Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [152]
Mui Ne Stay in a fancy resort at Mui Ne and go kite-surfing in the breezy bay.
Cham monuments Get up close to the impressive Po Klong Garai towers, just outside Phan Rang, and other other Cham towers in the region.
Underwater activities Snorkel or dive in the clear waters off the islands near Nha Trang.
Mud baths Wallow in a mud bath at the Thap Ba Hot Springs near Nha Trang.
Taking a mud bath at the Thap Ba Hot Springs
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The south–central coast |
The Con Dao Archipelago
Cast adrift in the South China Sea some 185km south of Vung Tau, the sixteen islands of the Con Dao Archipelago are emerging as one of Vietnam’s hottest new destinations. Once home to the most feared prison in the country, Con Dao is now metamorphosing into a laidback island get-away with some striking colonial buildings, alluring beaches and challenging treks in the rugged hills of the national park. Since regular flights began to Con Son Island early this century, it has taken its first steps to welcoming tourists, and fortunately there is more to see than the abandoned prisons. Trekking in the national park, diving at the surrounding islands, watching sea turtles laying eggs and lounging on the uncrowded beaches are some of the alternative activities.
The south–central coast | The Con Dao Archipelago |
Con Son Island
Had the fortified outpost established here by the British East India Company in 1703 flourished, CON SON, by far the largest of the islands, could by now have been a more diminutive Hong Kong or Singapore, given its strategic position on the route to China. But within three years, the Bugis mercenaries (from Sulawesi) drafted in to construct and garrison the base had murdered their British commanders, putting paid to this early experiment in colonization. Known then as Poulo Condore, Con Son was still treading water when the American sailor John White spied its “lofty summits” a little over a century later, in 1819. White deemed it a decent natural harbour, though blighted by “noxious reptiles, and affording no good fresh water”.
The island finally found its calling when decades later the French chose it as the site of a penal colony for anti-colonial activists. Con Son’s savage regime soon earned it the nickname “Devil’s Island”. Prisoners languished in squalid pits called “tiger cages”, which featured metal grilles instead of roofs, from which guards sprinkled powdered lime and dirty water on the inmates. As the twentieth century progressed the colony developed into a sort of unofficial “revolutionary university”. Older hands instructed their greener cell-mates in the finer points of Marxist-Leninist theory, while the dire conditions they endured helped reinforce the lessons.
The south–central coast | The Con Dao Archipelago | Con Son Island |
Arrival and information
The easiest way to visit Con Son is to take a Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO; 08/3842 2790; www.vasco.com.vn) flight from Ho Chi Minh City, which takes just an hour (about $80 return). There’s at least one flight a day, sometimes more. You’ll arrive at the airport, about 15km northeast of town, and all hotels operate a pick-up service; the ride into town gives a tantalizing glimpse of the island’s rugged beauty and windswept, deserted beaches. For more of an adventure in getting to the archipelago, contact Vung Tau Tourist in Vung Tau (064/351 1043, vungtautour@hcm.vnn.vn; see "Arrival, information and city transport") and ask about the irregular overnight ferries; they take 12–15 hours and cost about $25 per person.
There’s an ATM outside the Vietinbank at the junction of Le Duan and Le Van Viet, with internet access a few doors further up Le Duan. The post office is on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai. Rainbow Divers (091/340 8146, www.divevietnam.com) organize dives in the area.
The south–central coast | The Con Dao Archipelago | Con Son Island |
Con Son Town
The most popular activity in Con Son, particularly for Vietnamese visitors, is a tour of the island’s historic monuments.