Thap Doi Cham Towers

 This pair of Cham towers sits within the city limits in a pretty park. Steep steps lead up to the temples, which are open to the sky. Atypically for Cham architecture, they have curved pyramidal roofs rather than the usual terracing. The larger tower (20m tall) retains some of its ornate brickwork and remnants of the granite statuary that once graced its summit. The dismembered torsos of garuda (half-human, half-bird) can be seen at the corners of the roofs.

Thap Doi (Twin Tower Group) (at QuyNhonCity) (dated in the 12th century) is the most unique group of Cham towers because the works doesn’t look like any other Cham towers. Thap Doi was listed as national historical-cultural relic in 1980.

There are many Cham sights outside of the city. In fact, you'll see some of the most dynamic on the ride in from the airport or from the Central Highlands, but Thap Doi is right in town, just off of Tran Hung Dao Street. The two towers are unique, in that there are two (Cham towers usually come in groups of odd numbers) and that they're in town (usually on hilltops). The sight is actually less spectacular than the walk through this quiet little neighborhood to a sea inlet where you'll find a few local seafood places. The relief work on the tower sculptures is in good shape, particularly the floral lintels, and the little park area around the towers is a place to rest (but you won't be alone long; folks down this way are friendly).

Binh Dinh Museum 

 This small museum features exhibits on regional history, just south of the Saigon-Quynhon Hotel on Nguyen Hue, near the intersection with Le Loi. The entry hall focuses on local communism, including an interesting silk print (by Zuy Nhat, 1959) showing a fat French colonist sitting aloft mandarins, in turn supported by bureaucrats, and cruel bosses, with the struggling masses supporting the whole ensemble. The room to the left has a small natural history section and some Cham statues, while the rear room has the bulk of the impressive Cham collection.

 Museum-going in Vietnam is pretty hit or miss outside Hanoi or Saigon, but we found this one worth a look. To the right as you enter is a gallery dedicated to the local Communist Party's struggle during the war with American. Some of the objects on display are humorously inconsequential: limepot of heroic war mother Tran Thi Nhi, Radio of heroic war mother Le Thi Dinh, spittoon of heroic war mother Dang Thi Ruong. But among them are some more interesting war objects, especially the photos with legends in English giving a pretty interesting picture of Vietnam's struggles during the war, and more than anything, the Vietnamese government's approach to remembering it -- the South Vietnamese troops are 'puppet soldiers' and Americans are all 'imperialist invaders.' Qui Nhon is also where a large number of South Korean troops landed and fought, in case you forgot that they fought in the war too.

The centre of the gallery is dedicated to the slightly-less interesting French Colonial period, and the gallery on the left features some well-preserved Cham sculpture. In fact, they have so many Cham relics on hand they don't know what to do with them: they are piled in stacks outside the museum. You may take one as a free parting gift. 

 A total of 165 ancient items, granted by UNESCO center for collection of Vietnamese antiques, has been displayed at the Binh Dinh Museum.

The unique collection includes 42 Dong Son culture-dated objects, 48 items originated the Ly-Tran dynasties, 48 coins used under the Tay Son regime, and other antiques belonging to the pre-Le-Mac dynasties.

The invaluable antiques not only enhance the value of ancient items but affirms the significance of Vietnamese traditional value.

 Admission is free. Open daily.
More details
Nguyen Hue, Qui Nhon
Opening Hours: Summer: 07:00 to 11:00, 14:00 to 17:00 Winter: 7:30 to 11:00, 13:30 to 16:30

Queen’s Beach

This stony little beach at the foot of Ganh Rang was once a favourite holiday spot of Queen Nam Phuong. There's a cafe and great views back over Quy Nhon. These two spots make sense to visit together. As you go down An Duong Vuong St south, just past the HAGL Resort, there's a sharp left turn marked by a gate. Admission to the Queen's Beach area is 5,000 dong, 2,000 more for a motorbike. There's a short climb up a paved road to the top of the headland, where sits the tomb of a famous Vietnamese writer, Han Mac Tu. You can stop for a visit, but it's hardly a highlight, unless you're really into Vietnamese literature.

