Vietnam 2017 - 18



Viet Nam



With my daughter Sophie at the tender age of one travel was limited to travel inside Vietnam



Phu Quoc - Autumn 2017

Long Hai  - May 2018

Vung Tau - June 2018

Nha Trang - August 2018



A short one hour flight from Ho Chi Minh City Phu Quoc was my favourite spot of the last year.

The level of development is low with the exception of one or two spots on the island. Long may it last.

The beaches and one or two parks inland were exceptional, rustic and still very fresh. The white sand beach in the south of the island was quite wonderful and the so-called coconut prison quite a place to visit especially in the heat of the day.





Coconut Prison

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 Long Hai was a so-so experience. Really it was just about having a long weekend. Long Hai has a long beach. And that is pretty much it. There is a temple with rhesus monkeys in attendance.



Sophie in the homestay garden



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Vung Tau is somewhere I have been five or six times. Initially I was disappointed, having been to say Phang Nga Bay in Thailand, Caye Caulker in Belize the black beach at Amed in Bali and another black beach at Corcovado national Park in Costa Rica. Ahem, but Vung Tau appeals to me more and more each time I go. The so-called back beach is cleaner and cleaner each time I visit (first time in 2013). Many parts of this ocean city are quiet but there is a certain energy there. Like Nha Trang there are more than 400,000 people in Vung Tau.

With woods, parks, swimming, restaiurants and a laid-back atmosphere and only 85 km from Saigon its a great place. As an indicator I stayed there for 4 days; hotel, food and motorbike travel there and around the city for $215 all-in. I like the economics of this trip.






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I visited Nha Trang for the second time in August. Thuy, Sophie, nephew Ben and I stayed on the 24th floor of an apartment building overlooking the crystal clear blue sea of another white beach. Nha Trang is city beach environment but with lots of pluses. The terrain aroundabout is quite remarkable though quite arid.
A week for all of us with food and motorbike rental and travel to and from Saigon on the train came in at $384 in a 2 bedroom apartment 40 metres from the beach.



View from the apartment at sunset and sunrise




Rocks on the northern road to Ninh Hoa



Happy Travelling

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