Researching expat life and property in Nha Trang

jhernz94 wrote:

Retired US military, recently spent 7 years working/living in Hong Kong, just moved back to US this year.
I'm gonna be in Nha Trang this week to get a better feel for expat life there as a vacation/retirement option.  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'll be there Sun night thru Thu night this week.  Jul 7-11.
Any info is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Jump onto this on Facebook, lots of long-term expats.

Expats in Nha Trang

Thanks a lot!  Just requested.

Nha trang???????? Good luck!!!! Brush up on your Russian and Mandarin.

G'day Jernz.

Actually there's an old bloke here from your home state of Montana,,,but he's getting out.

Another US guy I knew about 6 years ago has came back & can't find anyone to have morning coffee with.   He's even advertised on the Expat FB page here.     

It wasn't that long ago, you could walk around town & see several groups of English speaking blokes talking bullshit to one another over coffee every morning.    On the little chairs, under umbrellas, on corners ..they'd be everywhere.

NOW.....they've virtually disappeared.   That “vibe” is gone.   It's mostly upmarket Cafes with kids on phones drinking milk tea.

There's a couple of “bars” for Expats in shitty back alleys .....but it's a depressing scene.     

If you like Russian Shisha Bars you'll be fine. 

Another good idea is join the “mass market Chinese Buffett circuit.”   Keep in the spirit of things & take a plastic bag & steal the food that you can't gorge into yourself.     

Then , once sweating & full...take your food stained singlet off & tie it around your head.  ( 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 "montée de lait" (production of breast milk), it's a Québec 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. 

G'day Brick,
Gees .....you'll be busy,,,,there's only 200,000 of them here to be swatted. 😆

Would you believe one of my best friends here is a Russian,,,,and he doesn't mind being referred to as “Socialist Swill”.   He's a good guy with a sense of humour.

I said before,,I was talking  to a Chinese bloke who said the Vietnamese are not a problem for them,   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's all about understanding how people “tick”.   What's 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,  with his shirt up over his belly , just sit back , raise one knee, grit his teeth & fart. 🤓   It's a cultural experience for the bucket list.

Yogi007 wrote:

G'day Brick,
Gees .....you'll be busy,,,,there's only 200,000 of them here to be swatted. 😆

Would you believe one of my best friends here is a Russian,,,,and he doesn't mind being referred to as “Socialist Swill”.   He's a good guy with a sense of humour.

I said before,,I was talking  to a Chinese bloke who said the Vietnamese are not a problem for them,   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's all about understanding how people “tick”.   What's 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,  with his shirt up over his belly , just sit back , raise one knee, grit his teeth & fart. 🤓   It's 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. 

It's still a great place to be,,but it simply hasn't got the “vibe” it once had.   

The Khanh Hoa administration wanted to “cap” the development since in 5 years there's been over 120 high rise projects take off.   But the projects approved & yet to start were approved years ago so the concrete trucks will be pumping 24/7 for years to come.  🤓

NT has got everything you want , but the crowds are taking the shine off it.   Actually now...I'm on my balcony looking towards the beach ,on the quiet side of town and there's a 5000 unit Mount Thanh apartment/ hotel complex sitting beachfront on about 3 acres of dirt.    But the surrounding infrastructure hasn't been upgraded.

Two years ago you could walk to the beach and only see the early morning Veg market people & early swimmers.....Now it's a log jam of buses & taxis blowing their horns .  It's all,happened so fast. 

And there's several more projects nearing completion nearby totalling nearly 6000 apartments & several big hotels.   

I took a foto 5 years ago looking down the 2km beach....only about 6 small buildings noticeable....now 😳 it's 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.  They're starting to realise that overdevelopment may actually be their downfall in the end. 

The big problem is......they're spending a lot of borrowed money,,building shit quality properties.   There's two types of debt. Good debt & bad debt.    Good debt finances good quality sustainable projects that last & become a valuable asset.    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.     

How about those dudes with the 50 years leases. 😆

It's 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.  Ninh hoa town is only 10 minutes away & Doc Let has local markets and street food as well.  But if you live alone...security will be an issue when you leave.   Yogi puts the odd weekend in there for a bit of R&R. 

You've simply got to find ways of making things more  liveable.   Lately, on sunset I'll grab a cool drink & snack and ride 10k north of town to a nice lookout over the ocean ......Yogis Zen time😆

My lady friend likes that idea to...she flatly refuses to eat anywhere if there's “tourists” there.    Only wants to eat if the clientele is all Vietnamese.....suits me.    She said the tourist places serve rubbish .😆😆😆

It's just a sign of the times in Asian tourism.   Other places will always “pop up” as the new paradise .   You often read articles of places referred to as the “new Bali” or whatever,,so keeping the eyes open.

But Yogi does have a special place in mind here.....I'll be up there again in August.

Not telling anybody either....🤓

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.  While NT is quite beautiful, I think I'll keep it as a monthly shopping/nightlife trip and stay in Phan Rang!  Kinda surprised that the foreigner-bashing didn't include the Koreans too....lol...you guys are terrible!!!!  :-O
I know one thing for sure:  I didn't come halfway around the world to live in Disney-**** land...sounds dreadful.

Bruce_M wrote:

I'm very glad I read this thread.  While NT is quite beautiful, I think I'll keep it as a monthly shopping/nightlife trip and stay in Phan Rang!  Kinda surprised that the foreigner-bashing didn't include the Koreans too....lol...you guys are terrible!!!!  :-O

I know one thing for sure:  I didn't come halfway around the world to live in Disney-****-land...sounds dreadful.

🎶"It's A Small World After All!"🎶