Russian Tourist Compares Vietnam’s Nha Trang to a Familiar Black Sea Resort

A Russian traveler recently shared a blunt review of Nha Trang, Vietnam, comparing the coastal city to Anapa—a popular but crowded Russian resort on the Black Sea. Posting anonymously in the comments of a travel blogger’s page on the platform Dzen, the woman said she skipped the famous VinWonders amusement island because it was swamped with tourists. “Locals say they’ve never seen anything like it. Pure Anapa-style. Guys walk the beach with baskets yelling, ‘Pies, chebureki, samsa,’” she wrote.

The visitor wasn’t impressed with Nha Trang overall. She described the sea as unappealing and the beach as packed so tight that people sat “on top of each other.” “You fly ten hours from Moscow just to end up in Anapa,” she said. “I didn’t see Vietnam there.” Her comments echo a growing sentiment among some travelers who feel the destination has lost its local character amid a surge of Russian visitors.

Meanwhile, the travel blogger who hosted the discussion found and reviewed the Sochi Hotel—a property with a distinctly Russian name, located a 20-minute walk from the center. The surrounding streets feature cafes like Ararat, a restaurant called Tashkent, and a tea house named Ala-Too. The blogger noted the hotel is a standard 21-story high-rise with no private grounds or beach, but the public beach is just across the road. “Everything you need is nearby,” she wrote, pointing to currency exchanges and Russian-speaking staff. Earlier, the same traveler had complained about rude locals, poor service, and overpriced food in the area.