Vitamin SEA is a vital vitamin for itchy feet! I often tell my wife that whenever we discuss where to travel. Indeed, with more than 3000 kilometers of coast, Vietnam has so many beautiful beaches and bays. However, beach in Quy Nhon city has a kind of modesty that travelers, not luxury tourists would love to look for. A great combination of beach and mountain held my steps here as one of my best trips.
I planned to go to Quy Nhon city in 2 hours before my departure. There was a reason that we had only 3 days off on weekends while I did not have usual days off in a week but either did my wife. We bought tickets for a night train on Thursday night which arrived Binh Dinh at 4 o'clock in the early morning. The train only stopped at Dieu Tri station which is located about 10 kilometers from Quy Nhon City. There is a local train in the morning which commutes these two stations but we got taxi to be transferred to our hotel. The train trip was fun but tired because we could got get sleeping tickets but a hard seats for an 8 hours from Hue to Quy Nhon. We were not bored thanks to a eagerness to travel together. We talked to some people on the train until the sleep quieted the coach.
We had roughly 48 hours to discover this beautiful city with many sight-seeing places. As a result, during the train, we planned to visit Eo Gio, Cham Temples, Ghenh Rang and beach of the city.
Eo Gio - Nhon Ly
We rent a motorbikes to travel around, the rent was only $5 a day but we had to pay more for fuel. Heading out the city to the North East, we crossed the longest bridge of the city - Thi Nai Bridge which crosses Thi Nai Lagoon. The emerald color of the water is a great fits to the salty wind. My feeling that the wind hitting face and a resting mind was so great for a start of a day. Sandy hills are on the way and we stopped for a walk in the morning.
Eo Gio welcomed us with a rocky beach which I called it the masterpiece of nature. Grass was not green but mix of orange and green. It was a result of the heat on the Central of Vietnam in summer time. However, the beautiful water cooled our bodies in a great breeze from the sea. Here is our vitamin SEA!
We dipped our feet in clear cool water which we could see the stones twinkling under the sunshine. The road to walk down the beach was quite dangerous because it was high on rocky cliff. The name Eo Gio means Corner of the Wind and I agree with this folk name when we enjoy the soft wind climbing down the cliff. The time I came there this place was untouched by FLC corporation. Therefore, there were no handrail and stairs on the rocky trails. In my mind, the natural beauty always has a specialty rather than concrete stairs. I regret when I see some new photos of this place in hands of greedy people. The asset of everyone is now the asset of a group of people.
The appearance of farm goats here was interesting to me. As the rocky and sandy land is not a favor to grow crops, raising goats are a solution for local people here. The rocky cliff and abundant grass are perfect for climbing goats. Besides, the smiles of local were always in our good memories for the land of wind, the land of rock and the land of hard-working hands.
Towers of Champa
After visiting Eo Gio, we turned back to the other side of city. We rode our bikes to North East to admire the glory of old days. Quy Nhon was on the land of old emirate named Vijaya, one of five in the kingdom of Champa. Vijaya was also the capital of Champa during 4.5 centuries until 1471. Cham people have been following Hindism, Buddhism, Islam and other local religions during their history. As a result, many temples was built in this land from 11th to 15th century, which worshiped Shiva - the God of Destruction. Shiva was also the protector of Cham people while he will recreate the world from destruction. We visited Hung Thanh Towers because they are in the city and so close. Other towers like Banh It Towers are a bit out of the city.
Hung Thanh Towers also known as Thap Doi are located in the city and they were built in 13th century. They were made of bricks, the main materials for most of temple towers of Champa kingdom. I have seen many Cham towers before, but the mentioned ones were in good condition. I respect the efforts of locals who built this one with a special technique. In which, it helps Cham towers stand for 700 years. The technique of making bricks is still in Cham community and it is so important for reservation and restoration. I compare the new bricks I have more my house and the bricks from 13th century. Then an admiration for this architecture came in my mind as a remind of glory of old days.
Ghenh Rang
We went South to Ghenh Rang area where located beautiful beach and grave of poet Han Mac Tu. Most of sight-seeing place are in the suburb of city. However, it did not take us much time to travel while the road is very good and this city is not too large.
In Ghenh Rang, Queen Nam Phuong used to come here for a swimming and the name Queen beach became the name of a particular beach in Ghenh Rang. It is a rocky beach but the sky was not clear then so it looked a bit sad. In spite of that, we were happy to be together. No matter where you go, matter who you go with. We had such a beautiful time together.
Near Queen beach is the grave of poet Han Mac Tu. He was a very famous Vietnamese poet who died from leprosy. I think this place is quite right for him to be his final resting. He passed away in the sadness of love and this sad-looking beautiful place is right for his soul.
City beach
Right in front of our hotel is the public beach. We only need to cross a coastal road to arrive a soft sandy beach. It was not problem to walk with bare feet thanks to a clean soft white sand. We chilled out in a small bar named Surf bar right on the beach. Drinks was good and reasonable priced.
There is water closet to change swimsuit here and it was very convenient for us. The view looking over the far mountain is fabulous. The design of this bar is simple but attractive. Most of materials are eco-friendly and trash bins are set up. I appreciate their effort to maintain the hygiene and protect the environment. As my trip, I see Quy Nhon is very clean and tidy. Even I was back here couple of times working, I still see a great maintained environment here. I felt like all the fatigue of normal life was washed away by wind and wave of the sea.
My trip came over after a train trip home on Sunday. We needed to start a new hard-working week. The short trip to this beautiful city was a great energy charger for both of us. The trip before having baby was a great memory for us that is a gem in our marriage life. This quiet city will welcome you like it welcomed us. And I know that the city will maintain its quality as it maintains its modest beauty no matter how rude the humans touch this nature. I would love to keep this trip as a memorable part of your youth, a trip to Quy Nhon - city of modesty.