Continuing along, the road leads to the eastern bank of the headland. This is 'Queen's Beach,' named for the wife of Bao Dai, the last king of Vietnam. It's really just a rocky bit of coastline -- we don't know if that's supposed to imply anything about their marriage. There are some cafe's overlooking the water where you can stop for a refreshment, but it's not really a good spot for swimming. You can continue down the road along the headland giving on to the sea for another 2 km -- it makes for a great bike ride or hike -- until you pass through the gate at the bottom of the hill. They may want to see your ticket as you leave, so have it ready. Then you're on Qui Hoa beach, lined with casuarinas trees, and great for swimming. There are some cafes and restaurants along the road, but it's all very peaceful and low key.
 (From many sources)

Quy Nhon soup sauce integral with regard to deliciousness

People usually take into consideration fish and shellfish such as barbequed marauded fish and sweets such as coconut rice-cake as soon as speaking about your neighborhood expertise involving Quy Nhon, a coastal city in central Binh Dinh Province. However they may not learn there is a type of sauce which makes these food types spicier. It’s hot red chili sauce with a typical central region mix of sweet, salty and peppery-hot tastes. Its role is crucial but not often recognized when served with well-known local foods.

Surely, it’s crafted from reddish colored sizzling soup peppers nevertheless the locals’ process continues your sauce quite totally different from some others. In order to make the sauce in a fresh red color, the chili is soft-boiled the chopped into medium pieces of half-ground. The chopped chili is added with a small amount of water and salt to keep it fresh. This is actually the preliminary process frequently produced by tiny establishments which sell products for you to nearby areas.

The actual flavor in the gravy is usually after that decided simply by each and every cook once they stir-fry the preliminary-processed soup together with sizzling cooking oil and sugar. The chili must be fried long enough over a small flame to ensure the sauce is tender but still inviting with chili seeds. The neighborhood technique of cooking in addition to putting spices or herbs could make Quy Nhon soup gravy specific. I do think that’s why Quy Nhon people generally take the gravy with them when migrating.

When I first saw my friends in HCMC getting chili sauce sent from their relatives in Quy Nhon, I could not understand why they wanted to be sent chili sauce instead of other, more delicious foods such as seafood or something else. But after departing Quy Nhon in addition to moving into HCMC for years, I found in which not any soup hot sauce recipe will be as spicy for the reason that goods manufactured in Quy Nhon since the some others aren't since well-cooked or even well-flavored.

This hot sauce recipe is normally mixed with goi, a neighborhood snack which include melted rice-cake, chopped-into-thread papaya and simmered cuttle-fish, as a major spice. Coconut rice-cake or rice noodles served with grilled chopped fish called bun cha ca cannot have the local taste without the sauce. An acquaintance selling bun cha ca Quy Nhon in HCMC told me he must buy not only grilled chopped fish but also chili sauce from the central province to make sure the dish has the typical local taste. The sauce is delicious even when it’s eaten with nothing. When I was a child, I felt hot seeing my elder sister hold a bowl of chili sauce and “drink” it despite her tears that over-flowed profusely. I believe that is a convincing impression to convey Quy Nhon chili gravy is actually delightful

This gravy is often blended with goi, a neighborhood munch including toast rice-cake, chopped-into-thread papaya and also simmered cuttle-fish, as being a key tart. Coconut rice-cake or grain noodles supported using smoked chopped fish called bun cha ca cannot develop the neighborhood style devoid of the gravy. A friend offering bun cha ca Quy Nhon throughout HCMC explained he or she need to buy besides smoked chopped fish and also chili gravy on the key domain to make certain the actual bowl contains the standard neighborhood style. This gravy is actually delightful no matter if it’s eaten using nothing at all. After i had been children, My spouse and i thought hot discovering our parent sister maintain a new bowl associated with chili gravy and also “drink” that even with the girl rips of which over-flowed profusely. I believe that is a convincing impression to convey Quy Nhon chili gravy is actually delightful.

