Cam Lập Trilogy: Part 1 – The Journey Begins

So, we’ve all pondered those rhetorical questions, “What would you want to do if the doctor told you that you only had a few days left on the planet and you could do anything you wanted? How would you want to spend your last 72 hours?”

Well, for me that’s an easy one.

Easy because I think I’ve already discovered the answer of what I would want do … and I actually did it last week!   (And the best part, I’m still around to talk about it and share it with you here 🙂  .  And hopefully, repeat it again before too much longer!)

So, there Hai and I found ourselves last week – in Nha Trang with 4 free days to enjoy the central Vietnam coast. We had already visited Nha Trang several times over the years and wanted to explore the less “touristy” areas of the coastline. [I must admit, though that our earlier visit to Nha Trang was pretty amazing – OUR EARLIER ADVENTURE HERE].

Hai really wanted to see Bình Ba Island, a supposedly gorgeous island not far south of Nha Trang.

One big problem, though! The Vietnam military controls access to the island and has decided that, for security reasons, only Vietnam passport/national ID holders are allowed on the island. That counts me out. (Not sure that’s a particularly well-thought-through nor effective security criteria).  However, whatever… it’s not the only island in the South China Sea!

That’s when we turned to a great source of information and inspiration for “back road” travel in Vietnam – Tom of the Vietnam Coracle. After reviewing our available options on his site about how we could best enjoy the region on motorbike for the following 4 days, a visit to Cam Lập seemed most inviting.

Say goodbye to our lovely beach-side Nha Trang hotel window view; rent a motorbike from the hotel (150.000 vnd – $5/day) and head out of town!

First stop – food. Roadside street food to be exact – bánh xèo. Really, really yummy bánh xèo mực.

A light and crispy “Vietnamese crepe” wrapped around fresh, sweet and tender squid that had been toasted over a small charcoal grill. What a way to start our journey along the central Vietnamese coastline.

It took just a few minutes to wind our way through Nha Trang’s congested city streets; climb out of town along the ocean cliffs road, DT6571, and set ourselves free. Past Cam Ranh Airport, past the large number of soon-to-be fabulous 5-star international resorts and golfing/retirement communities that are currently under construction (lots of Russian language marketing signs!); along Vietnam’s Highway 1; and finally onto the breathtaking Núi Chúa Coast Road … free at least … from the Vietnam tourist mill!

Oh, I suppose I’d be delinquent if I didn’t mention yet another yummy snack that Hai tracked down for us while passing through the town of Cam Ranh itself.    Grilled nem chua and chả lua at Quán Nem Ninh Hòa. A tasty and delightful lunch stop along our way to paradise.  You can read the fascinating process by which chả lua is made at one of our earlier post, when we got up at 2:00 am one Saigon morning to visit a family-run chả lua production kitchen.  Nem chua is similar, but fermented with more of a “salami-like” flavor.

 

 

As I was saying … finally onto the breathtaking Núi Chúa Coast Road … open road … no traffic. I mean ABSOLUTELY NO TRAFFIC. I’m not sure how this would be on the weekend or during Tet Holiday week, but during a regular weekday, it was just Hai and I, the open road, and the South China Sea! Jaw-dropping views. Cool sea breezes. This is it!

 

Oh, there was that occasional road obstruction. But, really, the kind of obstruction you could only hope to encounter … and enjoy.   Water buffalo, cows, goats & pigs … roaming freely along the open highway!

And, the best was yet to come.

After riding, enjoying fresh cooling sea breezes, stopping, photographing spectacular scenes along the South China Sea, stopping again … and again, and chatting with goats, maybe two hours from Nha Trang, we finally turned onto a “back-country” stretch of road taking us out onto the Cam Lập Peninsular. PARADISE discovered!

… More to come in future posts about Hai and my amazing time discovering the Cam Lập Peninsular, staying at the Đảo Hoa Vàng homestay there, and who knows, maybe retiring there someday!?!

Quán Nem Ninh Hòa
2127 Đại Lộ Hùng Vương
P. Cam Thuận, Cam Ranh
0583 855 343

Đảo Hoa Vàng
Bình Lập
0901 350 662
0909-917-881 (English)