Quy Nhon

Bus Journey to Quy Nhon

There are two cities off the regular tourist trail between Da Lat and Hoi An – Tuy Hoa and Quy Nhon. I wanted an experience slightly off the busy places, so I had decided to visit Quy Nhon and time permitting, to do a bike trip to Tuy Hoa from my Quy Nhon stay. I had received great recommendations about these two places from a school friend who had visited these cities earlier.

I boarded an afternoon bus from Da Lat to Quy Nhon at 2pm for 310k – Futa bus lines again. It was pretty simple to book – Futa has an office in city center Da Lat (it was walkable from Pretty Backpackers where I had stayed) – I walked into their office a couple of hours before and got my ticket done for the same afternoon. Complementary hotel pickup and drop facility of course!

Sông Suối Homestay

Good homestay with a private room at 250k VND. My room was very small however I couldn’t complain at the price I had paid for it. Quy Nhon does not seem to have a hostel scene and one has to book private rooms only.

Centrally located, beach is walkable and so is the Food street and Bon Mua. Kyoto nightclub is 15mins away by walk.

Hosts were polite and helpful. Breakfast is included in the room tariff whereas tea/coffee is not (a little odd :))

Scooter can be rented from the homestay at 200k VND a day.

Bốn Mùa – Four Seasons Quy Nhơn

Nice property located by the beach. Fine dining with plenty of options. On the costlier side though.

KYOTO Club Lounge – Hit

This was one of my rare visits to a nightclub in Vietnam, when I got the authentic clubbing experience. The staff members were nice to me, the crowd was lively and the whole vibe was quite welcoming. I didn’t feel like an outsider for one moment. The music was okay – pretty much like what they play in Saigon and Hanoi clubs. The club is huge with wonderful lights – I would say next only to 1900 of Hanoi. My experience there was a welcome change from Saigon and Hanoi nightclubs where solicitation is rampant and staff is also not polite when it comes to dealing with foreigners.

Rains rains go away – travel plan change to Hanoi

It was Day 2 of my stay in Quy Nhon and I was greeted with a morning of non-stop rains. The weather did clear a bit in the late afternoon and I managed to step out to see a couple of places in the city.

However, after witnessing a lot of rains in Da Lat and Quy Nhon, I decided to tweak my travel itinerary – skip Central Vietnam (Da Nang, Hue and Hoi on) and visit the Northern side of the country where rainy season would be nearing its end in October. Do note that in South and Central Vietnam – Oct-Nov is the peak rainy season.

I booked my flight tickets to Hanoi for the next afternoon and it costed me around 90USD. The ticket was inclusive of 20kg checked in baggage and it was Viet Jet airlines.

Ky Co Beach – Miss

The first place to be visited for the day was going to be KyCo beach but upon reaching almost 2 km from the beach, I was told that there is an entry fee of 170k VND. I didn’t see it worthwhile to pay that much to visit a beach.

My homestay owner had suggested me to go to another beach called Nhon Ly Beach around Chai Village. However, after reaching there, I was disappointed to see garbage and litter everywhere (probably because of the rainy season). I could see some cute guest houses and home stays right on the beach but I didn’t find the beach attractive at all.

Cham Temple – Hit

Cham Temple is a several centuries old Hindu temple located on the outskirts of Quy Nhon city. It is located on the way to the airport. It took me around an hour to reach here from KyCo beach area.

It was quite a revelation seeing the statue and temple of Lord Shiva in Vietnam so far away from India where Hinduism is practiced.

Some shots taken on my way back from Cham Temple

And I must tell you, it kept on raining the whole way on my return.

The Social – Breakfast, Pizza & Pub Food – Miss

Many of the items on menus posted online were not available. I ended up ordering a pizza which was huge but I was disappointed on the taste. The place has great reviews though.

When I visited, their team was one member strong, so the order was taking a decent amount of time to come through.

Aiport shared taxi

The airport is quite far from the city and after checking the grab app, I was preparing myself to pay around 800k VND for a drop. However, my home stay owner told me about a shared airport taxi for under 100k VND. The frequency is limited though.

It is recommended to go one day prior to this address. Get the phone number of the driver and make your hotel person call the driver (in Vietnamese ) for your pickup. The place was hard to find though. It is located opposite to Highlands coffee and next to Taung Nguyen E-Coffee.

Drive to the airport the next day

I was picked up right from my homestay at the promised time of 1pm. The ride took almost an hour to Phu Cat airport which is located around 40kms away from the Quy Nhon city. I got some nice shots on the way.

Much to my frustration, it was a bright and sunny day. The sun came out but only when I was leaving already. Probably that’s life’s way of getting naughty with me 🙂

Food options in Quy Nhon

Vegetarian food options are very difficult to find in Quy Nhon. If you have a vehicle rented, it is still doable, however, there wont be many options available at walking distance. I had a really tough time in this regard – I was so fed up with non-veg food by now and was badly in need of good vegetarian food. The eating habits of locals here are quite different to the people of India. I would say I loved the food in Thailand and even more so in Cambodia. But Vietnam has been a test in general wherever I visit here. The food and juice/shake combo which is available everywhere in Thailand and Cambodia, was non-existent in Vietnam.