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Region: South Central Vietnam> Province: Binh Thuan>Location: Phan Thiet
Phan Thiet sights and attractions
Phan Thiet activities - More than just laying on the beach
Description
Phan Triet is billed as the place to be in Vietnam if you're a golfer. The Novotel Ocean Dunes has a gorgeous, 18-hole, 72 par course -- voted number one in Vietnam by Golf Digest magazine. Sealinks, on the way to Mui Ne, is another option.
But for most visitors, the main attraction is the beach -- while smaller than Mui Ne, it's just as good, and the cafes along the water offer a fine way to enjoy the ambience of surf and sun. As for the rest of the city, standard tours of Phan Triet contain a lot of filler that can be avoided by doing it a la carte. See the Mui Ne section for more things to do in the area.
Can Chan Fish Market
This is a staple stop on the city tour. It's a big, smelly fish market on the Ca Ty River. Enter at your own risk. The fish market is also a good place to pick up a sampan tour of the river for 50,000 VND per boat per hour -- boats take up to four people. If you do this on your own, be prepared to speak some Vietnamese, or stop by Binh Tuan tourist and they'll hook you up.
Ho Chi Minh Museum
This won't be of interest to most travellers, but don't rule it out entirely. If you're curious about life in modern Vietnam, getting a better understanding of Ho Chi Minh, and how he is perceived by the people and the government, isn't a bad place to start. The teachings of Uncle Ho are still closely studied, and even those Vietnamese that fought on the losing side of the war treat his memory with respect (even when they're sure the government isn't listening). The site is near the Duc Thanh school where Ho Chi Minh was a teacher in 1910. The museum features objects from his life and photos documenting his revolutionary career.
Admission: 5,000 VND
Hours: 7:00 to 15:30, Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays.
Van Thuy Tu (Whale Museum)
The denizens of Phan Thiet have made their living for centuries off the sea. It was believed that in bad weather, whales would guide fishermen to safety, so a local practice arose over the years of paying homage to 'Mr. Whale,' and a temple was built in 'his' honor in 1762. Somewhere in the back of the temple is a glass box stuffed with various whale bones, but the real attraction is the 22-metre-long whale skeleton on display in a separate building alongside the temple. It's well-mounted, impressively large, and worth a look.
Admission: Adults 3,000 VND, Children 1,000 VND
Poshanu
There's a set of Cham towers just outside Phan Thiet on a hill, called Ong Hoang (Mr. Heaven), that offers a good view of the harbour and the city. They were built in the 8th century, which is impressively old, by the Cham people to worship the god Shiva. Further up the hill is a look-out tower that that was used during the French colonial period. You'll find the towers on Thu Khoa Huan Road heading east towards Mui Ne -- the towers are soon visible on the hill, seven kilometres from the town centre.
Admission: 5,000 VND.
Ke Ga Lighthouse - Lovely stretch of beach
Description
About 30 km south of Phan Thiet along the coast is an area known for it's lighthouse on a small island just across the water. It's an absolutely gorgeous stretch of beach, and as you get closer to the lighthouse there are strikingly colourful and intricate rock formations all along the shore.
If you're coming from the north you'll have to actually pass the lighthouse to reach it -- at about kilometre 30 the road bends sharply to the north. This is, believe it or not, downtown Tan Thanh, the centre of things in these parts. It's not much more than a cluster of noodle shops, a couple cafes on the water, and a post office -- and fishing boats -- lots and lots of fishing boats.
If you take a left where the road bends towards the water, you'll see the boats, and the lighthouse to the east. You can ride a bike or motorcycle most of the way along the sand at low tide, but it's only about a kilometre of walking, and a very pretty hike at that. The main activity on tap is exploring the rocky beach, but if you've got any curiosity at all about the wonders of nature, this should keep you busy for an hour or so.
You can visit the island that hosts that lighthouse by arranging a trip on one of the fishing boats -- price negotiable, anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 VND depending on the number of people you want to bring over and your bargaining skills. Once on the other side, the boat should drop you at a small station run by the army -- they'll give you a key and you can enter the lighthouse and climb up to the top to enjoy the view. On the way out, it wouldn't hurt to tip the army guys a couple of bucks.
You'll notice quite a few resorts along the approach to the lighthouse. This development was undertaken under the 'if we build it they will come' theory of Vietnamese tourism infrastructure development. They built it, but so far, the tourists haven't come. The rooms are generally pricey -- starting in the 300,000 VND range -- and once you're holed up at your resort there's nothing to do but eat at the resort's restaurant and look at the beach.
The local market seems to have their eye on honeymooners, and given the isolation of the accommodation, that makes sense. Perhaps one day someone will have the bright idea to open up a cheap backpacker place here. If they do, the area would definitely rival Mui Ne -- the natural beauty here is on a higher par. In the meantime, it's a great day-trip.
Once you're done in Ke Ga, you can continue on the main road west to the turnoff for Ta Cu to the north, about 25 km total.
How to get there: To reach Ke Ga, make your way to Phan Thiet, if you're not already there, and find Tran Hung Dao St. After you cross the bridge going from west to east, the turn-off to Ke Ga is 3.6 km further on. It's an easy turn to miss -- not marked in any way -- but if you hit the roundabout you've gone too far. You'll know you're on the right road going south when you hit a steep up-hill grade. This veers eastward and runs along the water for most of the trip.
Ta Cu Mountain and the Blissed-out Buddha - Great scenery
About 25km west of Phan Thiet
Description
The draw here is the 59 metre-long reclining Buddha. It's impressive size was enough to peak our interest, but when we heard you could ride up to it by cable car, we had to see it.
The Blissed out Buddha is only about 25 km west of Phan Triet along highway 1A. Once you enter the grounds, a round-trip ticket on the cable car costs 50,000 VND, and an extra 5,000 for the electric trolley to whisk you from the entrance gate to the base of the cable car station -- a trip of less than a kilometre so you can skip it and walk if you like. When things aren't busy the cable car leaves every half-hour or more, so allow for some waiting time. It's basically a ski lift that hefts you up the mountain over a rise and down to the base of the site. The trip covers just over 1.5 kilometres, takes about six minutes, and offers some beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding lowlands, criss-crossed with rice fields and dragonfruit tree plantations -- in itself, worth the trip.
Once you get to the base of the site, you walk 200m up various sets of steepish stairs passing various statues along the way, until you reach the main attraction. It's called Thich Ca Nhap Niet Ban, which means 'Buddha entering Nirvana.' The Buddha is awesome. Yes, the girth in itself is designed to impress, but most visitors are struck by the Buddha's finely wrought visage -- luxuriating with closed eyes and beatific smile -- creased with crinkles at the corners -- and radiating a combination of serene calm and a hint of what can only be described as personal satisfaction.
How to get there: To get to Ta Cu Mountain from Phan Thiet, just head west on Tran Hung Dao St and keep going for 25 km. The entrance is on the left.
Dragonfruit gardens and fish sauce - Not so fascinating
Description
A lot of Mui Ne tour operations advertise a 'dragon fruit garden' as a stop on a day-long tour. This is really just a 'dragon fruit plantation,' and there's little point in paying someone to take you to one. If you're headed to Ta Cu on your own, you'll see scads of such plantations all along route 1A heading west from Phan Thiet. The plants are easy to spot -- they look just like what you'd expect if an octopus did it with a cactus. Pretty much any plantation owner will gladly give you a tour of their crops, serve you up a dragon fruit and a cup of tea, and engage you more Vietnamese conversation that you're likely to understand. Just stop in and try your luck.
A few clicks from Phan Thiet along the road to Mui Ne, to the east, is the Fisaco Fish Sauce factory -- if you're on a bike or motorbike, you'll smell it before you see it. You may be tempted to think that something died in the adjacent bay, but no, that's the heady aroma of Vietnam's favourite condiment being brewed. A visit to the factory is a staple on a lot of package tours.