Greetings, Globepouncers! Welcome back to the Hot as Phở series on Vietnam, where it's almost always hot as phở.
Unable to leave Vietnam without also leaving our jobs during the summer of 2020, we were fortunate to be able to travel around one of the world's Covid-19 success stories with little-to-no risk and minimal mask-wearing protocol. We made six major stops in the south of Vietnam. Here we start farthest south and work toward central Vietnam:
Con Dao
We won't take too long on Con Dao here - you can see the full Con Dao article for all the choice details on the most southerly point in Vietnam. In a nutshell: Con Dao is a tropical island paradise not yet overrun by tourism, is a quick flight from Saigon, has great rainforest hiking and secluded beach coves, and has baby sea turtles. Yes, it is perfection, which is why responsible, sustainable tourism development on Con Dao is so important. Check out the Con Dao article!
Da Lat
Perched at about 1,500m, Da Lat is where one goes in southern Vietnam to escape the heat. All year, the temperature range is about 55°-75° F (13°-24° C). It's great for running, cycling, or anything else you'd like to do outside, and there are plenty of hills if you want to shore up those glutes. We like to run around Xuan Huong Lake. A full run around the lake is about 5km. You can shoot off around the golf course to the north or any of the other side roads to find your hills, add to your distance, and fire up those buns.
The cloud cover is pretty consistent, which can be a nice change of pace for someone beaten down by the oppressive Saigon sun. Carry an umbrella.
Good food is one of Da Lat's key draws. Da Lat is southern Vietnam's breadbasket, so fresh ingredients are plentiful for the seemingly millions of restaurants and cafés in town.
Yes, we have a few favorites.
For breakfast, try One More Cafe for a more Western feel complete with excellent cakes, especially the carrot cake. The omelettes are also good.
Try Piccolo Coffee & Funny, right across the street from One More Cafe, for a more local feel. Piccolo C&F has adorable pets who love to play. If you like kitties and puppies, you'll like Piccolo C&F. We assume that the 'Funny' part of their name refers to their silly little animals.
For dinner, we like The Sky Over Dalat and Artist Alley. You can order delivery from either through facebook. The Sky Over Dalat is a cozy vegetarian restaurant with comfortable seating that serves good pasta, soup, wine, and desserts made with beet sugar. A cute kitty named Mango lives at The Sky Over Dalat, and she really enjoyed The Boss' company one evening.
Artist Alley has excellent chicken and fish dishes, and the garlic bread is remarkable - make sure to get the garlic bread, and then order anything else that comes in a clay pot and you won't be disappointed. You can order delivery, but if you visit the restaurant, you can see original artwork by the owner decorating the walls of a very comfortable space.
There is no shortage of coffee in Da Lat. We could recommend dozens of places for coffee (we're naughty), but one really stands out for its quality, craftsmanship, and richness of flavor: The Married Beans.
Crowds are a problem in Da Lat. It is a terribly popular destination for expats and locals on weekends and holidays, and this includes the entire summer holiday...especially a summer holiday that found everyone stuck in-country. The high-heel crowd is ubiquitous in Da Lat. Tour buses are everywhere. Sorry. Not our favorite either. We recommend staying a little bit outside of the town center. Our preferred AirBNB is a 10-15 minute walk from the main circle. Yes, we prefer AirBNB in Da Lat - too many high heels in the hotels, thank you!
Although we primarily consider Da Lat a spot for relaxation and recovery from heat exhaustion, a first-time visit should include an hour or two at Linh Phuoc Pagoda, an exceptional - if supremely crowded - Buddhist shrine with a massive dragon-shaped exterior covered entirely in mosaic tiling - the fragments of thousands of beer bottles, apparently. Welcome to Vietnam. Buildings adjacent to the main structure include a six-story pagoda with an impressive bell and a shrine with an enormous golden Buddha and galleries filled with life-sized golden statues standing in Abhaya Mudra - no fear.
Mui Ne
Mui Ne is one of the many beach spots from which one can choose. We went to Mui Ne for three reasons: It has impressive geographical sites to visit, we were able to take the train, and it was on the way to our next stop, Nha Trang (also accessible by train).
