Trekking to top of Black Virgin mountain – one of the famous peaks in Viet Nam – is a cool experience. The mountain should be in your check list, just 3-hour drive from the city center.
I still remember my first ever night, when I was at the top of the highest mountain of the south of Viet Nam. After a long trek through many terrains, finally my team reached the camp site in the evening, wet and fatigued. It’s Ba Den (Black Virgin) mountain trekking memories in my mind, still fresh and clear.
Sunrise at Black Virgin mountain top
You’re a trekking lover, and in the south of Viet Nam, don’t miss Ba Den (Black Virgin), it should be in your checklist.
Mountain history: there’s a tale telling that..
In late 18th century, Viet Nam was at war. A young man falling love with a girl. However he decided to enlist in the resistance, which means he had to say goodbye to his lover. Even when the man was far away, she still remained faithful to him. Unfortunately, soon later, her beauty attracted a powerful man in the village. One day, he kidnapped her on the mountain. In the escape, she preferred death to dishonour and jumped off the cliff. Then a monk living on the mountain have a vision of her, and he told her story. Gradually, pilgrims from everywhere learned about the story and visited the temple in the spring.
If you do research before, then you soon find out a lot of war history documentations mentioning it and there’s even a memoir to tell. Nowaday, Black Virgin is one of the popular destinations, attracting thousands of pilgrims and travellers.
Now, for a trekking lover, why is Ba Den cool?
It’s considered as the highest peak in east-southern legion at 996 m. Many native trekkers get here on the weekend, so it’s quite crowded at the camp site, especially at night, when a lot of camp fires are set up and people gather around, singing, having barbecue and telling stories.
First, We need to get there. This is the route map to Black Virgin Mountain.
After 3-hour riding, we’ll be at the bottom of the mountain and ready to trek.
How to get to the mountain top
There’re generally 5 routes to the peak:
“Pagoda route”: Head to the pagoda and then continue stepping on rocks to the peak
There’s a side route, The local call it “electricity post route” because it follows the electricity cable supporting the human activities on the peak
“Pipe route”, because it follows the running water pipe from the peak to side pagoda.
“Ma Thien Lanh” – a valley at the opposite side of pagoda, the route is quite tough.
“Da Trang” – (“White Rocks” in English), toughest route, just for advanced traveller.
Ba Den top moutain selfie
So it depends mostly on your current physique and health to decide which route to take. While the first and second is quite easy to navigate the direction, the other is required guidance if you’re new guys there. Many guys have got lost, make it more adventurous and exciting.
Any tips ?
It takes 3-4 hours to the peak through pagoda, electricity post and pipe routes whereas you have to spend 2 days on the valley and white-rock ones. So the backpack should be well prepared and balanced, because the heavier your belongings are, the more fatigue you get.
For the easy ones, you should pack along 2 liters of water, some refreshments and first aid kit and personal stuffs (smart phones/cameras/Mp3,…) using for one day.
For tough ones (the fourth and fifth options), 3 liters of water, food for lunch and dinner, even the morning following day, first aid kit, sleeping bags or tents, personal stuffs and some clothes (it’s quite cold at night).
On the way to the top, you’ll experience many plants and trees, some are fruits, the other are flowers and herbs. How surprised I was when my partners revealed some information about them.
There’s time the top was overwhelmingly littered. Now many people try to fix this and it helps a lot. The sign in the picture below is one of the effort to make it clean. So, remember to clean your camp before leaving.
Some people consider traveling as a cure for their love hurts. Is it really good or just an over-estimated expectation?
I talked to a friend in 24h store in my neighborhood this afternoon. She was in deep sorrow and tended to hurt herself with a lot of pain. Well, She hit the table hard and insistently she couldn’t get out of the hole, a deep sorrow for a long long time like hands holding her back. She knew what is right or wrong. But “the matter of heart, it doesn’t easily change.”
Then she told me how she’d cured her pain. She’d taken several rides to the same place: Can Gio coastal town – an quite location, just 60 kms away from the city center. She thought that travel would take all the sad things away and fulfill the mind with fresh plans, directions or even, a belief of recovery
Well, sadly, I confided, travel should never be your love junk yards. I used to embrace journeys like an escape plan every time life hits me hard: love hurts, jobs away, family conflicts, no idea who I am and what I really want in life and so forth. But after all, I couldn’t fix those.
So I asked her whether she felt relented or her backpack after trips loaded with new hopes then turning to hopelessness because of her unwilling cho change. Some of us share this situation, we do something in hope of washing away the bad luck in our life. Indeed, It’s just like you facing the wall, and you’re trying to turn left or right instead of crossing over it. We usually find the way to escape from our problems, not to solve them.
I thought travel would fix every things, I was wrong
I love trekking, one of the lessons you soon discover in this kind of travel is you have to leave all unnecessary stuffs, at home or at bases lying beneath the mountains. Because the more higher you are, the heavier you feel. Life is a trek, you should put all burdens back and enjoy the journey. Some moment in time you won’t get back, and instead of a heart full of regrets, just look up and see the world. It’s worthy!
So the next time, when you plan to travel to cure love hurts, keep in mind that, it may not be effective. The only way to solve it is sit down alone and plan to do something big. You can also choose to get trekking with some funny guys, they will inspire you, make you more optimistic and on top of that, you’re smiling. The joy fixes all life fault.
