Let go to Con Dao

It was a contingent and exciting chance when I visited Con Dao in July. It’s a perfect destination for people who love adventure and virgin beachs.

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I caught the SaiGon- Vung Tau bus and stopped at Cat Lo Harbor. Because there was still a lot of time, my friend and I decided to eat something before going on the ship. As you know, if you eat 30 minutes before a voyage, your sea sickness will decrease remarkably.

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At 16h30: We heard the signals from the ship that it was the time we got on the vessel. I decided to go by boat this time because it was cost saving, and we still had a lot of time. Even though the voyage would last for so long- about 12 hours, we still wanted to have this experience.

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On the deck, many passengers were enjoying the beautiful scenery. However, my friend and I decided to sleep because we did not have any sleep the night before.

I woke up at 11 pm, and then I came to the deck and decided to have a bowl of noodles. Passengers can easily have meals on the ship, but there was only noodle with eggs or noodle with sausage. I had only noodle, so it was very cheap with only 5,000 VND.

It is said that Con Dao was the most beautiful from March to June, and I came here in late April. At this time of a year, the beach was very peaceful so it would be very nice if you came to this tourist attraction at the beginning of summer.

At 5 a.m, everyone on the ship woke up to enjoy the atmosphere and scenery at dawn. On that day, the headwind was strong so it took the boat 14 hours to reach the destination. Con Dao appeared to be a colossal area, the water was very blue and clean and the beach was incredibly peaceful. Finally, we reached Ben Dam Harbor; the weather was very pleasant with great sunshine. I started feeling in love with this place. We got on the bus to move into the town and saw the Legendary Love Apex from a long distance of our back. People said this Apex was like the image of a boy and a girl hugging each other, but I couldn’t realize this picture- perhaps because I wasn’t in love.

This Harbor was about 13 kilometers far from Con Dao. My friend and I had a full breakfast and then we rented a motorbike to discover the beauty of this town. The roads here at this time were quite colorful with violet Lagerstroemia, red phoenix, and yellow Cassia fistula. We felt really impressed and surprised with the magnificent beauty of nature here. The quietness here seemed to be strange to me, from the clean roads to the romantic beach. About seven thousand local citizens were living in this town, but we could hardly see any of them.

Phoenix flowers

We came back to get our hotel room, put our luggage into the room and continued our journey. Con Dao Town was so small that we could discover every part of this place in only 1 morning. The local people told us that they had known each other and every place in this town very well.

We came back to the first place- Ben Dam Harbor and then went to Dam Trau. We were advised to have our motorbike full of energy before going because there was only one fuel station here.

Van Son Pagoda, which was being constructed, was located on a high ground so we felt quite tired after walking through 200 stairs. The view from that height was so great with blue sky and beach. Hai An Lake was as beautiful as a picture of yellow autumn.

We did not want to miss any moment and scenery here because it was remarkably fantastic. Therefore, we took a lot of picture in every part of this place from the beautiful lotus in the lake to others. This lake supplied local citizens with fresh water. There was only fresh water in Con Dao and Hon Gai, and other 14 islands did not have fresh water. Next, we moved into Ba Phi Yen Temple and prayed, the atmosphere inside was very peaceful and quiet. After that, my friend and I went on discovering every part there from markets to restaurants and other historical sites.

The seaside roads were charming. We stopped for a while at the 914 Pier and heard about the history of the number 914. It was a pity that so many builders passed away to contribute to the construction of this Pier. The atmosphere and scenery here were still incredible. The water was so clean and clear that we wanted to swim, but we were not permitted because there were a lot of oysters in that area.

914 Pier

The scenery of the two sides from the town to Ben Dam Harbor was entirely different from each other. One side of the road was covered with a lot of Confetti flowers and the other bank was the beach with rough cliffs that was breathtaking but dangerous. We could not stop taking a lot of pictures here because of the fantastic view of this place. Next, we visited Cau Temple, which was the temple built for Nguyen Anh’s son. Tourists coming here will have a chance to listen to the anecdotes of this temple.

Then we moved to Dam Trau Beach. The road was so winding and rough that we nearly fell for sometimes. Each beach had its own style and beauty and so did Dam Trau. This beach was quite large with yellow sand and some seafood stalls. We quickly found an ideal place and started to choose some kinds of seafood. We had the opportunity to eat shells, moon crabs, which were very delicious and tasty.

Dam Trau beach

In that afternoon, we came back to bathe because I preferred the beach in town. My friend and I found a stunning and quiet beach whose name was So Muoi. It was until 7 pm that we stopped bathing. The atmosphere at that time was so impressive with a beautiful moon and peaceful wave. It would be greater if we had a bottle of beer there.

Two other friends and I drank iced milk coffee together and talked about many things. After that, we took a nap after a long traveling day.

At 11: 30 pm, we visited Hang Duong Cemetery and it was more crowded there at night than in the daytime. The lighting system here came from solar batteries; each tomb was a light so there were thousands of lights there. I offered incense in Vo Thi Sau’s tomb and other nearby ones. I also came to further tombs because I thought that not so many people came there. To be honest, I felt a little fearful although I didn’t know where that scary came from.

At 5 a.m, I had a walk on the peaceful and quiet roads. I also visited the market in which local people sold the green vegetables that they grew like spinach, pumpkin, and kale. Most of fruits and flowers here came from the mainland so they were a little more expensive than other ones.

After a full breakfast, my friend and I visited Phu Son and Phu Hai detention camp; the atmosphere in those places was so quiet that the silence was an uncomfortable pressure. I had a chance to listen to the structure of these sites, which included the Inland Princess Palace, museum, etc. locating in a large campus with a lot of green trees. I also visited the gallery in which the souvenirs of heroin Vo Thi Sau were displayed. This museum was located next to the small road where she was kept for 1 day 1 night.

Finally, we visited Phu Tuong detention camp and then came back to have a bath. We had a chance to have a bathe at some famous beaches here like So Muoi, Lo Voi, and Nhat. These beaches were very safe and comfortable. After that, we asked the way to Ong Dung forest, it was a little far but we still decided to come because we were interested in this destination.We came across Ma Thien Lanh in which two ranges of stones lying straightly.

We bought 20,000 VND tickets to visit Ong Dung forest and then explored this place according to the instruction of a forest protection officer. Coming across the primeval forest, we saw some naughty monkeys that were playing happily. One particular thing that all tourists liked very much when visiting Con Dao was that they would never lose their motorbikes even when the keys were still on the motorbikes. We drove a 600- meter way through the forest to reach the beach.

Ong Dung beach

The beach was in our sight, there were quite a lot of stones and gravels, but we could still bathe there. The other beach near there was safer with white sand. Many tourists came here to see coral and try the Cellana shells. My friend and I had lunch in that natural but beautiful scenery with 2 packets of noodles, 2 cans of beer, fruits and candies. We felt quite happy with our journey.

Here are some other pictures taken during my trips: