Thap Ba Hot Springs

Early in the morning, the gate on Ngô Đến Street swings open. The Nha Trang sun is still gentle, and the trees in the garden still throw cool shade. In the private pools, the mineral mud has already been warmed, waiting for the first guests of the day.

This is Suối khoáng nóng Tháp Bà, the hot springs on the north side of Nha Trang, about four kilometers from the center of the seaside city. The grounds lie with their back against the mountain slope. Eucalyptus trees shade the slope. And the springs lie right behind the ancient towers of Tháp Bà Ponagar, which give the springs their name.

Everything here begins with two gifts from the earth: mineral clay mud and hot mineral water. All the rest comes from those two things. There are pools for soaking in mud, tubs for soaking in hot mineral water, and even a swimming pool of warm mineral water. Many people simply call the place Tắm Bùn Tháp Bà, the Tháp Bà mud baths.

The mud and the water have to come from somewhere. In the mid-2000s, both were drawn from two areas of land, Ninh Lộc and Vĩnh Phương. The mineral water was taken from a source 100 meters below the ground, then pumped straight to the springs. A depth of 100 meters is nearly the length of a whole soccer field, only driven straight down into the earth. The mud, once it was brought up, went into a centrifuge. The machine spun round and round and filtered out the impurities. Then the fine mud was gathered into large holding tanks, waiting for the day it would meet its guests.

Now follow one family as they step into their own private mud pool. The mud is warmed to about 37 to 39 degrees Celsius. It feels as warm as the bath water a mother runs for her child on a chilly evening. The feet touch down first. Soft. Smooth. As fine as thick cream. Then comes the surprise: the body does not sink.

Whether they sit cross-legged or stretch out full length, people find themselves floating, light as a leaf on a pond. The secret lies in the salt and the minerals in the mud and the water. They hold the body up, just as seawater holds up a swimmer. A small child is sure to laugh at floating up on their own, with no need to kick or paddle at all.

Parents and children can lie together in the same pool. Each mud soak lasts 20 minutes. Twenty minutes to hear your own breathing slow down. Twenty minutes to watch the skin turn pink under the warmth of the mud. That pink flush is not an allergy. It is only the warmth helping the blood flow more evenly through the body.

The praise for this mud has been put to the test. The mineral mud and mineral water here were studied and assessed by the Ministry of Health for certain groups of illnesses. The clinical trials were carried out at Bệnh viện Phục hồi Chức năng Trung ương, the central rehabilitation hospital. They lasted two full years, from October 2002 to October 2004. Still, for the grandparents, for the parents, and for the grandchild who runs around all day, a mud soak is above all a time to relax. It is a simple way to take care of the body.

After the mud pool, everyone rinses off and moves on to the hot mineral water. There is a herbal soak, where hot mineral water is blended with herbs and kept at about 40 degrees Celsius. Each soak in the hot mineral water lasts about 30 minutes. After that come the whirlpool tubs fizzing with tiny bubbles, and the mineral waterfalls that pour down onto the shoulders. There is a hot mineral pool, a cool mineral pool, and a steam room as well. Anyone who wants to try the whole round can take it slowly, because nothing here needs to be rushed.

For the children, the swimming pool may be the most fun of all. The children's pool is only 80 centimeters deep. The warm mineral pool for adults is 1.45 meters deep. After the soak, a few sips of cool water and something light to eat, and the body feels refreshed, as if it had just been washed clean.

At midday, when the Nha Trang sun climbs high, the garden becomes the most pleasant place to sit and rest. Rows of trees spread their shade, the flower beds show off their colors, and the lake and the swimming pool shine clear and blue. Even without another soak, just sitting there and listening to the water fall from the mineral cascade is enough to ease the tiredness of a long day. In a noisy seaside city, a quiet green corner like this is something to treasure.

In the late afternoon, the last guests leave the pools, and all the services come to a stop. The mud pools grow still, the surface of the swimming pool smooths out, and the eucalyptus slope darkens in the evening light. Nearby, the ancient towers still stand on their hill, as they have for generations. And in the large holding tanks, the fine mud lies quiet, waiting for tomorrow morning, when the gate on Ngô Đến Street opens once again.