15 Manila travel facts cover whole my first experience in the capital of Phillipines, that help you know more about this place, from communication, people, food, smell to pick-pocket situation.
1. Communication
You’ll feel very friendly when most of the local can speak quite a standard English, very easy to understand. It’s really a plus for Phillipines travel experience when you can query almost things from directions, foods, public transportation, or social chit-chat… You can go local really really deep and have more budget choice. Great!!
Talking with the local is also interesting. When strolling around Rizal park, I came up with a little girl – Jennie – asking me to buy her some souvenir as a donation for her charity work. Her accent and flow of speaking was very good. I was finally convinced to do that even that’s not my plan at first.
2. Chaos traffic
Like Vietnam, streets in Manila are quite chaos but at a smaller scale. When I stepped out of the airport, to take jeepney to downtown, I had to cross the highway without a skywalk, I saw the local did so.
Cars in full speed passing you leave a very anxious feeling. What if drivers are busy doing something and don’t notice you are crossing over. I daren’t think of that case. That was my first encounter.
I noticed that people can make a cross wherever they want if the street is clear and make sure driver see them. That’s all. At some big intersections, maybe do drivers obey the laws, but most of the time, they try to get over fast.
The closest encounter that was when I walked alone from bus stop to the hostel, across many kinds of roads: highways, blouvards, avenues, alleys, roads, LRT terminals… So see Manila traffic reflects its chaos situation, especially in rush-hour.
3. CCTV
As a “paradise of crime”, It’s no doubt that there are a lot of CCTV devices in every corners. But what I was surprised that the warning signs are put on the wall purposely. I think the situation is so bad that local people choose to warn the thieves before they do anything wrong.
These CCTV really give you a big sense of unsafe here. When local people have to watch for their properties, it means travelers should be double watch themselves – a big backpack means you are really a “cash cow” walking on street. Be careful!
4. Jeepney
Jeepneys are kind of hop-on-hop-off, which means there’s no terminal at all, you just watch for the right jeepney, wave the driver and get on. When you’re on, you’ll experience the real jeepney-rush: noise from roaring engine, swung by the move, some guys just hop on to hold the ceiling bar and hop off at the destination,..
Jeepney bring you to most of corner in the Manila, its really a budget transportation that you should take advantage when travel in Phillipines to save more money and get deeper local experience. Many local talks I made in jeepneys and they are really awesome to know more people and the local lives.
5. People
I think, though the country is famous for crimes such as pickpockets, drugs,.. During my time there, I saw many people doing nothing but just sleeping in streets or Rizal park.
However, Fillipinos are kind and friendly. My first contact was the dorm receptionists. They are very useful and always show the best way to travel.
I remember when I was pickpocketed in the last day in Manila, I tended to go airport by Jeepney but the receptionist girl persuaded me to take LRT and bus, I thought she reduce any risks for me.
The other girl is Jennie, whom I met at Rizal park. She’s younger than me just a year, beautiful and dynamic. She sold the keychains for her charity programs. Her accents was smooth and graceful. I really admired her for what she’d done. That means Fillipinos know how their country is well-known for and are trying to fix that.
During Tagaytay trip, I also met really nice shop assistants and vendors. They were friendly and help you a lot to have ones best fitting you.
6. Tricycle
It’s a kind of private taxi, with an extensive sidecar. That’s really genius when Fillipino can convert from a bicycle with only one passenger into a “car” which can serve up to totally 3-4 people on.
The fare is fairly cheaper than taxi but still more expensive than Jeepney. There are two kinds of tricycle: one made from bike and the other made from bicycle. I once took the tricycle based on bicycle and saw how hard the rider brought me to my dorm.
One more thing, you’ll never see the road surface as close as you in a tricycle cabin, and it make it worth a try afterall
7. Smell
Though I love Manila for its historical beauty, I’m not sure for its smell. Airport is OK, but when I was stuck in a jeepney going through Baclaran market, it started something smell very “local”.
When I walked streets to streets, the smell was like somehow, someone pissed somewhere. It completes smell out. An other annoying smell is from gabbage. They are everywhere in the city. The last smell is people smell, I mean, the Black Nazarene – where thousands of people convene – It was so much cramped, you can smell the ones close to you, sometimes, it’s not ease at all.
8. Guards and guns
As a “heaven of crime”, we see many “angels” in Manila: the guards. They are really well armed with pistols (usually), shotgun (often) and rifle (rare) along with handcruff. Manila was the first place I’ve seen as many kinds of weapon as that. Sense of Mafia city in Italy or Far West in U.S or Mexico, where people need gun to deal with daily issues. Whoops!
The men who put on weapons I saw are note only polices but also guards of 24-hour shops, banks or even, city park. But luckily, I’ve never heard any gunshots during my time in Manila. I wish that for you too, If you plan to stay there.
9. Black Nazarene
I was lucky. The first day I stayed in Manila was right at second day of Black Nazarene festival. You’d experience the sense of overwhelmed by thousands of local people in red, practising their religious ritual. If you choose to join them, get your pocket closed strictly and every precious properties should be locked on or put at hostel. Then do it!