“Banh it la gai” - Food specialties in Binh Dinh

But for food lovers, Binh Dinh is the land of “banh it la gai” a rice-based treat with a distinctive black color and refreshing flavor.

The name indicates the two common features of the cakes – “it” means “little” to refer to the size of a serving for it only takes two to three bites to finish off a cake, and “la gai” ic a kind of thorn leaf commonly found in the central region. It is an irreplaceable ingredient that gives the cakes its unique color.

Despite their seemingly unappetizing look, the pyramid-shaped cakes draw food lovers with their la gai aroma and the refreshing flavor of the stuffing made from ground coconut or ground green bean.

But making the tiny cakes is a time-consuming process that requires both hard work and patience.

Banh it la gai is made from five ingredients, the others being sticky rice, sugar, and banana leaf.

The la gai leaves are washed, boiled, and ground in a stone mortar until they become a black powder.

But they grow only between August and the Lunar New Year which falls between mid-January and mid-February, and are preserved for use during the rest of the year.

Yen, a cake maker in the province’s Quy Nhon city, said: “To preserve la gai for later use, we mix the leaves with sugar. Five kilograms of the leaves are mixed with 3.5 or four kilograms of sugar.”

The mixture is then cooked over a fire until it achieves a jelly-like consistency and turns black. In this state it can be preserved for months, according to Yen.

The quality of the cake is heavily dependent on this cooking process.

“The mixture must be cooked for exactly the right length of time,” she said. “If it is undercooked, the cake will be watery, and if it is cooked for too long, the cake will turn hard.”

Only quality glutinous rice will give the cakes their chewy texture. The rice is soaked overnight in water before being ground and kept in a bag for a day or two. When it dries, it forms a block of flour which is again ground.

The rice flour and the la gai mixture are mixed together and ground yet again to create the cake’s chewy texture.

“This is the secret of making the cakes,” Yen said. “If you skip this step, the cakes will still look good but some people will be able to distinguish the difference in quality between them and those made from dough that has been ground twice.”

The stuffing can be made from either ground coconut or green bean though the latter is less common due to the hard work involved in making it.

The beans are soaked in water and cooked over a fire.

“You have to stir the beans constantly or else the bottom will burn,” a Binh Dinh local said.

The beans are ground and rolled into small balls for use as filling.

The cakes are then steamed and wrapped in banana leaves to form little pyramid-shaped packages with square bottoms.

The banana leaves are often heated over the fire or dipped in hot water to soften them, making it easier to wrap the cakes.

Banh it la gai whose aromatic, sweet taste is said to complement the bitter flavor of green tea, is often used as deserts or mid-day treats in festivals and parties.

It is a tradition for newly-wedded brides to make banh it la gai to gift to their parents three days after the wedding as a gesture of gratitude to them and ancestors after moving to their new home.

From being a simple treat invented by Binh Dinh locals, banh it la gai has nowadays become a must-try delicacy for visitors to the coastal province and an essential gift to take back home to their families.

• Source: vietnewsonline

Food specialties in Quy Nhon

Vistitor to Binh Dinh are captivated by not only its landscapes and beautiful sceneries, historical and cultural vestiges but also by its many food specialties such as the Pork Roll of Cho Huyen, ‘Banh It La Gai’(patty), Bun Cha Ca Quy Nhon( roasted fish with rice vermicelli),… to be taken along some Bau Da Alcohol. Being a coast province. Binh Dinh has a great variety of seefood particulary lobsters giant prawns, crabs, squids, tuna and mackerel,… with which talented cooks prepare delicious dishes for the gourmet. Fermented pork of rolls of Cho Huyen is one of famous specialties of Binh Dinh province. This food is the quintessence of the province’s culinary science, a great food specialty is very famous not only in the province but also across the country. Travelers passing by Binh Dinh always buy pork of rolls very much to eat or give friends. Continues is a food also very popular with everyone. It’s ‘Banh it La Gai’. It is widely used as a offering in all ceremonies or wedding parties. It is made of sticky rice flour, sugar and green beans, wrapped in pinnate leaves and steam cooked. You can eat so much without worry stomachache. Visitors to Quy Nhon city can’t spare taking the ‘Bun Cha Ca’. ‘Bun Cha Ca’ in Quy Nhon is not only famous for quality of it but also famous for fresh vegetable. The vegetable in here very delicious and very attractive. You can feel this feeling when you eat both at the same time. They mix up together and great to such an extent that tourist keep want to visit Binh Dinh to be tasted other times.

