Forever two loving words...

My friends have been free these past few days, sitting around drinking coffee or chatting, tomorrow the local government will only have 2 levels, so what will Nha Trang be called? Each person has their own understanding, in the end we laugh together, what will we know tomorrow. Only one thing is clear, when we sit and chat, Nha Trang is still bustling with daily life. Every morning, people and tourists still flock to the beach to walk and welcome the sunrise; fish trucks from early morning still work hard to bring fish from Cua Be, Hon Ro, Vinh Luong... to the markets in Nha Trang; tourist groups still happily enjoy the blue sky, white sand, and golden sunshine of the beautiful coastal city...

Photo: Tran Anh Khoa

I was not born in Nha Trang, but my whole life is attached to this city. In the 80s of the last century, the first time I came to Nha Trang, the city was still very small. The famous postcard of that time showed Tran Phu Street hugging a soft circle of the sea with green islands separating it into a double road, which at that time only reached the beginning of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street. The rest was a tiny single road running down to Cau Da, with a pine forest on one side and a deserted airport on the other. I was able to immerse myself in the vibrant atmosphere of the milestones marking Nha Trang's rise.

That is Tran Phu Bridge inaugurated on September 2, 2002, the end point of Tran Phu Street and the beginning of Pham Van Dong Street extending to Vinh Luong connecting with National Highway 1, opening up a development direction with a vast land fund north of Nha Trang. That is Nguyen Tat Thanh Avenue connecting Cam Ranh Airport with Nha Trang, completed right on the occasion of the opening of Cam Ranh Airport on May 19, 2004. That was June 2015, National Highway 27C connecting Nha Trang with Da Lat came into operation, connecting the coastal city with the flower city in just over 2 hours by car... There are many other milestones, marking Nha Trang changing, expanding, and connecting every day.

In this city, I also lived through a historic farewell. In July 1989, Phu Khanh was divided into two provinces, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa . The farewell that now, when thinking back, feels exactly like two poor brothers whose parents decided to send them far away to make a living. I still remember that day, the superiors conveyed the spirit when dividing the agency's assets, the best things would be prioritized for Phu Yen because the new province was more difficult than those who stayed behind. It sounds grand, but the agency's assets were only a few sets of tables and chairs, wooden filing cabinets, a few typewriters... Everything was divided in two, whatever was left was sent to Phu Yen. My agency assigned the brothers in the youth union to help put the poor assets on the car, driving over Deo Ca to the new province. At the moment of parting, the brothers hugged each other, patted each other on the back, and promised to visit each other often...

It has been 36 years since that separation. Since then, both brothers have become successful, creating a bustling Nha Trang, a developing Tuy Hoa city with a very systematic and modern planning vision, contributing to creating a poetic coastal urban chain in the South Central region. Remembering this memory helps us understand that the changes in the development process are all historical needs, all aiming for a better goal than the present. Life is a constant flow moving forward.

Like all the locals and tourists, the two words Nha Trang are forever imprinted in my heart. Those two words evoke a beloved land, a peaceful and vibrant city of white sand and golden sunshine. Those two words forever resonate in people's hearts through the melodies of "Nha Trang on the way back" by Pham Duy, "Nha Trang in autumn" by Van Ky. And in the boundless love of musician Do Tri Dung: "Dear Nha Trang, I vow to live with you. Dear Nha Trang, I vow to sing about you. I vow to be the white waves following each other to the shore. Let my heart forever love you passionately...".

But do the waves ever stop hitting the shore?

MERCURY

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/202503/mai-la-hai-tieng-than-thuong-013477d/