It was scary at first when you’re stuck in a flow of people, strolling through streets, you see nothing but people, people everywhere, some pray, some sleep, some even … look at you if you don’t dress like them. I was paralyzed for an hour, maybe more, when joining them. So scary but sense of holy, like you’re blessed, is awesome!
10. Food
Manila food is not really well-known. The first one I had is a kind of meat soup, served with noodle and boiled rice. It’s quite salty, you can add sour favor with clementine and scallion sliced pieces.
Some street snacks like banana cue, tofu is so sweet, peanuts cooked with hot spices is good. I don’t really enjoy Manila snacks much, but they are still worth trying. We travel, eat to explore, right?
11. Historical buildings
What I really love in Manila, and makes it highlight in my mind from other cities all over around the South-east asia is its history reflecting through buildings as forts, churches and parks.
I still remember my walk in Fort Santiago in a charming late afternoon, very mass with big blocks of stone walls, some ruins, taste of past that you can smell mostly everywhere around Intramuros.
I really love my experience in St Augustin Church. Very stunning and old time. I saw many many things beautiful there: paintings, books, holy stuffs,… that you wish to see in medieval Europe. How wonderful they are.
After the trip, You’d really better understand how Phillipines chose Christ to be their God among others.
12. Hostel
Dorm is great for its location, near the center and other attractions. I stayed in Wanderers Guest house, which locates in Malate, near beauttiful Malate church and Remedios circle, take few steps for jeepneys going around the city. Price is awesome too, very budget style.
However, you have to deal with Manila thief disease in dorm room even. My friend said that he was snatched when check-in, and on my locker door in the room warning you have to use heave duty lock. Huhm *sigh*
13. City under construction
Manila is still under construction as many slums are still big problem. I saw a lot of buildings with dozen of workers, construction site besides an old building, which is degrading, ugly and dangerous to live in.
Walking along Rizal park or Intramuros, trees are still cluttered, bushes overwhelming pavement and Manila is not a clean city when people are building it up.
14. Pickpocket
Before the trip, I was warned that Manila was a pickpocket heaven, I noted that, and keep it in my mind. It was really anxious when you come out of hostel with high alert everytime. But afterall, I was the next victim of pickpocket disease in Manila, in my last Jeepney ride to hostel, before check-out to fly that night.
Most of pickpocket happens on jeepneys, where dozen of people packed in small size cabin, even you know someone is trying to steal your properties, you won’t get him/ her if you seat so far from the backdoor. So, be watching, or you soon have to say farewell to your wallets.
15. Manila at night
It’s great to stroll around the neighborhood at night, because there are many interesting places to kill time. From nice coffees to karaoke clubs, atmosphere is cool, streets are well-decorated with colorful lights from pano and fountain.
Yes, there’s a fountain near my hostel, it’s remedios circle. At night, the fountain flows accompanied with colorful lights. In some special event, there are performances in Spanish style. Really nice!
Ah, one more thing, You should see a boxing match. It’s really worth your night, too
I remember the lyric of the song “What do you want from me”. And it’s a question I give myself: “What do you want from me”.
No guide, no tips, just my small thought in this post.
I get inspired by an idea that I should travel to every countries in the world before anyone in my hometown does (so I’ll become the first one). So I tried as fast as I could to make it come true.
And you know.
I got burnt out, yesterday, when I was trying to produce posts to my blog and work to earn a bit of travel money, to buy airfare, to check-in, to complete my dream.
“Travel to every countries in the world” is my dream. But I didn’t understand why I gradually hated travelling. Something wrong, something VERY wrong here!!
And my friend threw me a blog post, a woman rode bicycle across Southeast Asia, lived on a budget and enjoyed trips so much. A typical long-term travelers.
And I read other travel blog, top ones. I did enjoy them. How cute words were, how beautiful photographs were taken, so inspiring. How could I become them? Top travel bloggers.
I read Quora, and it seemed my problem was like other beginner travellers: pushing myself too much and as a result, I got burnt out and turned to be hating trips.
And the advice?
Slow it down.
I think that you can become the first one of something, but before you do it seriously, just ask yourself whether you love the journey, not just the trophy.
Spend more time on destinations, seek more beautiful photography moments, more local conversations, more time to watch sunrise and sunset,… more time for your inner voice.
I think this is better than just a hop-on-hop-off journey. I used to consider budget travel as how to win the cheapest airfare and try to minimize the cost of travel while travel to as much as I could.
Most cheap flights are at night, and time is conflicting so much to my work (yeah, though you can work and travel, it’s still work, right?). And I tried to connect as many countries as possible to reduce airline cost.
The result?
It turns out that I miss many interesting things that (maybe) I don’t have any chance to do it again. And I was so lonely in some trips!
I know that 9-to-5 work life is a circle, and each of us has certain responsibilities to carry on.
…
But when someone I know pass away, I remind me of Steve jobs speech “our time is limited”. So I try to live as every today was my last day. Of course, I plan to treasure time and spend on more life-time experiences, slow but valuable moments, not somethings empty, over-and-over-AGAIN and boring.
Once I was trolling along the coastal line in Vung Tau, right below the statue of Jesus Christ, and see two boys around a little hole. I asked them what they were doing and the answer was to catch mantis shrimps.