The first street dish in my list is grilled fermented pork roll - a speciality of Binh Dinh - with soya sauce, chilli and fresh garlic. The most famous makeshift stall among those selling the speciality locates at the Tran Binh Trong - Phan Boi Chau intersection. The stall is always crowded. 

Next to the portable stall is a very well-known fruit juice shop. Many local people says that the fruit juice there is the best and cheap. There are two type of fruit juice: mixed grinding juice and cube-cut mixed fruit with milk and dried coconut. The dishes taste so nice. That’s the reason why the shop is always crowded and its customers have to wait.

The next dish is banh canh – a kind of local rice spaghetti. I find banh canh at a shop on Phan Boi Chau Street the best. The shop is about 50m away from the fermented pork roll stall and has a nickname as “shop of scolding”. Because the banh canh there is fairly tasty and the shop is rather crowded, the shop owner is God!

Tourists should enjoy this kind of specialty when visiting Quy Nhon city. It’s very delicious to enjoy a hot bowl of banh canh (rice spaghetti) mixed up with some pies of fried fish, a few slices of chili, and decorated by various species of vegetable to give it fragrance.

Quy Nhon’s cha ca (grilled chopped fish) is famous due to being made from certain species of fresh fish, such as lizard-fish, mackerel, and flying fish.

Fried or steamed fish are two kinds of cha ca. They are more delicious when being enjoyed with hot chili sauce.

Cha ca is the main ingredient for banh canh or bun ca (rice vermicelli with fried fish) dishes. The seasoning for the dishes also includes a cauldron of well-stirred paste sauce which is cooked from fish bone and other spices. There are two kinds of banh canh often made from rice flour and wheat flour.

Banh canh or bun ca shops usually open in mid-afternoon. Plates of fried fish, steamed fish, onions in small white slices, lemon and chili fish sauce are always ready in front of the guests’ eyes. After being ladled out into bowls, banh canh will be added a handful of fried fish pies, some green onion, split onion, pepper…You can squeeze a few drops of lemon juice and pour some chili sauce into the hot bowl of banh canh before enjoying. You will be pleased with this kind of specialty.

Opposite to the banh canh shop is a 3,000 ice-cream shop. The name 3,000 means that all kinds of ice-cream available there are sold at the same price of 3,000 VND. Don’t forget to enjoy the shop’s unique cuisine: mixture of 2 fruit flavored scoops and 1 flan cake. Others dishes such as Vietnamese shredded papaya salad with beef liver and dried cuttlefish seasoned with spices, sugar and salt are savory, too.

About 100m away from the ice-cream shop as the crow flies, a makeshift stand which sells shellfish and arkshells is situated on Tang Bat Ho Street, opposite to Le Loi school. The dishes are unspeakably delicious and dreadfully inexpensive!

You can find shellfish at another shop on Mai Xuan Thuong street, near the head office of Sacombank, Binh Dinh branch. The shellfish here isn’t as good as the dish of the former. 

A portable stall on Phan Dinh Phung Street is long popular for many years with its Vietnamese shredded papaya salad with beef liver. It also sells fermented pork rolls, sweet mung bean soup and sweet corn soup which are very luscious.

You may stroll along Quy Nhon beach near Seagull Hotel and enjoy grilled fish, cuttlefish with unripe mangos or guavas, eating grilled coconut milk flavoured rice cake with chilli sauce; drinking sugarcane juice at makeshift stands there at relatively low expense.

