Southeast Asia Travel
What a pleasant port-of-call! Nha Trang is a city with a village feel. We awoke to watch the final docking. From our window, we could see the VinPearl Amusement Park on the Island to our left. The cable cars from the mainland to the park paused and lifted the cables so the MS Amsterdam could pass under. Operations had resumed by the final docking but the cable cars passed overhead all day until our departure. We had been told to expect a small vendors market on the dock right next to the ship—and there was—but, in addition, there were more vendor stalls outside the port gate. Shoppers’ heaven!
We took the shuttle to Nha Trang Center Mall, a multi-storied emporium across from a lovely beach. Both the beach and the food court at the mall were crowded with tourists—mostly Russians—who are so prevalent in Vietnam that signs and menus are provided in Russian Cyrillic! We had to have a local snack—potato skewers with beer! And that’s how we discovered food court etiquette in Vietnam. You buy a debit card in a pre-set amount and then “charge” your purchases throughout the court. Any balance left is cheerfully refunded. We shopped, roamed the beach and took the shuttle back to the ship. The vendors were still there waiting for us!
RovingRaconteurs.com 