I’ve eaten many mantis shrimps in Viet Nam. The first time I’ve enjoyed them was years ago, in a mixture of chilly and other delightsome spices. I can’t speak the names but very love the way they color and spice up dishes.
You should try some shrimp dishes, spiced up, and served hot with dipping sauces, which is very popular in Ho Chi Minh city. The vietnamese call them Tom Tic. (spell like ‘tome tik’)
Mantis shrimps were so differently delicious from other kinds of shrimp. There is just a little fresh in body. After cooking, it turns out to be closer to that of lobsters than that of shrimps, more chewy and tasty. It takes more time to uncover the crust but the reward is worthy.
People love them not only by taste but the nutritious reasons. I saw some website says that “mantis shrimp protein content of up to 20%, fat 0.7%, and contains vitamins, chlorate, inosinic acid, amino propionic acid and other nutrients”. Tons of nutritious spills is merely in a fillet of mantis shrimp.
I also catch them alive, moving their limbs on vendor tray in a certain market, fresh and funny. But the moment when they are still in the dark hole (and in comfort too, I guess) until people pull out and serve us? No, so how I was eager to watch a couple of boys doing this task.
I’ve already asked for instruction and the boys positively providing useful information, if you’d love to have a try.
Two little boys trying to catch a mantis shrimp
To catch mantis shrimp, you need 2 things. First: a rob made of a tie and a long shell. Second: patient to walk along the shore and seek for any suspecting holes.
After located, use your handmade rob and drop the shell deep into the hole, until it touches something moving: it’s a mantis shrimp (or something else?).
The shrimp will try to catch the bait and you just keep pulling slowly until you see half of its body out of the hole.
Finally, use a big spoon to surely you make it completely out of their comfortable hole and get into your containers (a bag/ box with water inside).
Get the mantis shrimp into the container
Now you know how to catch them. Collect a full bag and have some cook make it into fascinating dishes. Haha!
One more thing. A gallery below is of the other interesting creatures I saw along the shore in the same day, and I don’t think they are edible as mantis shrimps, haha, but it’s still worth a look
When I received a potato crisp pack from the girl, then I realized that “Giving” means “taking somehow, somewhere and sometime later, by chance”.
Here’s my story
At the end of my busy day of Nghinh Ong festival, I was resting on a hammock, in the local coffee shop, which locates nearby the central park of town. It was a exhausting day and I was really really burnt out. I just wanted some rest, preparing for the next day.
Everybody occupied their own hammocks, ready to take a sleep after the long day of activities. I was sleepy and nearly shut my eyelids down, then I noticed 2 girls looking around. They seemed finding somethings like a power socket for their smartphone. I know it’s freaky but it looked like all the sockets were occupied and there was only one left, hanging right above my hammock and just enough to power one device.
No mount or any graber was available. In a moment of thinking, she covered her phone with a plastic bag and hanged it to the electric wire. Well, there was her friend’s left.
And at that time, I asked them if they would like to use my backup power device. I was very happy to help and not to ask for anything in return. I was completely fulfilled. And I slept.
Early morning, my phone alarmed and I woke up, looked around and saw them talking to each other. The first festival activity would take place 3 hours later and I remained sleepy. So I chose to stay on my hammock and enjoyed more lazy time because the hammock-sleep was likely to make my back ache.
They packed belongings quickly and I asked for their itinerary. They said that they would embark a boat to Thanh An isle. They had not visited there ever and many one suggested them visit it. (I have to admit that: I’ve never put my feet there, though I’ve visited Can Gio many many times, haha).
They kindly returned my power device and thanked a lot. But what made me surprised that they open their backpack and take me a potato crisp pack (one like Pringle’s) as a return.
I was confused a bit, I really didn’t expect to receive anything for my deed, but eventually they paid me. So I received the gift happily and we said goodbye.
And then I start thinking I should do something for free to fuel my trips.
The Idea: you can travel for FREE when you offer FREE service
I’ll break it down.
People always love receive something free: products , lessons or services… and today most of the corporations take advantage of the human weak point to strike us with tons of commercials and we suspect any free offers.
In other words, many people think that “when I take a free one, I HAVE TO pay back certain amount of money or favors, or something that you somehow will mention later..”
The key of the strategy is you offer your service in volunteer spirit. You help them to resolve their problem well and there’s no price to charge. It depends on their choices.
And when people see your deeds are good, friendly and volunteer, they adore you. They will help you as a return, happily and deliberately, because they think they should do it for themselves. Helping people always freshen the heart.
So kindly reveal your goal, perhaps they will help you in the ways that you won’t ever think of. It’s simply “give and take” principle and you can apply for your journey with your own “free offers”
How to live the “Free service” lifestyle
Easily, make a banner showing something like “teach swimming, guitar, cooking,… for free”. What you know that it’s useful and you’re able to give lessons.
Put it somewhere people can see.
When someone call you for your free offers, just do it with your passion and a spirit willing to help people, a kind of volunteer work. Just make sure they must be TRULY free offers.
You’ve got to consider the fact that someones will pay you nothing (yes, it’s completely true). However, most people will admire your behavior and ask you if they can help anything.
In my opinion, the strategy is more effective in countryside or remote areas where people are not fighting against “free-but-actual-commercial” offers by the corporations.
