Get muddy in giant eggs

PHOTO: KHUE VIET TRUONG
Eggs as mud bath tubs among the trees at 100-Egg Mud Bath Resorts & Spa in the famous resort town of Nha Trang

Paying good money to sit in a pool of mud has long been popular in Nha Trang, and now the service is available at a new resort just outside the holiday town on the lower central coast.

The 100-Egg Mud Bath Resort & Spa, which opened last December, is situated in Phuoc Dong Commune eight kilometers from the center of Nha Trang. It stands at the foot of Hoang Nguu Mountain in the Dong Bo Range.

On the approach to 100-Egg, the large egg-shaped mud baths that give the leafy resort its name are visible from quite a way off.

The entrance is via a huge egg wearing a red hat, after which comes the central lake with a fountain. A pleasant footpath is decorated with a pair of rock eggs nearly two meters tall; they symbolize a couple.

On the roof of the restaurant is a basket boat in which well-arranged eggs stand out against the blue sky and white clouds. Two eggs flank the restaurant gate. Unsurprisingly, the menu there features several egg dishes.

There are eggs everywhere. The rattan chairs on the way to the VIP Section for visitors look like eggs, the basins for splashing the face are shaped like egg-halves, and eggs installed here and there spout water for the trees and grass. The eggs are made of various materials, usually rock, and come in different shapes, sizes, and colors from white to gray, pink and yellow.  

The egg yard on the mountain side is the main feature of the 100-Egg Mud Bath Resort & Spa. Each egg therein is a mud bath pool, and measures two meters in height and 1.5 meters in width. Next to each egg is a tank of water, carved out of rock, and a platform for standing on to rinse off the mud after a good soak.

Below the egg yard are three swimming pools, and there is also the Egg Café serving drinks and snacks.

Another feature of 100-Egg is the Champa Quarter with its structures built in the old Cham style and carved with reliefs of Cham dances, plus a garden full of beautiful flowers.  

Nguyen Thanh Phong, deputy general director of 100-Egg, said that the resort’s owner, Ponagar Co., aimed to create, through 100-Egg, a cultural space with Champa and Central Highlands sections, and a mix of Vietnamese images such as the paddy terraces of the northwest and Da Dia Cliffs in Phu Yen Province.

He added that Ponagar planned to extend 100-Egg Mud Bath Resort & Spa in two stages in 2013, including a VIP Spa and sections for rock climbing, picnicking and camping, to make it stand out on the tourism map and become the first choice for visitors to Nha Trang.

Visitors will notice that the steps leading to the 115 mud baths are like rice terraces and the artificial waterfall for hot baths in mineral water resembles Da Dia Cliffs. There is also a symbolic sculpture of a Central Highlands Grave House.