Researching expat life and property in Nha Trang
Retired US military, recently spent 7 years working/living in Hong Kong, just moved back to US this year.
I鈥檓 gonna be in Nha Trang this week to get a better feel for expat life there as a vacation/retirement option.聽 2 bdrm/2 bath type of place is my category.
Are there good/specific places to meet other expats and hear pros/cons, how not to get taken, etc. over a beer or two?
I鈥檒l be there Sun night thru Thu night this week.聽 Jul 7-11.
Any info is greatly appreciated.聽 Thanks!
jhernz94 wrote:Retired US military, recently spent 7 years working/living in Hong Kong, just moved back to US this year.
I鈥檓 gonna be in Nha Trang this week to get a better feel for expat life there as a vacation/retirement option.聽 2 bdrm/2 bath type of place is my category.
Are there good/specific places to meet other expats and hear pros/cons, how not to get taken, etc. over a beer or two?
I鈥檒l be there Sun night thru Thu night this week.聽 Jul 7-11.
Any info is greatly appreciated.聽 Thanks!
Jump onto this on Facebook, lots of long-term expats.
Expats in Nha Trang
Nha trang???????? Good luck!!!! Brush up on your Russian and Mandarin.
G鈥檇ay Jernz.
Actually there鈥檚 an old bloke here from your home state of Montana,,,but he鈥檚 getting out.
Another US guy I knew about 6 years ago has came back & can鈥檛 find anyone to have morning coffee with.聽 聽He鈥檚 even advertised on the Expat FB page here.聽 聽 聽
It wasn鈥檛 that long ago, you could walk around town & see several groups of English speaking blokes talking bullshit to one another over coffee every morning.聽 聽 On the little chairs, under umbrellas, on corners ..they鈥檇 be everywhere.
NOW.....they鈥檝e virtually disappeared.聽 聽That 鈥渧ibe鈥 is gone.聽 聽It鈥檚 mostly upmarket Cafes with kids on phones drinking milk tea.
There鈥檚 a couple of 鈥渂ars鈥 for Expats in shitty back alleys .....but it鈥檚 a depressing scene.聽 聽 聽
If you like Russian Shisha Bars you鈥檒l be fine.聽
Another good idea is join the 鈥渕ass market Chinese Buffett circuit.鈥澛 聽Keep in the spirit of things & take a plastic bag & steal the food that you can鈥檛 gorge into yourself.聽 聽 聽
Then , once sweating & full...take your food stained singlet off & tie it around your head.聽 ( keeps the sweat out of your eyes) .
Then you can sit back , burp fart and belch like the rest of the filthy animals.
As soon as I saw the title, I knew Yogi would not be able to help himself and have a "mont茅e de lait" (production of breast milk), it's a Qu茅bec expression meaning "throwing a hissy fit" (thank you Linguee). Lately when I don't have much time to scout the forum I just check any new thread with "Nha Trang" in it and eagerly read it.
Well thank the gods I missed the glory days of legions of fellow Brits fuglying up the place. The Chinese can be easily swatted out of the way and the Russians have better manners than most Yanks.
Anyone I forgot to offend? Don't worry I'll get around to you.聽 
G鈥檇ay Brick,
Gees .....you鈥檒l be busy,,,,there鈥檚 only 200,000 of them here to be swatted. 馃槅
Would you believe one of my best friends here is a Russian,,,,and he doesn鈥檛 mind being referred to as 鈥淪ocialist Swill鈥.聽 聽He鈥檚 a good guy with a sense of humour.
I said before,,I was talking聽 to a Chinese bloke who said the Vietnamese are not a problem for them,聽 聽He reckoned all 1.5 billion of Chinese could stand on the northern border & all take a piss at once and flush the Vietnamese all the way out thru the Mekong delta. ....eek.
It鈥檚 all about understanding how people 鈥渢ick鈥.聽 聽What鈥檚 normal for them , is a surprise to others...and vice versa.
But I must admit,,seeing a red faced, profusely sweating chinaman ,, full of shitty cheap seafood,聽 with his shirt up over his belly , just sit back , raise one knee, grit his teeth & fart. 馃聽 聽It鈥檚 a cultural experience for the bucket list.
Yogi007 wrote:G鈥檇ay Brick,
Gees .....you鈥檒l be busy,,,,there鈥檚 only 200,000 of them here to be swatted. 馃槅
Would you believe one of my best friends here is a Russian,,,,and he doesn鈥檛 mind being referred to as 鈥淪ocialist Swill鈥.聽 聽He鈥檚 a good guy with a sense of humour.
I said before,,I was talking聽 to a Chinese bloke who said the Vietnamese are not a problem for them,聽 聽He reckoned all 1.5 billion of Chinese could stand on the northern border & all take a piss at once and flush the Vietnamese all the way out thru the Mekong delta. ....eek.
It鈥檚 all about understanding how people 鈥渢ick鈥.聽 聽What鈥檚 normal for them , is a surprise to others...and vice versa.
But I must admit,,seeing a red faced, profusely sweating chinaman ,, full of shitty cheap seafood,聽 with his shirt up over his belly , just sit back , raise one knee, grit his teeth & fart. 馃聽 聽It鈥檚 a cultural experience for the bucket list.
