Not only Ly Son , Quang Ngai also has ancient volcanic craters near the shore, pristine beaches and purple myrtle hills on the grasslands.
Quang Ngai is not a famous destination, but it is an ideal place for tourists who want to have new experiences. The suggested activities below are based on the advice of Ms. Truong Thu Huong, Vice President of Quang Ngai Tourism Association.
Day 1
Morning
Tourists’ mornings, especially those at My Khe beach, should start with swimming. My Khe is the most famous beach in Quang Ngai, with the same name as the beach in Da Nang but more pristine. Note that tourists should only swim near the sand, and pay special attention to children, because the beach is quite deep.
For breakfast by the beach, you should choose Banh Beo Co Loi. Ms. Vo Thi Loi, 66 years old, the owner of the Banh Beo shop has been making Banh Beo for 18 years. "With her own recipe for making broth to create a special flavor, the shop always has more than 1,000 customers. Each dozen Banh Beo costs 25,000 VND", the owner said. Diners enjoying Banh Beo can order more soy milk, mung beans, and pennywort.
Ms. Loi's rice cakes are sold for 25,000 VND per dozen. Photo: Pham Linh
The chefs are overwhelmed with customers. Photo: Pham Linh
Banh beo made from rice flour. Photo: Pham Linh
Ms. Vo Thi Loi, 66 years old, the owner of the restaurant, has a secret recipe for making broth that makes diners fascinated. Photo: Pham Linh
Mrs. Loi is also the one who directly puts the broth on the banh beo dish. Photo: Pham Linh
After breakfast and swimming at My Khe beach, the journey continues north along the coast. Here you have two options: go to Sa Ky port in Binh Chau commune, Binh Son district to buy tickets to Ly Son island, a famous tourist island. However, if you go to Ly Son island, you should spend two days to have enough time to rest and experience.
On the second option, the journey turns towards the People's Committee of Binh Chau commune to visit the remains of a volcanic eruption millions of years ago. On the way, you can see a large field to the west, the trace of an ancient river in Chau Me village, which Dr. Doan Ngoc Khoi, Deputy Director of the Quang Ngai Provincial Museum, said belonged to the Cham people's maritime system.
The ancient Chau Me River on the way to Binh Chau Commune People's Committee. Photo: Pham Linh
The river is now a field, with patches of discolored grass in the dry season. Photo: Pham Linh
A muddy trail on the ancient Chau Me River draws a tree-like shape. Photo: Pham Linh
When entering Binh Chau commune, a place not to be missed is Ba Lang An cape - the easternmost point of Quang Ngai province, the closest place to Ly Son island from the mainland. Here there are traces of a volcanic crater near the shore, and cliffs with beautiful shapes, visitors can also swim in the area surrounded by many large rocks. This cape also has a lighthouse with two colors of white and red creating a highlight on the cool green background of the sea and hills.
Binh Minh in Binh Chau commune, Binh Son district. Photo: Pham Linh
Ba Lang An Cape. Photo: Pham Linh
Tourists swimming in Ba Lang An. Photo: Pham Linh
2 km west of this location is Bai Xep in Ganh Da hamlet, Chau Thuan Bien village, Binh Chau commune. Also formed from volcanic eruptions, the rocks here are shaped like Ganh Da Dia in Phu Yen. Visitors can camp and swim. Nearby is the largest nearshore fish market in Quang Ngai province and Chau Tan beach is wider and less crowded than My Khe beach.
Noon
Go to restaurants and eateries in tourist destinations along the coast to enjoy fresh seafood such as crabs, squid and especially grilled sea urchins. There are many restaurants here for you to choose from such as Hong Sinh, Thai Duong, Thoi Nhat.
After that, sea lovers can continue to the north of Binh Son district to visit Ganh Yen, a place with similar geological structure, likened to a second Ly Son with onion and garlic fields.
Sa Huynh salt fields seen from above. Photo: Pham Linh
Evening
Spend the afternoon at Sa Huynh salt fields in Duc Pho district, one of the most famous salt fields in the Central region. Here, visitors can book a salt field tour. Members of the Sa Huynh salt flower community tourism cooperative will tell the story of the salt industry, how salt farmers make salt by taking advantage of the sun and wind, and the architecture of the salt fields from the canals leading water to the fields. Visitors can also experience raking salt themselves, and children can learn about the micro-organisms in the salt fields.
There is also An Khe lagoon, one of the largest freshwater lagoons in the Central region, which was once the residence of the ancient Sa Huynh people. Visitors can experience rowing services on the lagoon.
Tourists stay overnight in Sa Huynh or go to Quang Ngai city to continue the journey on the second day.
Day 2
Morning
Try some of Quang Ngai's delicacies for breakfast. First is wet rice paper, also known as banh rap. Hot wet rice paper is steamed in a steamer and sandwiched with a banh troi (baked cake), brushed with oil and chives, and dipped in fish sauce. In Quang Ngai city, banh rap is sold on Truong Quang Trong Street or Le Dai Hanh Street...
A more luxurious option is the steamed duck offal on Phan Dinh Phung Street. The steamed offal with a special recipe always has hundreds of customers every morning.
The journey then continues to Bui Hui grassland, in Ba Trang commune, Ba To district, more than 70 km west of Quang Ngai city. It will be more wonderful if you go up the previous afternoon and stay overnight the next morning to watch the sunrise. The sunrise here is a mist covering the grassland, scattering the sunlight through into five colors.
The most special thing about this tens of hectares wide steppe is that there is still a whole hill of purple sim. This season the sim is ripe, you can visit the sim hill and buy sim wine from the locals.
Dawn in Bui Hui grassland. Photo: Thanh Su
H'Re girls in traditional costumes on the sim hill. Photo: Thanh Su
To get to the sim hill, you can go through the mountain road. Photo: Thanh Su
There is also a camp rental service from a group of local young people. If you want, you should contact them in advance by searching for the keyword "Bui Hui Grassland". Visitors can ask for advice on food or buy their own food to cook on the grassland. If you want to enjoy local food, the most typical dish is smoked buffalo meat, but it is quite rare.
Afternoon
In the afternoon in Bui Hui, the sunset turns golden, the clouds drift close, making visitors feel like they can touch the sky. But be careful of thunderstorms in Bui Hui, so check the weather forecast carefully.
Returning to Quang Ngai City to end two days of sightseeing, don’t forget to eat don , the most famous specialty of this province. Don is similar to mussels but has a yellow color and sweeter water, and is raked by locals under the Tra Khuc River. Peeling the shell to get the very small don inside is a laborious process, the chef will then cook it sweet or stir-fry it, adding onions.
A don restaurant in Quang Ngai City. Photo: Huynh Van Thuong
Hot don soup. Photo: Huynh Van Thuong
Don bowl is usually sprinkled with lots of onions, rice paper, and served with duck eggs. Photo: Chau ThoDon is eaten with raw or cooked rice paper, creating a crackling sound when broken into a bowl, a very "Quang Ngai" sound, which anyone can easily recognize when coming to any restaurant in the land of the Indian Mountains and Tra Rivers.
Pham Linh
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