My Con Dao travel story covers how I met some travel friends, got to amazing trails, beaches and coffee around island and a sacred night in Hang Duong cemetery.
After a night onboard, I head toward the town for accommodation. My bike stopped at a garden-like hostel, with a sign board “Uyen’s house” in simply black-and-white style. After few minutes check-in, I went to dorm room. It was nice.
My next-bed roommate was an 40s-something woman, she traveled alone. When I asked her recommendations, then she showed me some trails in national park, where to ask for permission papers and for most, where to get the useful map, just on the table near the receptionist area.
The map is provided by national park headquarter, with helpful information and guidelines, marking where to spot dugongs, sea turtles, mangroves,… around Con Dao. There is also a mini map of the town. I loved the map.
Leaving my backpack at dorm, I headed to the national headquarter to obtain trail pass permission. There was a lilypad pool and some ducks welcoming me there at the first sight.
When I reached the tourism center, there was no one inside, but a sign with telephone number, I dialed, minutes later, a officer in green suit showed up, consulted me where should I go, what to expect there and finally, what trail I’d like to go.
He said I could only receive one permission paper per trail, no multi-trail paper was available and everytime I’d to hike another trail, then I had to back for the permission. It was inconvenient a bit, but I thought that in case I got trouble and wouldn’t be back dorm for days, then they knew where to find me.
The first trail I attended was to Ong Dung beach, the shortest one in the national park trail system, easiest to reach by bike and just 30 minute hiking on stairs to see the beach. Most of tourists follow that trail.
I loved the first touch of national park. So green, cool and quiet ambiance. I thought I’d been lost in green for decades while walking on the trail. There are 4-5 signboards telling hikers some facts of the forest, which is very informative to read.
When I almost reached the beach, three dogs suddenly appeared and barked me, making me afraid of passing at first. However, after a while, they seemed not likely to bite me, so I just slowly walked through them. That’s so brave, haha!
The ranger station is a big stilt house whose basement is also a kitchen and recreational room with some hammocks. In front, there’s a herb garden. From here, you can see a still sea with a beach full of rocks. I spotted some mangrove plants available there.
I met a couple of traveler, who seemed to go on a snorkel tour provided by the forest ranger. However, they had some confusion with the service price. I got to the ranger station and asked for details, then consulting them, hopefully they got the nice price.
Following the road to the end, I also joined the other trail route to other side of Ong Dung beach, it was longer than the first one and more quiet, the beach was wilder and more incredible but some camping people left trash around.
The beach was not for swimming, many sharp rocks scattering along the shore. I just go around for photography and swinging on the hand-made swing. So airy, like a bird.
I spent most of my morning on two those trails, so when back to the town, no food stalls opened, I had to buy instant noodles and cook them in the dorm kitchen. It was cool when you are full.
I made friend with a man, he had been in Con Dao for several days, taken some cruise trips, wandered around the town for food but when I showed him the map of national park, he sensed missing something, that’s why the next day he decided to join my trail hiking, I thought.
In the afternoon, I went back to the headquarter to obtain another permission to Dat Tham trail. This was even longer than Ong Dung one. Most of the time I was walking alone. There’s a small cave used for worshipping Holy mother.
When I stepped around, I was the only one, the surrounding was quiet, cold, so scary. Gruuuu! After seconds, I decided to go out of the site. If someone appeared, maybe I was stunned at that time.
Walking through many beautiful plants, I saw many amazing creepers, very unique pose they were. And some kind of colorful mushroom, ideal for photos. It took me a lot of time for photography there.
Finally, I heard the sound of waves touching sand beach. But firstly, I saw an construction site. So I turned left, and stepped downstair to a small waterfall, the flow led me to the mangrove and an open sea. It’s not one for swimming, but still a good place for camping with a nice sandy beach.
I was not sure whether that was Dat Tham or Bang beach, so I returned to the site and found some one who could give me the answer. That was a group of worker, and the site was forest ranger station construction. He confirmed me the beach was Dat Tham, and there’s a T-intersection in the trail, which would lead me to Bang beach.
So, I went back to that T-intersection and kept walking a while to Bang beach. The route was very sloppy, which was easy to step downward but very stamina-consuming on the way back. The beach displayed a clear water, full of coral pieces and round stones. A nice spot for sunset, as well.
It was quite fatigued when I was out of the trail. Feeling hungry, I rode back to the town eating some refreshments before taking shower, getting dress for Christmas Eve buffet.
I spotted a nice coffee, well-decorated in Christmas style. I ordered an Earl Grey tea pot and excitingly asked for photographing the shop. The bartender was nice, he let me do my job while preparing my tea. The atmosphere was lovely and warm with Christmas color.
Tea pot on the table and I poured into a white cup. A dark yellow water quickly filled up with nice steam. I had cake, sipped tea and enjoy photos I’d taken along the trail. That was my Christmas away from home, feeling so merry when I was there.
When I went back to the dorm, just some people stayed there. It was dark with few lights on. 30 minute to the buffet opening, so I took the shower in a hurry and joined the party with my older friend. He informed me that 2 people would accompanied us. Not to wait long, I met them. They were a mid-age woman and a young girl, so fitting with a man and me.
