Driving through Fishing Villages

A friend we met in town, Nguyen, recommended driving north to see the beaches and forest on that part of the island. We read that you could drive through the forest with a motorbike and planned to take shelter beneath the shady trees at the hottest time of the day.

After driving for about an hour, we were covered in dust and ready for a break. We stopped at Vungbau Beach to look at the great view and had lunch there. Kevin ordered BBQ squid marinated in salt and chili and a few minutes later he got his own personal grill to cook his lunch on. It was so yummy!

We said goodbye to the nice people at Vungbau Beach and drove towards Bai Dai beach, another award-winning beach with golden sand, blue water at perfect temperature and no one but Vietnamese fishermen in sight. We just had to take a dip.

Driving to the northwestern corner of the island was a rocky ride (not to mention dusty) but Kevin did a great job and soon we were heading inland driving through the forest. It was very special to ride through luscious green vegetation on mountainous windy roads. We were all alone in the forest for most of the ride which added to the charm. We stopped to buy a couple of bananas right before heading south back to town and ended up with 2 kilos of bananas (the price of $0.50 for two bananas did seem a little high). Back in town, we were starving as usual and since it was an in between time for a meal, it was hard to find a place to eat. Finally, after driving around, we sat down at a place by the water and had great fish soup which was sweet and came with tiny dried baby shrimp.

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