How can you forget Quy Nhon once you enjoy its popular dishes and recipes regardless by accident or by intention? Everybody who has ever visited the coastal peaceful city does talk about the dishes and recipes in his chats with friends later.

Quy Nhon - Vietnam travel: Land of tragic love and poetry

     Vietnam's Binh Dinh is a narrow province set between Gia Lai province on the highlands and the South China Sea. If you are planning on heading into the Central Highlands, this is an ideal place to head west with Route 19 heading west to Pleiku from Binh Dinh's provincial capital of Qui Nhon.     

     Qui Nhon is a medium-sized town that counts fishing as its mainstay and not surprisingly, the seafood here is excellent. Approaching Qui Nhon from the south on Highway 1A, it looks like a beautiful, quaint little beachside town. From the north, the approach is congested with honking cars, belching fumes past and endless line of ugly storefronts. The truth of Qui Nhon is, not surprisingly, in between. The surrounds can be beautiful, but the town is set up more as a commercial centre than a tourist destination.

 

     If you want to relax at a peaceful site when coming to Quy Nhon city, you should travel to Ghenh Rang hill. You are able to enjoy everything, visit the poet Han Mac Tu’s tomb and Quy Hoa leper camp with pleasure.

      Ghenh Rang is about 3 kilometers far from the centre of Quy Nhon. There is a Queen Beach, a unique beach with numerous smooth stones as eggs with different sizes together, so it called Bai Trung (Egg site). It is called Queen’s Beach, where once Nam Phuong’ Empress bathed.

     If you want to relax at a peaceful site when coming to Quy Nhon city, you should travel to Ghenh Rang hill. You are able to enjoy everything, visit the poet Han Mac Tu’s tomb and Quy Hoa leper camp with pleasure.

     Ghenh Rang is about 3 kilometers far from the centre of Quy Nhon. There is a Queen Beach, a unique beach with numerous smooth stones as eggs with different sizes together, so it called Bai Trung (Egg site). It is called Queen’s Beach, where once Nam Phuong’ Empress bathed.

     The site also offers a panorama of the city which is located along a beautiful prolonged coast.  Above the Queen beach is the resting place of famous poet Han Mac Tu. There is a shop nearby, where you could read his typical poems and know more about his life. The shop owner called Dzu Kha often carves the poems on fir-made pieces with his “fire” pen.

     Besides the Ghenh Rang site is Quy Hoa, "valley of peace", a spot to visit tourist attractions with fantastic scenery, beautiful beaches, and the green casuarina-tree. Going into the center of Quy Hoa, you'll find hundreds of houses of the patient built over 80 years ago, every house has a different architecture but all seems rustic and casual.

      Visiting Ghenh Rang, you will bath in the sea, go fishing, and enjoy seafood at the restaurants. Coming here on September 22 or November 11, when birth and death anniversaries of Han Mac Tu are held, you will have a chance to sip at mouthfuls of wine, recite Han Mac Tu’s poems and recall his life and career.

     From genh ranh hill, along the road leading to the highway, about 3 km you will to the Quy Hoa leper camp is located under a peaceful valley next to the beach. Tourists who travel along the national highway No.1D could see the camp which looks like a beautiful village. Instead of calling it Quy Hoa National Leprosy Dermatology Hospital, many said this is Quy Hoa village. 

     The village was set up in 1929 when a French Catholic priest Paul Maheu came here and built a camp for lepers who were kept away from the society at that time.

It became a home for the lepers since then. After Paul Maheu had passed away, the camp was devastated by a storm in 1932. Soeur Charles Antoine and the others rebuilt the houses and saved the lepers.

     The village has a very beautiful landscape. Perhaps those who built it wanted to offer the lepers hopes to continue living. The precincts of the village are very spacious and full of trees.

     Alongside the treatment area for the lepers coming from 11 central and Central Highlands provinces, it sees many small houses where the lepers have lived for years. Many people who are not lepers are also living here as they are the lepers’ children. The more people live here, the more houses are built. A village has gradually formed.

