23rd of September, 2024.
Hitchhiking in Vietnam: Bãi biển Na
After having some really nice noodle soup for breakfast, and the delicious Vietnamese corn, I go to the beach and Kiman goes to work.
After a few different lifts in motorbikes, I get to what seems to be the entrance to the trail going to Na Beach, or Bãi biển Na.
It is a very interesting hike. First of all, there’s no trail. I try to follow some car tracks at first, and that helps a lot. I also keep looking at satellite photos, which also helps, and it is kind of funny, just trying to figure out either to go West or East, around this or that hill. Then there are the bushes, which I can see on the photos but which are more like small woods in real life. I manage to find a small trail through one of them, but then I also have to be adventurous and cross some by myself, which is rough but nice. All of this through sand, which makes everything slower, of course.
I really don’t have more tips to give or what else to suggest, apart perhaps from Mapsme, this really good offline maps app, but I’m not sure if there will be a trail for this particular beach in Vietnam. But I believe so. Other than that, you all are more familiar with phones than I am, and, most likely, have SIM card with date for the countries you visit, so it will be easier for you anyway.
After about two hours hiking, which I expected, I finally arrive at the beach. It is deserted. I’ve seen some fresh human and dogs tracks to here, so I imagined that there would be some people around but no, it’s only me. The beach is almost entirely clean, apart from a few plastic stuff washed up from the sea. And it is a very nice beach, I love and super recommend it. The water is beautiful and clean. As it was not a sunny day (although warm), the colors of the water were not super bright or super turquoise, but the vastness of both sand and sea, until where your eyes can go; the absence of buildings and humans; and the quietude and peaceful environment, makes it even more wonderful and enjoyful. If you are up for beautiful places without people, this beach is a must to visit in Vietnam. Who needs shops and places to eat or drinks, when you can simply bring some of that stuff with you and enjoy paradise all for yourself?
I go for a swim a few times and chill at the beach for a while. I would stay longer if I could, if I had more time, more water and some food. But I have another two hours hiking back ahead of me, and I want to continue my travel towards North still today, as I have delayed my arrival to my volunteer work a few days already. Plus, I told Kiman that I would be back around noon.
And I do. After a short lift in a motorbike, a man in his car takes me all the way back to Kiman’s house. Once there, she wants to take me to a restaurant so we can have a traditional dish from this area. If I knew that the restaurant was by the highway, I would’ve brought my backpack already, and stay around here after, saving Kiman the trouble of having to drive me all the way back here later. But I guess it was destiny and everything that happened after was meant to be.
We have a hotpot of squid and fish. Kiman wanted for me to try the squid, which apparently is the best one in Vietnam, but I told her I cannot stand the texture of squid, so she order fish for me instead. The fish is delicious, as for the hotpot broth. And I also try the squid, out of consideration, but my opinion remains the same: I don’t like it.
When we are back, I spend some time with her new students, another class, older than the ones from yesterday. Surprisingly, they are less talkative and seem to be either more afraid or shy of speaking English, or perhaps their level is just not as good as the younger ones.
Kiman gives them some exercises to finish in the book, and then she takes me to the highway. But not before giving me another delicious coconut! It is just as yummy as the one from yesterday.
When we arrive at the highway, as she is telling me that nobody will take me, mostly being such a long distance between here and what is written on my sign, Hoi An, I show my sign to a car which is coming, and this car stops. Livia Tran and her parents are going all the way to Da Nang, a city right after Hoi An. Yep! Not before but after my destination, which is some good eight hours from here. That’s how my story with this wonderful family starts…
10 Years Around the World 