Quy Nhon, a place which was not in my initial Vietnam plan. It was recommended by one of my local friends whom I met back in Dalat, Vietnam.

How To Get There?

Vietnam Airlines offers daily flights from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. There are buses from Dalat, Nha Trang, Danang and Hoi An.

TRUE STORY

I took a sleeper bus from Dalat to Quy Nhon, where it was a scary bus journey for me. The driver drove pretty fast and perhaps he got used to the road and he is confident with his driving skill but still, I couldn’t sleep well throughout the whole journey though. *The adventure journey has just begun*

I arrived at the bus terminal in the early morning, 3 am. Yes, I was sitting at the bus terminal alone and waiting for my hostel host to pick me up in the early morning at 6 am. Meanwhile, there was an old local man sitting alone at the bus terminal. As soon as he saw me, he started yelling things in Vietnamese, which I could not understand at all while walking towards my direction. I was absolutely shocked and frightened because I did not know what his intention was. The situation lasted for an hour before more people arriving slowly to the terminal.In fact the old man’s intention was trying to help me.Everyone was curious about where I came from and what had happened. Luckily, one of the staffs at the terminal knew how to speak some basic English so I asked him for his help to contact the hostel owner.

Eventually, my host arrived by his bike and my Quy Nhon trip has started.

WHERE IS QUY NHON

Quy Nhon is the capital of Binh Dinh province situated in Central Vietnam. Binh Dinh is critically known as the land of Martial Arts and has also acquired a very good reputation as the best stopover destination from Nha Trang to Danang/Hoi An and vice versa. However, Quy Nhon is still considered a hidden gem in Vietnam, and yet to be aware by many foreign travelers when visiting Vietnam.

My first impression about Quy Nhon was peaceful vibe. There were not many foreigners and the city seemed to be intact. People living in harmony and their lives are very simple. Although most of the locals did not speak English, they are very friendly and willing to assist you.

Q Inn Homestay

The owner is a very nice guy where he offered to free pick up for a solo traveler from the bus stop to his homestay. He is a generous person where guests are allowed to have the bicycle, laundry, coffee, and eggs without any charges! Furthermore, his place is clean and the living room is lovely! And if you would like to try out some famous local food, he is able to recommend it to you or even buy on behalf of you.

Click here to book: click here

Where to Visit/ What Have I done?

Vung Chua Mountain

Best place to snap photos and enjoy the breathtaking sceneries of the whole city. It is accessible to travel to the top of Vung Chua mountain by motorbike which takes about 15 minutes from the city center.

Thi Nai Bridge – The longest cross-sea bridge of Vietnam

The bridge is nearly 2.5 km long and it was inaugurated in 2006. It connects the city of Quy Nhon to the Phuong Mai Peninsula with the goal to develop socio-economic programmes of this region.

http://www.baobinhdinh.com.vn/business/2006/12/36593/ — Thi Nai Bridge-www.baobinhdinh.com.vn

Tháp Đôi Towers

Located in a park in the center of the city. A quiet place which takes about 10-15 minutes to walk around. Tháp Đôi Towers were built in 11th century by the Hindu Cham people, where was established to declared Vijaya as the emperor capital and Quy Nhon’s port city as its economic engine.

The Entrance fee is 8000 VND.

BEACHES

Queen Beach and Quy Hoa Leper Colony

It takes about 20 minutes from the town to arrive here. A relaxing area where local people enjoying laid back time here.

Bãi Kỳ Co on Phương Mai peninsula

Phuong Mai Peninsula is about 8 kilometers far from Quy Nhon city. It has an extraordinary ecosystem with various plants and beautiful landscapes.

Bai Xep Beach

13km away from south of Quy Nhon, top-ranked beach on TripAdvisor review. This is a fishing village. Recommended accommodation: Life’s a Beach

Bai Xep: http://vietnamtravelinformation.net

FOOD

This coastal city is a paradise for seafood lovers. Enjoy the local food here:

NIGHT MARKET

The night market is located at the middle of the town. Many nice and cheap local stuffs you could find it here. Do not expect to find any touristic souvenirs 😂

Quy Nhon is.a special place for me. I did not plan to go there but ended up deciding to visit over ans made some good friends there. At first, I planned to stay for only 2 nights but eventually I extended my stay to 4 nights for the fact that I was in love with the city and needed more time to discover the full potential of the land.

Food was cheap and varied, people here are extremely friendly and helpful even though I struggled with the language barriers.Places were clean and peaceful. I will visit there again if I had another chance in the near future.

Sihanoukville

After Siem Reap trip, Sihanoukville was my last stop in Cambodia. Why I only chose to stay in Cambodia for one week? Cause the expenses here were too high for me. Despite Cambodia has their own currency, but most of the trading is done by USD currency.

