikes of Vietnam.\u00a0 On this day we saw an entire family, including a child eating ice cream and carrying the pet dog, on one bike.\u00a0 We also saw fascinating architecture and beach front sculptures.\u00a0 I was intrigued to learn that the beaches are mostly used by tourists.<\/p>\n

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The highlight of this excursion was going to be the Po Nager Cham Towers. The word Ponagar\u00a0 means \u201cthe mother of the country\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0Perched on a steep hill, overlooking the Cai River, the Ponager\u00a0 Cham Towers are a 1,000 year old Hindu complex, which were built to worship the Queen Po Ina Nagar.\u00a0 According to the Cam people, she was the\u201d goddess of creation, coming out of the clouds and sea foam to give them bountiful harvest, as well as a peaceful life\u201d.\u00a0 Surrounded by mountains, rivers and natural beauty, one can understand why the towers were built here. \u00a0Originally there were more towers but only 4 remain today. \u00a0In 1979, Ponagar Tower was classified as a national monument. This has now become a popular tourist destination.<\/p>\n

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I had been so excited to see this stunning architecture but as luck would have it, fate had different plans for me.\u00a0 \u00a0As I took my final step at the top of the steep entrance, I fell backwards (flipped actually) down the stairway leading to the towers.\u00a0 There were so many people on the stairs, we will never know if I missed my footing, or if I was knocked backwards. Thankfully Alan was quick on his feet and ran below me to catch me, preventing a much more serious injury than the fractured foot and sprained knee ligament that I incurred.\u00a0 We still had a full day of touring ahead of us and not wanting to go to a foreign hospital, I carried on until I could go to the onboard medical facility, upon our return to the ship (about 4 hours later). I managed to hobble my way through the Cham Towers, but unable to bear much weight, the knee and ankle soon began to swell and hinder my ability to move very far.<\/p>\n

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The temple at the tower was filled with flowers, fruit and incense.\u00a0 Due to its small enclosed space, the scents were overwhelming to many of the visitors. I was fascinated by all the details in this architectural masterpiece. 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.\u00a0 No photography of the deity was allowed.<\/p>\n

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Following our visit to the towers, we went to the Hon Chong Promontory.\u00a0 This is a unique rock formation of stacked rocks which jut out into the harbor.\u00a0\u00a0 There are two clusters of rocks.\u00a0 One is called Hon Chong which means husband in Vietnamese, the other is called Hon Vo, meaning wife.\u00a0 I was unable to venture to the rocks, so\u00a0 Alan volunteered to go ahead, to see if he could locate the giant five-fingered hand print embedded on a boulder.\u00a0\u00a0 According to a folktale that has been passed down for generations, a giant man was fishing here, when a giant fish swallowed him and pulled him away.\u00a0 The man tried to pull himself back to shore, while tightly holding a fishing-rod in one hand and pressing the other hand against the boulder, which left the imprint we see today. \u00a0\u00a0Alan was unable to get down to the handprint in the time allotted but enjoyed visiting the promontory.\u00a0 In the meantime, I was gently exploring the waterfront building leading to the rocks.\u00a0 There was a group playing traditional Vietnamese instruments and I was quite content to sit and listen to them as I watched the koi in a nearby pond and simply enjoyed \u00a0the flowers which seemed to surround this area.\u00a0 Alan wasn\u2019t willing to leave me alone for very long so he soon rejoined me.<\/p>\n

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By now, we were already halfway through our day.\u00a0 Lunch was next.\u00a0 Considered a hidden gem, we arrived at the Lang Nghe Truong Son Cultural Village. First we experienced a massive Vietnamese buffet, with every kind of unique food available. \u00a0I especially enjoyed the stuffed pancakes.\u00a0 We moved from the buffet through a courtyard filled with interesting animal sculptures and peaceful gardens \u00a0into the craft village. \u00a0Visitors to the Craft Village can see the artisans weaving mats, making hats and knitting nets.\u00a0 We also observed artisans making sand paintings and carving gourds.<\/p>\n

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Our next stop of the day was the Dam Market.\u00a0 By now my ankle had swollen considerably.\u00a0 I did not feel like bumping into people or getting stepped on in a crowded space, so Alan and I opted to sit outside and enjoy a refreshing drink from a local vendor.\u00a0 Knowing I was heading to medical as soon as we arrived back, I used the time to fill out an incident report.\u00a0 The tour guide wasn\u2019t very happy that I had fallen.<\/p>\n

Our final stop was the Long Son Pagoda. Owning several Guinness World Records and considered as the largest pagoda in Nha Trang, Long Son Pagoda is worth visiting once in a lifetime. The huge white Buddha towers over the city of Na Trang and is visible from quite a ways away.\u00a0 This was another impressive highlight which I was going to have to sit out, as it required conquering 193 steps to the top of the hill. \u00a0The temple itself was built in 1886 and has seen many wars that left a mark on it. The temple is now the center of the Vietnam Buddhist Studies Foundation, where many monks study in its premises. Alongside the sitting Buddha statue on the hill, the temple grounds also house the reclining Buddha, also known as the \u201csleeping Buddha.\u201d\u00a0 I am so grateful to Alan for completing the mission, just so I could enjoy the photos.<\/p>\n

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From here, we headed back to the ship.\u00a0 The hour and a half drive passed quickly.\u00a0 Upon returning to the ship, I immediately hobbled my way to the medical bay on the 4th deck, where I spent the next hour being x-rayed and prodded, confirming that I had a fracture of the foot and a badly sprained knee.\u00a0 The knee was immobilized and a compression sock was placed on my foot. I left the medical bay in a wheelchair with strict orders to stay off my foot\/knee and pack it in ice for at least the next 24 hours.\u00a0 Thank goodness we had a sea day the next day.<\/p>\n

Health Update:\u00a0 This injury would prove to be more serious than originally thought.\u00a0 I had actually fractured my foot in two places, including the talus bone, one of the hardest bones to break in the body.\u00a0 Upon returning home from this travel adventure, I was immediately placed in a walking cast for over 6 weeks.\u00a0 This was followed by months of physical therapy 3 times a week.\u00a0 Due to the complex tears in the ligaments and tendons and my connective tissue disease, I was warned it will take over a year to recover from this injury.<\/p>\n

My advice?\u00a0 Travel everywhere but don’t roll down stairs and always carry travelers insurance!<\/p>\n

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Sometimes our ABC game just doesn\u2019t line up in alphabetical order, such was the case with our time spent in Na Trang, Vietnam.\u00a0 Today\u2019s activity actually took place on March 30, 2026, a couple of days before Halong Bay. Today was a welcome late start.\u00a0 We would be on tour from 9:45-3:15pm.\u00a0 One of our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,18,20,383],"tags":[423,118,119,404,421,158,435,425,424,237,422,330,417],"class_list":["post-3552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures","category-world-adventures","category-asia","category-blog","category-vietnam","tag-ancient","tag-architecture","tag-art","tag-buddha","tag-crafts","tag-culture","tag-folklore","tag-hindu","tag-injury","tag-landscape","tag-pagoda","tag-temple","tag-vietnam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3552"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3729,"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552\/revisions\/3729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcexplorers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}