The Christmas Eve party held in Infinite coffee, just a little walk from the hostel – A beautiful place for not only drinks but you can play a pool game inside. We prepared dish, have beefsteak, chicken cooked, with some ham rolls, salad and breed also. A bottle of white wine was order, an incredibe accompanion with delicious foods in merry space. That was a wonderful night by travelers.
After that, we went hostel, resting a bit and got ready for night visit Hang Duong cemetery, where the heroine Vo Thi Sau, a sacred monument. Hundreds of people come here every day and more at the weekend, holiday to worship the dead. I think it’s a must-try experience, even though you’re not a Vietnamese.
Weird food is always a funny topic to be mentioned. It’s like a challenge for travelers. “Dare you try this crazy dish?” “Oh, come on, dude. You can do it” and then looking at faces with different emotional expressions.
In the festival, when I was wandering on my beloved bike, then I noticed a signboard mention a dish “pig eye soup”. Oh come on, it’s truly WEIRD FOOD. I ran away, for 1 minute, then I turned back. I think that this was an awesome way to enrich my travel experience. By the way, I had a story to tell.
It was a small stall, some man sat and enjoy their meals, somethings like boiled intestine, sliced and served with fish sauce. Well, it was definitely a must-try experience, I thought.
I ordered “eye pig soup”, of course, compared to the intestine, this seemed more frightening to taste. It takes long to prepare, around 15’. The waitress brought me the plain soup first with julienned ginger topping, then a plate full of herb, vegetable,… a lot of green ones.
Finally, our protagonist showed up, the boiled pig eye. In fact, it was not only black pig eye but a steamy part of skull including the eye.
OK, now what? Have it!
is it weird enough ?
I would try to describe it to you. I think one of the most important tips to enjoy a weird food is not to imagine too much, especially as if it is a living one, I mean we shouldn’t think of a living pig staring at us in this case.
So I started enjoy my dish with full of responsibility. Meat was the same as other part (fillet, shoulder,…) so it was easy to swallow. Skin is at the middle of chewy and cracky sense. I think most of the people would enjoy this part of the dish, along with the meat.
The hardest session was when we had to penetrate through his/ her eye with a fork and pull out of the hole. It was a scary moment. A few people can do it (except for the local, they’ve made it for decades). Its taste? Well, it was like a very thin cartilage, intense liquid. It was delicious in a very different way. I think it would be more tasty if it was not an eye but it IS an eye, so it’s scary.
Another part is sinus, I don’t know anything to call a name, but it was quite similar to cracky seaweed. At first moment I used the fork to separate edible material off the skull but finally I was surrendered because of its intensive sticky nature. By-hand is an advised solution.
The key to enjoy the dish is to take advantage of green herb, soup and hot chili in fish sauce to make it more easy to taste, swallow and digest. One of the reason why I love Vietnamese cuisine is because it requires so much sophisticated combination and the result that can make you surprised.
Con Dao prisons is very well-known. Actually, the island was built for only purpose – imprison. So it is interesting to do a short trip. I also covers the previous night when I had chance visiting Hang Duong mass cemetery at night. Very memorable moments in these.
It was raining, no lightning, but grey clouds covered whole sky, which was very suitable for a day exploring somethings haunting.
There are several prison. The first one, locating in town is Phu Hai. You can park your bikes/ cars right at front of the prison. There’s a ticket booth to the left of the gate. Ticket price is 20 000 (12/2016), you receive a receipt allowing you to visit the other prisons and a badge as a souvenir.
When you open the gate, it sounds a metallic echoing, very heavy. I still remember that sound. It left me an very impression on what I would explore – a mass prison where thousands of people tortured, jailed to dead. Yes, death smell.
The gate opened. No one inside. I and my friend, we were only visitors at that time. It was scary whole the time when you just alone there. On the contrary to the outside, it is very silent here. I remind stepping very gently as a cat, because you can hear every sounds even it is not loud at all.
Welcome you – a church at the center of the yard, painted in yellow, a popular old color in colonial era. The door open slight, it is weak lit inside. No light on, just few outter ones from windows. The room is transformed into a meeting room with lots of chairs and several pictures depicting the life in the prisons, how prisoners survived, how they fought and how they died. Watch these pictures gives you more clues when exploring the site.
Out of the church, you can walk around to explore dark jails with some statues inside, posing prisoner activities. When you’re getting in these places, just alone, see them, (bravely) touch them, then you know how scary it is.
I didn’t dare stand inside the jail, just rights at threshold, admittedly that my mind would blow up if someone locked me in, facing the real-scale human-like statues, with a twilight background produced by windows above, brain overwhelmed by dozens of pictures of tortured people. That’s too much for an memorable experience. But I was lucky, my friend didn’t play joke on me. Thank you! haha
There are a big tree in the yard, and many plants around, which you can spot a sign “heritage tree” below.
The first complex includes 2 collective prisons, one clubs, one isolated jail area – one man each room, a dining hall with a large kitchen nearby. There is also a rocky yard, where it is said to be a place punished prisoners were forced to break the rocks as a slave labor. A poem attached on the wall, composed by Phan Chu Trinh, a well-known patriot in Vietnam last century.
