beautiful palm-fringed beach, breath-taking vistas and succulent
seafood. But if you're bored with lazy days by the beach, Nha Trang Xua
(Old Nha Trang) is the place for you.
It's hard to believe
the resort, which occupies 2ha in Thong Thai Village at the foot
of Giang Huong Mountain , is just 3km from the chaotic city
centre.
The resort has 11 bungalows nestling in a field of
rice. The air is scented with the sweet smell of lotus flowers, and a
gentle breeze wafts your cares away.
The resort is owned by Truong Dinh Ngoc Yen, a Nha Trang-born woman, who loves peace and quiet.
"I used to spend a lot of time living with my grandma in the village when I was a child," she says.
"Later, I went to university in Nha Trang, before opening a business in
the bustling city. However, I always longed for the peaceful atmosphere
that I remembered from my childhood.
"I love seeing
small birds pecking at food on the ground. I have always dreamt of
building a small secluded garden like my mum's. My childhood is full of
fond memories."
She followed her dreams and bought a small plot of land which she turned into a picturesque garden.
Visiting friends urged her to open the garden to the public, so she established Nha Trang Xua in 2009.
In the beginning it was just a small garden and a food court. But even
then, about 200 people would visit daily – three times that number on
the weekends.
To create a local atmosphere, Yen has bought
plants native to the area to her garden. There are also vegetables,
fruit trees and herbs.
"The resort reminds me a lot of my
grandparents' house in Vinh Phuong Village 30 years ago," says local
resident Huynh Phuong.
"Every corner of the resort is a
reflection of different parts of Nha Trang in days gone by. The wet
yin-yang roofed house in the middle of the garden, the pond, the mossy
brick path."
Yen has relocated houses dating back 100 to
300 years to the resort, which now comprises 11 houses; a food court
capable of accommodating 250 diners; a food centre for package tourists
and formal functions, which has a capacity of 700 guests; and a
seven-room hotel.
The restaurants offers more than 100 traditional local dishes, which are served authentically.
"The resort is unique, local but professionally run," says Bui Minh
Thang, director of Phuong Thang Tourism Company. "Nha Trang lacks places
like this. It gives visitors an incite into local culture."
However, Thang says the owner should advertise the place better to foreign visitors and provide better car-parking facilities.
But these shortcomings do not put off Beth Keyser from Australia .
"I like the small cosy and nature-friendly atmosphere of the resort,"
she says. "I have stayed in similar places in Thailand , but here, I
feel like I'm experiencing Vietnamese life as it was in the early 19th
century. All the furniture inside the old house is authentic."
Yen says she wants visitors to feel like they are in a time warp.
"I want visitors to see a different world, to escape from the hustle
and bustle of city life and return to the old peaceful days when people
had time for one another. I want people to hear birds singing in the
morning, smell the scent of flowers and discover themselves, something
that can only happen in a place of quietness and harmony," she says.
Lovely as the resort is, Yen is not happy – she has expansionist plans.
"I want to relocate more old houses so that I can host wedding parties.
I love to imagine a wedding procession proceeding down the path in a
field of mature rice," she sighs./.