If you are interested in taking the train in Vietnam, we recommend booking tickets through 12Go Asia. This site is usually cheaper than booking on the Vietnam Railways website. This is one of the few times we recommend not to book direct.
As you might already know, we almost never go to the beach just for the beach. That's why we went to Mui Ne (the first time), where there are several other curious spots to explore. We recommend two: the white sand dunes and the Fairy Stream.
There are two sets of sand dunes on offer in the Mui Ne area: red and white. We don't think much of the red dunes. The white sand dunes, adjacent to several lakes (including one that bears lotus flowers), are the more impressive sight in our opinion. The link provided in the previous paragraph brings you to Culture Trip's somewhat romanticized view of both sets of sand dunes. This link brings you to My Five Acres, which offers a significantly different opinion.
We fall somewhere in between - we don't think you need an ATV or a sunrise visit - certainly not a balloon ride unless you have some cash you'd like to torch. The white dunes do look cool, though. You can imagine being in Arabia or the Sahara there, and then you look straight down and to your left and there is a deep blue lake. It's a lovely contrast worth the drive, which will be 30-40 minutes from your Mui Ne resort.
We largely concur with Atlas Obscura on the Fairy Stream: it's more a walkway than a waterway. It is a refreshing walkway on a hot day, though. Just be sure to visit during the rainy season so that the stream is actually a stream and not just a filthy tornado of dust. I must admit we were reluctant to step into the stream at first; if one spends enough time in Vietnamese cities, one can be forgiven for mistaking a shallow rust-red waterway for a river of sewage. Fear not, Globepouncers: the red sand underneath is remarkably soft and lovely for walking.
We've been to Mui Ne now a couple times, and we recommend staying at The Sailing Club.
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a coastal city similar to Da Nang in size and feel. It boasts an excellent sunrise over the sea - I've never seen so many people on the beach at 5 a.m. - and there are two major temples we recommend: Ponagar Tower (Hindu) and Long Son Pagoda (Buddhist).
In Nha Trang, high rise resorts are clustered along the coast to suck as many beachfront prices out of people as possible. Surprise! We recommend staying just a few blocks inland - it really doesn't make a difference in any way but price. We stayed in a serviced studio apartment one block from the shore with a perfect view and it cut our cost in half.
We recommend one eatery in particular. I'm sure you'll be shocked to find out it's a breakfast place: Alpaca homestyle cafe. Enjoy good food and silly alpaca stuff all over the place.
Hoi An and Da Nang
As with Con Dao, we won't take too much space here because you can find all the goods in our dedicated Da Nang and Hoi An article. As with Da Lat and Mui Ne, we've now been to Hoi An multiple times. We still love La Siesta Resort, but it is better when there are no children around. The Guest Relations Manager, Uyen, is wonderful. We always love talking with her, and she gave us perfect recommendations for our excursions in the north.
You likely won't spend much time in Da Nang. Tiny Hoi An is the real draw, but one must train or fly to Da Nang to get to Hoi An. In Hoi An, you'll find nice beaches, a quaint old town, great tailoring, and thick crowds.
Regarding the tailoring - if you want an entirely new wardrobe custom-made for you, Hoi An is the place. Our recommendation is Ga Ga Design Tailors. I restocked my casual shorts, and The Boss went nuts on cute new dresses.
Huê´
Huê´ is a hair south of the 17th parallel. This was our last stop before heading up to Hanoi to establish a home base for our more rugged northern excursions. The main draws in Huê´ are the tombs of past Vietnamese emperors, Thien Mu Pagoda, and the Citadel.
We took a day to cycle around the old tombs, which are a bit outside of town. We visited the mausoleums of Emperors Tu Duc, Khai Dinh, and Minh Mang.
In town we took a day to visit Thien Mu Pagoda and the Citadel. One can reach these destinations via boat on the Perfume River - it's an easy combo voyage. Walk toward the dragon boats docked on the river and you won't have any trouble finding suitors.
Thien Mu is a majestic seven-story pagoda considered emblematic of the city itself. The Citadel is the Vietnamese cousin of Beijing's Forbidden City. Sadly, much of it was bombed to smithereens during the War of American Aggression, but a great deal of it has been restored. The Citadel is a good place for a long, contemplative stroll.
We hope you enjoyed the south - next, try Hot as Phở, Vol. 4 on the north!
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