     Coming here, tourists could feel a friendly atmosphere. It looks like a luxury resort. 40 statues of different famous doctors were built within the precincts of the village.

     Also, at the leper camp, there is a room dedicated to the poet Han Mac Tu who was once cured here. His room is now become a destination for the poetry lovers to visit whenever they come to Binh Dinh.

     At the northern side of the hill was the first tomb of Han Mac Tu before it was disinterred for reburial on the Thi Nhan hill located at Ghenh Rang.

     Unlike other tourism sites, the Quy Hoa village is very quiet, even when hundreds of tourists come here. Visiting Quy Hoa in the morning or afternoon, tourists could enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. Relaxing on the hammocks which are often hung between two casuarina trees near the beach, they will forget all burdens of their life.

     From Quy Nhon City, going along the national highway No.1A in the north to intersection with Highway No.19 then turning left and heading towards Tay Son another 5km you will see Ham Ho- a charming land located in the heart of wild and mysterious Kut River. 

     Tourists can choice walking tour or water tour to penetrate into Ham Ho. If travel by land, the tourists could take an enjoyable horse-drawn carriage tour through the road whose one side leans against the river and the other leans against the mountain. It takes 0.5 km for tourists to travel by water. Sitting on the boat bobbing gently on small branch of the river, the tourists will be taken to deeply inside Ham Ho.

     You choose water tour. Locals’s boat takes you calmly down a branch of Kut River through wild brushwoods along stream’s edge. It’s branches hung down and reflect in clear stream. Surroundings covers by green trees with fresh and quiet atmosphere that you can hear the animated sound of wild birds singing as well as sound of bamboo pole cleaving the water to shove off the boat. Occasionally, the stream of sunshine beams impetuously down tender leaves when the boat suddenly pass a small waterfalls or gentle rock. A peaceful and quiet feeling in the wild and clean landscape surrounds us.

     At the end of the stream, the Ham Ho appears wonderfully as a giant rockery in the middle of nature. It surrounds by grandiose mountain and forests. High mountains cover by primeval forests. Surface of the water is quietly but sounds melodiously as bending the curving.

     You leave the boat and begin passing through dangerous and narrow roads. The narrowest section is even hard for one person worming. The high and dangerous cliffs also challenge the tourists as they could only cling on a peak cliff or tottery edge to climb up. A strong impression you will feel when looking down beneath where the stream begins slopping downward and bending urgently to create waterfalls. The locals call each sections with roughly names but deep impressions such as Hon Trao (Overflow Mountain), Hon Vo Ruou (Wine Jar Mountain), Da Dung (Vertical Stone), Thac Ca Bay (Fly Fish Falls), Cua sanh-Cua Tu (Life and Death Door), Vuc Sac (Gaudy Abyss), Dinh Suong Mu (Fog Peak), Hon Ba (Lady Mountain), Da Chay (Burn Rock)... 

     Upstream the source of river, slope is higher. The stream falls roaring and fiercely. In flood season, water flowing from Da Hang to Ham Ho streams down deep caves throwing dazzling white foam. In the dry season, in clear sky days, morning sunlight darts its beams down granite blocks creating multicolored blocks twinkling on blue wave.

     Climbing over Hon Da Thanh, the tourists could see a section of Ham Ho from the height in oder to  experience clearly the imposing beauty of this natural lanscape.

     Ham Ho formerly was a guerilla base of Tay Son insurgent army, Can Vuong movement of Mai Xuan Thuong and also of revolutionary force in Tay Son southwest in the anti-American resistance war. Coming here, the tourists not only take pleasure in miraculous nature but also take chance reviewing a magnanimous time of history.

     Standing in the middle of Ham Ho, set your soul free with blue sky, green of mountains, spring and trees, we will feel the Central’s muggy summer becoming peaceful and calmly.

     Try a visit to this beautiful coastal city to see the hidden beauty of this place lightly.