The next prison complex is Phu Tuong, where you can explore infamous tiger-cage prisons. The door is far more bigger, fitting vehicles to pass through. Every walls are made of cement and blocks of stone, which their height is very remarkable, armed with sharp broken glass pieces. It is more easy-to-get-lost here because the path is difficult to locate a bit.
Compared to the prison in Phu Quoc, I feel Con Dao version is harsher. There are a lot of monuments built around the island, memorizing the attempts to prison break and sail off, many ones dead, very few ones made it and many many people, both known and unknown, passed away here and buried in mass cemetery Hang Duong. The most topical martyr is Vo Thi Sau.
My roommates and I paid a visit to the cemetery at previous night. Yes, though it was at night but many people, both the martyr relatives and pilgrims, gather there to worship the dead. It is like a giant park, breezes blow cool and the whole park is medium lit by some lamp posts, indulging in fantastic white light.
It is very sacred atmosphere in the neighborhood. Especially, when you approach Vo Thi Sau – heroine’s tomb, you’ll understand what I mean. Very religious moments at the tomb. People burn incenses, delicate offering and hard pray. The smell of burning incenses, praying sound echoes. My friend would pray for a bit. Many people comes here to pray, they strongly believe in the heroine.
There’s a monument that you’ll see it from far sight, accompanied by two holy cross and surrounded by walls. That’s the main hall.
The cemetery is just 1 kilometer away from the downtown, via a very open field, no light at night, road sides lined trees.
I was shocked after the visiting, it was too religious, too sacred. A bit distress. You’ll know more about how war ruined the human. How beautifully they fight for their ideals, and how people treat each other when they pass away. That how much peace we need in this world. So much confusing, but, memorable.
The Con dao travel guide covers how to get to and get around the island, some facts about night on ship, foods and what to do to explore the paradise.
My first time in Con Dao was so amazing that I decide to write a “short” travel guide. Hopefully it helps you plan for your trip. This is a beautiful remote island in Vietnam that any travelers should visit once-in-a-lifetime.
Travel to Con Dao
A. Air
There’s no budget flight on HCMC-Con Dao. The only airline is Vietnam Airline, national fleet, price ranges around 80 usd/ one-way. The airport is quite far from the town, so if you’ve booked hotel, kindly request them a transit.
B. Boat
Cheap but not reliable due to the sea condition, Boats are still chosen by most of people travelling to Con Dao. You’d better call to check the availability beforehand, and watch out the cancellation in rough weather days.
a) Cat Lo – Ben Dam boat
The cheapest (but more adventurous – I warn you!) way to get to the island is to secure a seat on a ship in Cat Lo port in Vung Tau. It runs every two day, so you should check the schedule beforehand (The green box is route Con Dao-Vung Tau, Blue box is Vung Tau-Con Dao)
The ship start at 17:00 and the arrival should be at 6:00 the next day for both route Vung Tau – Con Dao and vice versa. Sometimes you’ll reach the port at around 8:00 if the sea is rough the previous night.
There are two ship operating:
– Con Dao 09: a big ship with 238 vacancies (200 beds and 38 seats). I traveled to Con Dao in the ship.
– Con Dao 10: smaller ship, vacancies only 148 passengers (108 beds and 40 seats).
There’s a cafeteria onboard, which offers instant noodle for 20,000vnd and purified water for 10,000 vnd, opens until 19:00 when it’s getting windy and the deck becomes more and more up-and-down.
Note: On the way to port, there’re several vendors selling cheap local food. Before departure, you can walk nearby neighborhood for better food than poor menu onboard.
It’s quite clean, a lot of officer onboard. Night on ship will not a good news for those who are stuck with seasick. You’re likely to vomit and it will weaken your health a bit. So if you’re not healthy, take a flight please, for your life.
Cost
If you’re on Con Dao 09, you’ll pay 85,000vnd/ seat and 150,000vnd/ bed. Con Dao 10 is more expensive: 200 000/ bed and 125 000/ seat (2017). You can have seat anywhere you like, someones even stretch their legs over the nearby seat to sleep. You can bring hammock if you want more comfort.
For vehicle, it costs 50,000 vnd/ motorbike + 60,000vnd loading fee (onboard and offboard). Your gasonline tank will be empty before loading onto ship. The ship departs at 5:00PM, so you have to be at the port one hour beforeif you’d like to bring along your bike.
For ticket, buy here:
In Vung tau city: 1007/36, 30/4 street, ward 11. Telephone (Vietnamese) 064.383.8684.
In Con dao town: Vo Thi Sau street, near Con dao market. Telephone: 064.383.0619.
Email (quite useless): vetaucondao@gmail.com
You’re required to provide your ID card, passport to buy ticket, and the vehicle license for your bike.
Note: From Ben Dam port to the town center, you have to travel 12 kilometers so if you don’t have any vehicle, so the motorbike taxi would charge you 50,000vnd for a ride. Remember to write down your hotel name along with address because few drivers speak English.
b) SuperDong Speedboat
Since July 2017, another option is to take a speedboat of Superdong in Tran De, Soc Trang province (Mekong Delta). The daily schedule is 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM departing at Tran De (Soc Trang), returning from Ben Dam (Con Dao) and vice versa.
Check the Speed boat Price (it’s more expensive than Ben Lo, Vung Tau)
Get around Con Dao
Small fact: Con Dao is actually a group of 16 islands. The largest island is known as Con Son.
