In New Zealand we are almost spoiled when it comes to deserted beaches. So much so that on previous trips to South East Asia I have found myself asking,”why did I travel 10,000 kms to sit shoulder to shoulder with strangers, surrounded by plastic detritus and fending off the unwanted attentions of the most persistent peddlers of crap?”
Well I am very pleased to say that thus far Vietnam has been giving good old NZ a run for it’s money. It’s early days yet but the 2 beaches that we have been to have been largely deserted.
Currently we are at Phu Tuan beach, around 20 km’s outside Hue, in Central Vietnam, at a place called Villa Louise. And as I sit by the pool listening to the waves gently lapping on the deserted white sand shoreline. The only sound breaking the magic of the moment the cracking of the ice in my Mojito by my side. The hustle and bustle of Hanoi seems so distant a memory, from another lifetime even.
After 10 days in Hanoi we flew to a little place called Dong Hoi. We had chosen Dong Hoi as a stop off to break up the train journey from Hanoi to Hue, which would have been around 14 hours I think. However it turned out that to fly was only going to cost a marginal amount more so we took the easy option.
Dong Hoi is a quiet little provincial capital. Nothing much happens there except it’s reasonably popular as a domestic tourist destination. As a result there is none of the in your face rampant tourism capitalisation that you find in other places that are more on the traveler circuit. It was certainly refreshing after the juggernaut that was Hanoi. Add to this the huge lack of any traffic, the amazing friendliness of the locals, the municipal care and devotion that would put most medium sized towns in NZ to shame and a largely deserted soft sand beach and you have the makings for a relaxing few days.
Well as relaxing as they can be with a toddler in tow.
Largely B52’d into oblivion by the Americans during the Vietnam war, there are only 3 ruins that remain of the old Dong Hoi. However it is easy to imagine how pleasant it must have been in it’s original state, clinging to the side of the Nhat Le river and separated from the South China Sea by a narrow spit of land. The powers that be have done a pretty good job with the re build however and it is today a very pleasant little town to wander around.
And wander around we did. Harvey became quite a little hero with the old ladies that manned the many little shops we walked past every day. It almost seemed that they had never seen a white toddler before – perhaps they hadn’t as Dong Hoi is far from a popular western tourist destination. We were definitely the only western people in our hotel, a kind of ostentatious Vietnamese Pheonix Nights meets Alan Partridge kind of place, for those familiar with the comedy of Messrs Peter Kaye and Steve Coogan…….. Anyway it had a pool and was 5 mins from the beach so all it’s sins could be easily forgiven. In fact it was absolutely fine, and it was quite interesting to be immersed into a world a affluent middle class holidaying Vietnamese families for a few days.
God only knows what they did all day though as they were never on the beach… Probably inside hiding from the heat wondering what the hell we were doing walking around all day long!
It was then on to Hue, the Ancient Capital of Imperial Vietnam where the heat seemed to have been turned up even further – if that was even possible, and we spent a sweaty few hours looking round the Ancient Imperial Citadel with swarms of selfie stick wielding Asian tour groups. All jousting for a selfie with Harvey as he bounced around on my back, oblivious to the fact that I was actually there or that Harvey might be bit sick of having two fingered peace signs and Samsung Galaxy’s thrust into his face every 5 minutes. Maybe it was the heat but I started to fight back this time and thrust my own camera in their faces to turn to the tables, and turn the tables it did. It sent them packing – for now.
Hue is a reasonably nice little city, again quiet and easy compared to Hanoi. I get the impression that most places are. Situated on the banks of the Perfume River, it has very pleasant outlook and although development seems to be forging ahead at pace, none of it seems too brash. So far.
Our hotel had an amazing view over the river to the Imperial Citadel and the old city and when it rained – which it did every afternoon, the view of the thunder clouds rolling in from the West was pretty epic. I wasted more than a few gigabytes trying to photograph the lightening – I will never learn.
After a couple of days in Hue and as much tomb-ing and fro-ing in the heat as we could manage, we headed to the beach. And here I am; basking in the searing heat, taking advantage of these narrow windows of peace and quiet as Harvey snoozes.
This place is quite literally, sublime. Now I realise that that particular adjective gets bandied around willy-nilly at times, but please believe me when I say it’s use is justified in this particular case. Villa Louise is quite amazing. Set on a largely deserted stretch of soft, white sand beach; a little fishing village at either end; it has 3 pools, each with a varying degree of peacefulness.
The resort is owned by a larger than life Frenchman who likes to refer to his staff as his babies – “Hah! You have only one bebe, I have 45!” he snorted to me one lunchtime. He seems to run a tight ship but looks after his “bebe’s’ pretty well too. And they in turn have been looking after us very well, yet again Harvey has a huge army of fans. From the gardeners to the bar girls they all want a cuddle and he has been more than happy to oblige.
The only drawback here, ironically enough, is the sense of peace and quiet that pervades – generally it’s lovely and very relaxing, but with Harvey in tow it does kind of restrict us. I mean, there is so much ululating, happy or otherwise, from a little guy that a couple of book reading, gin and tonic drinking Germans are prepared to put up with.
The result is that we are usually restricted to the larger pool by the beach – with an endless view out to the azure horizon and cold beer on tap.
What a hardship!
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