At the end of the day, if NT was that bad Im sure you would have vacated years ago. It is what you make it.
I have a friend who lives on the outskirts of NT and has no issues living there.
My post #5 above pretty much sums up the changes that have taken place.聽
It鈥檚 still a great place to be,,but it simply hasn鈥檛 got the 鈥渧ibe鈥 it once had.聽 聽
The Khanh Hoa administration wanted to 鈥渃ap鈥 the development since in 5 years there鈥檚 been over 120 high rise projects take off.聽 聽But the projects approved & yet to start were approved years ago so the concrete trucks will be pumping 24/7 for years to come.聽 馃
NT has got everything you want , but the crowds are taking the shine off it.聽 聽Actually now...I鈥檓 on my balcony looking towards the beach ,on the quiet side of town and there鈥檚 a 5000 unit Mount Thanh apartment/ hotel complex sitting beachfront on about 3 acres of dirt.聽 聽 But the surrounding infrastructure hasn鈥檛 been upgraded.
Two years ago you could walk to the beach and only see the early morning Veg market people & early swimmers.....Now it鈥檚 a log jam of buses & taxis blowing their horns .聽 It鈥檚 all,happened so fast.聽
And there鈥檚 several more projects nearing completion nearby totalling nearly 6000 apartments & several big hotels.聽 聽
I took a foto 5 years ago looking down the 2km beach....only about 6 small buildings noticeable....now 馃槼 it鈥檚 getting close to wall to wall high rise.
In the news this week the Da Nang administration is also considering putting a Cap on beachfront high rise.聽 They鈥檙e starting to realise that overdevelopment may actually be their downfall in the end.聽
The big problem is......they鈥檙e spending a lot of borrowed money,,building shit quality properties.聽 聽There鈥檚 two types of debt. Good debt & bad debt.聽 聽 Good debt finances good quality sustainable projects that last & become a valuable asset.聽 聽 Bad debt is money wasted building cheap rubbish with zero supporting infrastructure.
Most of this stuff will have a wrecking ball go thru it within 10 years....the demolition cost would probably negate the land value so the whole things worth close to squat.聽 聽 聽
How about those dudes with the 50 years leases. 馃槅
It鈥檚 still a great place....but my visa runs are getting a lot longer in duration.
As I said in an earlier post , Doc let ,,40k north of NT is nice.聽 Ninh hoa town is only 10 minutes away & Doc Let has local markets and street food as well.聽 But if you live alone...security will be an issue when you leave.聽 聽Yogi puts the odd weekend in there for a bit of R&R.聽
You鈥檝e simply got to find ways of making things more聽 liveable.聽 聽Lately, on sunset I鈥檒l grab a cool drink & snack and ride 10k north of town to a nice lookout over the ocean ......Yogis Zen time馃槅
My lady friend likes that idea to...she flatly refuses to eat anywhere if there鈥檚 鈥渢ourists鈥 there.聽 聽 Only wants to eat if the clientele is all Vietnamese.....suits me.聽 聽 She said the tourist places serve rubbish .馃槅馃槅馃槅
It鈥檚 just a sign of the times in Asian tourism.聽 聽Other places will always 鈥減op up鈥 as the new paradise .聽 聽You often read articles of places referred to as the 鈥渘ew Bali鈥 or whatever,,so keeping the eyes open.
But Yogi does have a special place in mind here.....I鈥檒l be up there again in August.
Not telling anybody either....馃
I first went to NT 14 years ago, it was a very different city back then.
I live in Nha Trang. If you are looking to relax by the sea long-term you might want to consider Da Nang. I think Da Nang is a lot more liveable and low-key.
I second your recommendation on Danang, Nha trang was not my cup of tea. Not a big enough diversity of people there, I don't speak Russian or Mandarin. Never had a problem with either mind you, just didn't feel comfortable there.
Thank you guys for your replies. As a local, it's interesting to know about the comments of foreigners about Nha Trang nowadays.
I'm very glad I read this thread.聽 While NT is quite beautiful, I think I'll keep it as a monthly shopping/nightlife trip and stay in Phan Rang!聽 Kinda surprised that the foreigner-bashing didn't include the Koreans too....lol...you guys are terrible!!!!聽 :-O
I know one thing for sure:聽 I didn't come halfway around the world to live in Disney-**** land...sounds dreadful.
Reason : foul language
Bruce_M wrote:I'm very glad I read this thread.聽 While NT is quite beautiful, I think I'll keep it as a monthly shopping/nightlife trip and stay in Phan Rang!聽 Kinda surprised that the foreigner-bashing didn't include the Koreans too....lol...you guys are terrible!!!!聽 :-O
I know one thing for sure:聽 I didn't come halfway around the world to live in Disney-****-land...sounds dreadful.
馃幎"It's A Small World After All!"馃幎
Yogi007 wrote:My post #5 above pretty much sums up the changes that have taken place.聽
It鈥檚 still a great place to be,,but it simply hasn鈥檛 got the 鈥渧ibe鈥 it once had.聽 聽
The Khanh Hoa administration wanted to 鈥渃ap鈥 the development since in 5 years there鈥檚 been over 120 high rise projects take off.聽 聽But the projects approved & yet to start were approved years ago so the concrete trucks will be pumping 24/7 for years to come.聽 馃
NT has got everything you want , but the crowds are taking the shine off it.聽 聽Actually now...I鈥檓 on my balcony looking towards the beach ,on the quiet side of town and there鈥檚 a 5000 unit Mount Thanh apartment/ hotel complex sitting beachfront on about 3 acres of dirt.聽 聽 But the surrounding infrastructure hasn鈥檛 been upgraded.
Two years ago you could walk to the beach and only see the early morning Veg market people & early swimmers.....Now it鈥檚 a log jam of buses & taxis blowing their horns .聽 It鈥檚 all,happened so fast.聽
And there鈥檚 several more projects nearing completion nearby totalling nearly 6000 apartments & several big hotels.聽 聽
I took a foto 5 years ago looking down the 2km beach....only about 6 small buildings noticeable....now 馃槼 it鈥檚 getting close to wall to wall high rise.
In the news this week the Da Nang administration is also considering putting a Cap on beachfront high rise.聽 They鈥檙e starting to realise that overdevelopment may actually be their downfall in the end.聽
The big problem is......they鈥檙e spending a lot of borrowed money,,building shit quality properties.聽 聽There鈥檚 two types of debt. Good debt & bad debt.聽 聽 Good debt finances good quality sustainable projects that last & become a valuable asset.聽 聽 Bad debt is money wasted building cheap rubbish with zero supporting infrastructure.
Most of this stuff will have a wrecking ball go thru it within 10 years....the demolition cost would probably negate the land value so the whole things worth close to squat.聽 聽 聽
How about those dudes with the 50 years leases. 馃槅
It鈥檚 still a great place....but my visa runs are getting a lot longer in duration.
As I said in an earlier post , Doc let ,,40k north of NT is nice.聽 Ninh hoa town is only 10 minutes away & Doc Let has local markets and street food as well.聽 But if you live alone...security will be an issue when you leave.聽 聽Yogi puts the odd weekend in there for a bit of R&R.聽
You鈥檝e simply got to find ways of making things more聽 liveable.聽 聽Lately, on sunset I鈥檒l grab a cool drink & snack and ride 10k north of town to a nice lookout over the ocean ......Yogis Zen time馃槅
My lady friend likes that idea to...she flatly refuses to eat anywhere if there鈥檚 鈥渢ourists鈥 there.聽 聽 Only wants to eat if the clientele is all Vietnamese.....suits me.聽 聽 She said the tourist places serve rubbish .馃槅馃槅馃槅
It鈥檚 just a sign of the times in Asian tourism.聽 聽Other places will always 鈥減op up鈥 as the new paradise .聽 聽You often read articles of places referred to as the 鈥渘ew Bali鈥 or whatever,,so keeping the eyes open.
But Yogi does have a special place in mind here.....I鈥檒l be up there again in August.
Not telling anybody either....馃
Thanks for your great visuals, Yogi.
How are things recently since the Chinese have been barred from traveling there?
I'm preparing to leave Vu虄ng Ta虁u and I plan to check out Nha Trang for at least a month.
Colin & John, this serves as my official notice 馃槈
Make your relocation easier with the Nha Trang expat guide

Working in Nha Trang
The city of Nha Trang, located in the province of Khanh Hoa, thrives on tourism. If you are looking for a job in ...

Accommodation in Nha Trang
If you are researching making this coastal city of Vietnam your home, be prepared to enjoy views of the ocean with ...

International schools in Vietnam
Many families moving to Vietnam are curious about the quality of education available to their children. This ...

Getting married in Vietnam
Have you met that perfect someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with? Luckily, getting married in ...

Working in Vietnam
Anyone thinking about working in Vietnam is in for a treat. Compared to many Western countries, Vietnam's ...

The health system in Vietnam
Moving to Vietnam is going to present you with an abundance of challenges, from the logistical aspect to customs ...

Working in Hanoi
Finding a job in Hanoi may not be too challenging if you are in a niche career field or have been in discussions ...

Working in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City, also referred to as S脿i G貌n, is the economic capital of the country. This ...
Forum topics on living in Nha Trang