There are many way to explore the island.
Walk: Just by walking, you can even explore beautiful sea, visit prison complexes, have meals and so on. The village is small scale so all the points of interest are close to one another ridiculously. Jogging in the morning and evening is recommended.
Motorbikes: I love this option most – as a guy loves roadtrip ah ha. The price is very cheap: 100 000 vnd/ day, no fuel cover, cheaper than mostly rest of Vietnam. The bikes are new, but remember to get your tank full of gas or you have to drag your vehicle (which is not romantic at all) because the petrol station have limited hours: 6:00-11:30 and 13:30 – 20:00.
Motorbike taxis: They are mostly honest. However, I think you should also check the distance, and bargain price before get on. Good guys – Bad guys – Who knows. These man are very useful guide, but because the fact that few of them speak English, so it’s not really useful if you cannot communicate in Vietnamese.
Taxis: Most expensive, I didn’t choose it. You are on a beautiful island, full of wild landscape. Why do you have to be stuck in a metal box?
Bicycle: Town is small, so if you don’t walk, you can ride a bicycle, but just around the town, OK. out-of-town roads are extremely rough and sloping. Know what to expect you!
Where to Stay in Con Dao
Although there are many good accommodations in Con Dao, most of them are quite expensive if you travel alone because only are just private rooms available. Price range from 20-40$. You can find Phi Yen hotel, Con Dao island hotel, Anh Dao easily. They are all popular to most of taxis.
If you have money, then Six Sense is a upscale resort that can satisfy all you need and your standard. (Ok, I’ve never been to there, I just heard people saying so). A night there costs you only 500 – 2400$.
I chose the only dorm in the island – Uyen’s house, very budget if you travel solo, only 10$ and it’s very beautiful, new so the equipments are still very fresh.
Con Dao, it’s famous for 3 things: a national park and a big historical jail and a island, there are many activities to do, which may take you a whole week to well dig into each one.
a) Swimming
As a small island, Con Dao obsesses just several nice beach to swim perfectly, the other are beautiful, but too rocky, which makes it impossible for swimming around but ideal for camping and snorkel.
The closest beach is right at the town, walking for minutes and you get there. The water is clear enough and the sand is nice.
Further and quieter is Dam Tre beach. Just few local and hikers pass by. The water is clear as crystal, sand is very nice and smooth, while the beach is completely even, suitable for sun-bathing
b) Trail Hiking
I did completely two routes, and to be honest, I did love them. That was a chance to refresh your lung, paint your eyes with green sceneries and enrich your experience with wild friends, like monkeys and birds.
Hiking alone offers you more sense of adventure. A lot of scary things like cave explore, stuck in trail when it’s twilight, be some robinson-moment on a nice beach at the end of the trail,… very tempting!
c) Wandering in historical sites
To be honest, I was frightened when entering Con Dao jail for the first time. It was quiet, dark, illustrated with human statues in real scale. If you read the history, this is where thousands of revolution people died, like a mass death. It’s haunting.
Beside the jail complex, Hang Duong cemetery is also a sacred destination where hundreds of pilgrims visit daily at night. You won’t forget the moment there.
d) Diving
As a remote island, untouched by most of human activities, and still well preserved, diving in Con Dao is quite popular. There’s several diving center with PADI registered mark on. Signing up for a diving course is recommended.
e) Cruising to surrounding islets
The wild life in surrounding area is still very dynamic. You can go to port, ask any fishing boats for a cruise tour, bargain for the best price, and step on, explore islets.
f) Roadtrip
There’s only a coastal road, so it’s thoroughly worthy a ride to enjoy beautiful shore of the island. You’ll see birds spreading their wings in the sky, sun brightening the sea and wild plants coloring the roadside.
Roadtrip is very cheap, you can rent a bike for only 5$/ day, plus 1-2 $ for fuel. The experience on road will be amazing!
What and Where to eat in Con Dao
Food is expensive. We had a half of boiled duck and 4 soups, costing 320,000 vnd in total. A buffet for 340,000/ pax, and a bowl of Bun rieu for 25,000vnd.
You should have breakfast/ lunch in time or no one would sell you anything. However, dinner is very relaxing, most of restaurants stay until midnight.
If you run out of budget then some instant noodle packs are saviors. A pack cost 7000vnd, double will be likely enough for an active day.
Most of Con Dao specialities are gifts or snacks like: almendron nuts, Oyster soups (not really special), Sea foods (snails, lobsters, fishes,..). I think echinus sauce and peanut worms are the two most unique that deserves a try (but requires a taste after all).
There are some nice local coffee shops to check in. I pick Infinite and Lacasa if you like somethings cool, price is a bit higher than average.
The local drink is also good to try. I bought a sugarcane juice for 10,000vnd, the 1.5 liter bottle of water also costs me 10,000vnd.
The safety
One of the best things in Con Dao, and other islands like Phu Quoc is no theft threats. I haven’t heard any news report about crimes in the island, and you don’t worry about your bike if you leave it on road (but your luggages). That’s pretty good compared to the land.
One more thing to notice: when you jump on boat for a cruise, remember to check for any life vests available. Some boat owners won’t provide the safety equipments like that so go on or choose another provider is your call. Be careful!