Understand

A brief of Sihanoukville from Wikipedia:

Sihanoukville, also known as “Kampong Som”, is a coastal city in Cambodia and the capital city of Sihanoukville Province, at the tip of an elevated peninsula in the country’s south-west on the Gulf of Thailand.

My Jouney

The bus arrived at Sihanoukville in the early morning around 6 am. As usual, many taxi/motor drivers were waiting for us at the bus stop. I took a moto taxi and heading to the travel agency who is selling the speedboat tickets.

It was still early when I arrived the shop hence I went to the next restaurant to have a quick breakfast and self-cleaned up.

I bought the speedboat ticket around 8 am and a minibus came and pick me up to the jetty. I got to know one couple from Spain from the bus who were heading to the same island as me, Clear Water Bay hence I tagged along with them.

The speedboat arrived and took us about one hour to reach to the island. Once arrived, it did not stop at our destination, Clear Water Bay. *Shocked* Instead it stopped at another island of Koh Rong Samloen. Three of us were upset but no choice to make a decision either to stay or to take another boat taxi to the clear water bay which costs at USD30.

We walked around in the island and asking each resort for the accommodation price. The cheapest was around USD12 *beyond my budget* furthermore it was a long public holiday week in Cambodia hence the accommodation price has been markup. 🙁

Finally, we managed to contact the manager of Driftwood Hostel at Clear Water Bay. He assisted and offered us a “private boat” to go into Clean Water Bay island, each of us had to pay for USD 5. Of course, we agreed with that since we could not find any cheap accommodation here plus the island was too commercialized for me.

Three of us taking the “private boat”:

I fell in love at the first sight when I arrived at Clear Water Bay. The water was so clean and it feels so peaceful here:

What is special in Clear Water Bay?

Driftwood Hostel

The main Hostel at Clear Water Bay.

Cost per night USD2 for a spacious dormitory room – shared with 12 persons (as per the year of 2017)

You may experience the natural lifestyle here: No heater, cold water shower, No air-conditioner, Electricity only starts from 6 pm onwards, No Wifi, Weak 3G connection.

What you can do here is to enjoy the beach, reading, yoga, hiking etc.

A Big Family and Friends Gathering

This is the place allows you to fully relax, get to know other fun travelers. People enjoy sitting at the “bar lounge” and the “living room” here.

We met new people and became friends here. We talked, laughed and had some fun activities together.

At some point, you may find your quiet zone to have some reading. No one stops you. 🙂

A lucky dog who is staying here 🙂

Every night most of the travelers gathered and have a reunion family dinner. *The cost is USD 4 per person, vegan food 🙂

*Tips: Pack some dry food, snacks to this bay. Because the meal cost starts from USD3 onwards

What can you do here?

Swim with the Planktons

I was there for 4 days 3 nights and one day I have decided to wake up at 430am, swam at the beach and looking for planktons. It was my great memory.

Trek to Mpay Bay

This is the bay which located behind Clear Water Bay. It takes one-hour jungle trekking to reach to the bay. Remember to wear a waterproof shoe/sandal to get into Mpay Bay. I was wearing Atlanta slipper which is strong enough to survive the whole journey.

With my favorite Austrian couple:

Collect Trash from the beach Every morning, the would be some trash leftover at the beach. Driftwood management encourages the traveler to save, protect the beach and the environment.

Once you are able to collect one full pack of trash, you will be entitled to get a cup of coffee or beer from Driftwood Hostel.

Catch the Sunrise and Sunset

Shaved

This is not a mandatory thing to do here. Somehow when you met some fun and crazy people, you would do something similar. Yes, my first hair shaved in my lifetime. Don’t worry, my hair has grown longer now.

Snorkeling in the Sea

I tagged along with Kim (from France) and Lenzi (from Austria) to do snorkeling at the sea. It was my first time without using any lifejacket and just wearing a basic goggled to swim in the sea. *Bucket list ticked*

Yoga

This is the best place to find your soul and heal yourself. Great to meet a lot Yogis here 🙂

I can’t deny that I have a lot of great memories on this island. I have spent time with the quality people and we did something together just like a big family. Clear Water Bay will always in my mind despite there were some difficulties to arrive at this bay.

How to reach here (In Correct Way)

There is only one speedboat company will drop you straight at Clear Water Bay: (YELLOW) Speed Ferry Cambodia Company. Cost is USD22 per way (as per the year of 2017). Please remember the company logo on below name card :

Special thanks to @Caroline who I have met in Siem Reap, she was the one who highly recommended this awesome place to me. And special thanks to the couple @Ousmane and @Anna where three of us have been through something special during this short trip. And to all my new friends who I have met in Clear Water Bay, miss you guys!