Phan Thiet

It still rained in Nha Trang with no sign of letting up, which was unfortunate because we were holding out to visit VinPearl Island, where the last Miss Universe Pageant was held. International events hardly ever come to Viet Nam, so being host to a show like that was something big. Another "appetizer" for the next Viet Nam trip, I suppose.




We decided to head off to Phan Thiet. On the way out of Nha Trang, it became apparent that we left at just the right time; rain water had flooded to as high as 3.5 feet.



Residents waded along the murky water to get to and from their houses. Motorbike drivers sported opaque raincoats and tried to navigate through the dry parts of the road. Larger tour buses and minivans sloshed through the water, spraying jet streams on both sides of their tires.



In Phan Thiet, the rain finally went away. We passed gardens of coconut trees and golden fields of grains, tended by rice farmers and their water buffalos.






The rich red soil and fertile green lands gave way to cool blue oceans and red sand.




Phan Thiet is known for its salt production, and along the road, we saw man-made ditches where ocean water overflow was left to evaporate until salt rocks formed, crystals of white lining the slopes and waiting to be harvested and purified.






We made a pit stop in Suoi Cat, whose natural peaks and valleys of dunes made a good environment for sand-sledding.



On a side note, the restroom at one of the roadside beverage shops was the worst I've stepped in, and by now I've seen a few. Ironically, the place served the best coconuts we've had, to date.




Young kids waited by the roadside with blue plastic boards that they rented out to any tourists who docked by. As soon as we got off the van, they swarmed in and invited us to rent the boards from them. They followed us all the way up to one of the lower sand peaks and offered us the plastic sleds for $10,000 dong each. Sensing our skepticism at the sharp incline of the slope, they offered to ride with us on the trip down. Our party wanted to head off and find a hotel before nightfall, so Tung and I didn't get a chance to ride the sand slopes.



We went bargain-hunting for hotels along the beach coast and finally settled on Hon Rom 2, which advertised $400,000 dong/night ($24 US), but we were able to get a rate of $300,000 dong/night ($18 US). I never thought we could bargain for hotel rates, but I guess in Viet Nam, anything's game. I bought a pack of 10 postcards for $30,000 dong (18 US cents a postcard), and the entire part screamed that it was a rip-off. To compensate for my initial bargaining ignorance, though, I got $6,000 dong off a whole soursop fruit (I bought it at $8,000 dong/kilogram instead of the original $20,000 asking-price. That's a whole 35 US cents off, mind you).