草榴社区

Have you tried Da Nang?聽 We spent some time in Da Nang and it is our preference for many reasons (seasonal weather and not super hot all year long, very modern and closest to a western city I have seen in VN, beaches and lots of green spaces etc.).聽 However, wife tells me the Chinese are taking over the city.

Last week we took a flight near Nha Trang and then a shuttle bus into Nha Trang.
- @Dannyroc3

FYI, that was Cam Ranh International Airport where you landed (at Cam Ranh Bay) - formerly the site of Cam Ranh Air Base and nearby Cam Ranh Naval Base.

If you ever cross paths with war veterans seeking info on those subjects, this is the sub-forum for them

@dcattycpa

As for Da Nang, from what little I know it is similar to Na Trang, at least enough where the comparison is so often made.

Since it was farther, we went to Na Trang.

I mentioned the huge number of Russians in Na Trang so I should ask if anyone knows why they cluster there?聽

It could be a small cluster begins and then people are attracted to a place which has familiar people there and so the cluster grows.

@Dannyroc3

Well, I respectfully disagree, Da Nang is very different from Na Trang from weather to infrastructure.聽 As for the Russians, my understanding is that they like to vacation in Na Trang and they get package deals.聽 Everywhere we went in Na Trang, Russians were there and lots of families on vacation.聽 Did not see any in Da Nang, but we stayed at the Intercontinental Resort which they likely will not spend that kind of money for a family vacation.聽

... As for the Russians, my understanding is that they like to vacation in Na Trang and they get package deals. Everywhere we went in Na Trang, Russians were there and lots of families on vacation... - @dcattycpa

According to several of the Russian tourists I've spoken to here in Phu Quoc (a popular destination for Russian tourists), many employers in Russia give their employees encouragement/assistance to vacation in VN.

I've been told that employees of many larger companies contribute a small amount monthly towards their holiday here, with the companies paying up to 75% of the costs for the VN trip.

VN shares many idealogical traits with that of the RU, so their common attraction is understandable. Add to that the privilege of visa-free 45 day travel.

@Aidan in HCMC

So thats interesting, as far as I knew Turkey and Egypt were the hot spots for vacations (based mostly on photos I used to see so often.聽 But maybe in the last few years that changed or those self-funding their vacations still do the Turkey thing.

Why that one city is a question but it could be as simple as volume of travel makes that the best airfare deal.

I was in Nha Trang recently and was told that there are direct flights from Kazakhstan, so that could be part of the attraction for Russians as well as the obvious idealogical similarities. I prefer Nha Trang to Da Nang, which seems to me to be just a big city with a beach, although surrounded by beautiful countryside,聽 but of the three cities you mentioned, my choice for settling down would be Da Lat.

@Dannyroc3

Thanks a lot for the post. We are going to spend three months in Nha Trang so this will help ease the shock on arrival !

I had already read that is was a Russian tourist destination and your experience confirm this.

I will probably write about the place once we are there

Our former Vietnam expert who was born in Vietnam and raised in the States visited there one time and posted about it.

She never mentioned a word about the Russians but she was quite perturbed by the Chinese tour companies operating there.

This might be a good time to be reminded that even though this is an English language forum, it's not necessarily a forum just for "westerners".

Chinese and Russian expats have just as much a right to participate here in this forum, and many of them do so as lurkers.

It's probably a good idea (I think admin would say so) that we avoid any blanket criticisms of any one nationality, just as we also avoid blanket criticisms of Vietnamese people.

Apparently Americans like me are still fair game...

馃槣

Just to be clear, I wasn't critisising anyone, just sharing my observations and yes, there are also a lot of Chinese tourists in Nha Trang. Part of the reason I travel is to meet and interact with different people and cultures.

Just to be clear, I wasn't critisising anyone, just sharing my observations and yes, there are also a lot of Chinese tourists in Nha Trang. Part of the reason I travel is to meet and interact with different people and cultures. - @Malcolmleitrim

I wasn't accusing anyone..

just a reminder to everyone, including the casual reader who hasn't posted in this thread yet, that when we speak about Chinese or Russians or any other nationality in the Vietnam Forum, they are probably here in the room with us, listening to us talk about them.

Cheers!

The Russians have been going on holiday for years there,I meet a lot of them in 2014. lovely people, had a good laugh with them.

Pegasus the Turkish Tour company were selling package holidays to Nha Trang for Russian holiday makers by flying directly into Cam Ranh International Airport up until they Turkish airforce shot down a Russian fighter jet during the Syrian uprising causing Putin to ban Russians from flying with any Tuirkish airline. This immediately halted the flow of Russians to Nha Trang. It was devastating to businesses that had switched to catering to Russians. Obviously that ban has been lifted or they've found other airlines to fly directly into Cam Ranh.

@rogergarinmichaud

I think you will enjoy it due to the weather, affordability and its beaches. Again, the first few blocks along the beach are heavy with tourist. One of the reasons I rented a motorbike was to take in what the city looked like farther inland and I would say it was a little better than I expected. Also I wanted to visit a church to the north which has interesting colors. Even the main vendor market (the circular one) is well planned out with wide passage ways.聽

One of the interesting things I read was that the largest church, which is near a busy circle and is on a bit of high elevation (Church on the Rock might be its name) had that rock formation flattened by using a large number of leftover artillery shells.

@jackieclarke35

Yeah it is a curious thing to me how Indian nations seem to gravitate to HCMC and other groups gravitate towards other areas.

Though in Dalate I don't recall seeing more than a few of any one group. I imagined it would have more European tourists. White people love places in higher elevations. I know I do too.

@jackieclarke35 Yeah it is a curious thing to me how Indian nations seem to gravitate to HCMC and other groups gravitate towards other areas. Though in Dalate I don't recall seeing more than a few of any one group. I imagined it would have more European tourists. White people love places in higher elevations. I know I do too. - @Dannyroc3

Maybe spend significant time in all three major cities (HCMC, H脿 N峄檌 & 膼脿 N岷祅g) as well as the other "special" cities such as C岷�n Th啤 & H岷�i Ph貌ng, before you make such uninformed statements.

If you are simply asking questions, then it's nice to be able to give you feedback, but when you post false or misleading information that is your baseless opinion, that's when long time members of the forum will correct you.

@DannyRoc3

Thanks for the tip about the large church. I did visit a few of them in Dalat / HCMC / Hanoi but in Nha Trang my main focus will be the Cham Towers, I am fascinated by the South Indian influence on the country between the 5th and 10th centuries. Obviously my main area of interest is always history and archaeology.

There is a very good museum Cham museum in DaNang, mostly full of the stuff found by French archaeologists during the 19th and 20th centuries

@OceanBeach92107

I simply commented on what was plainly observable in the places I visited, making no speculation about other areas.

The trend of tourists or immigrants clustering in certain cities or parts of cities is an age-old natural occurrence.

If my impressions were wrong, I welcome correction.