Quy Nhon was officially founded more than 100 years ago, although its origins stretch backs much further to the 11th-century Champa culture, the Tây Sơn Dynasty and the 18th century seaport of Thị Nại. The city is renowned as the birthplace of 18th century Vietnamese emperor Nguyen Hue and, more recently, had a large American military presence during the Vietnam War.
Quy Nhon today is recognized as a first grade city with a geo-economic priority and an urbanized infrastructure. The government describes it as one of the three commercial and tourism centres of the central southern coastal region (with Đà Nẵng and Nha Trang).
Quy Nhon has a varied topography, being extremely diversified with mountains and forests, hills, fields, salt marshes, plains, lagoons, lakes, rivers, shorelines, peninsulas and islands. Quy Nhon's coastline is 42 km long with sandy beaches, abundant seafood resources and other natural products of economic value. The city's economic activities include industries, export-imports, seaport services, aquatic product husbandry and tourism.
The economic trend, at present, is increasingly service-based at the expense of agriculture, forestry and pisciculture. The GDP breakdown in percentage terms for 1998 is: construction industry 28.40%, service 55.58%, agriculture, forestry and pisciculture 16.02%.
Quy Nhon's goal for the near future is to become a dominant seaport as well as an international industrial, commercial and service-based trading center with a strong and active role in the regional economy.
The old Tank
A buried relic
On the beach, just south of the Lan Anh Hotel, is one of the very few pieces of war detritus in all of Vietnam that is actually still left in place. A tank, abandoned by fleeing South Vietnamese forces towards the end of the war, was left on the beach and has worked it's way so deep into the sand, not even the most eager scrap collector has bothered to work it out. You can still see the top of the tank and the gun turret, especially at low tide. It makes for a good Kodak moment with your friends. There's a picture in the Binh Dinh Museum in town, taken of this spot, with the Phuong Mai peninsula in the background, and destroyed tanks littering the beach. It might even be a picture of the same tank, but we couldn't be sure -- something fun to check out and decide for yourself.
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Buried on the beach, Qui Nhon
Phuong Mai Peninsula
An interesting diversion
One can hardly fail to notice the huge statue of Vietnamese hero Tran Hung Dao on the edge of a peninsula jutting out into the bay to the north as you look out to sea from Qui Nhon beach. It's meant to be viewed from a distance, not visited, but the curious will still want to get up close. It makes for a good, brief excursion.
You can't get to the statue by land -- the Phuong Mai Peninsula is completely cut off by mountains. To catch the boat, head east on Tran Hung Dao St until you're almost at the port and take a left on Ham Tu St. It leads to a pier -- you can securely park your motorbike, if you have one, for 1,000 dong at one of the places near the pier. The boats to Hinh Mai (the town on the other side) gather right at the base of the pier. The boatmen will try to get you to pay 100,000 for a round trip, but if you want to save money, wait around. Locals have to get to the other side, too, and once someone's boat fills up you'll find the price going down -- we paid 15,000 each way.
Once on the other side, you'll have to scramble up the rocky bank of the quay to the get to the village. Like a lot of Vietnamese towns that developed without road access, Hinh Mai has no streets to speak of -- just narrow alleys and walkways snaking among the buildings. If you keep heading towards the statue, the locals will keep pointing you in the right direction. Finally, you'll come across a sign that says, Restricted Area, Do Not Enter, in English and Vietnamese. That's where you enter. There's a switchback road that leads up to the monument. There's nothing much there but an up-close and personal view of the goliath, but it should satisfy your curiosity. If your boatman will wait for you, spend some time exploring the village and stopping for a bite to eat.
The Binh Dinh Museum
Worth a look
There's a small museum in Qui Nhon, just south of the Saigon-Quynhon Hotel on Nguyen Hue, near the intersection with Le Loi. 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. Not really. Admission is free. Open daily.
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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
Long Khanh an Tam An Pagoda
Easy to reach and worth a peak
The town's main pagoda is easily accessible and worth a visit. There's a 17 metre tall Buddha here, and a pagoda with some interesting statuary. There's a giant brass drum, a huge bell, and a statue of a 'thousand handed, thousand-eyed goddess of mercy' on display as well. The neighbourhood is also known for it's food -- a good selection of vegetarian restaurants, and some stand-out 'com' joints as well. Good for a morning excursion.
Tam An is a small, pretty pagoda nearby, just east of here, on Tang Bat street. But if you've had enough, it's skippable.
To get here, take Tran Cao Van St north from Nguyen Hue and the pagoda is visible on the left.
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Centre of town, Qui Nhon
Thap Doi
Accessible Cham towers
There are about fourteen, variously crumbling, Cham towers still standing upright in Binh Dinh province -- the only thing that makes Thap Doi (twin towers) different is that they are easy to visit from the city centre. They're good examples of the Cham architectural style, if you haven't seen it before, and the grounds are well-tended with a pretty garden.
To get here, head west on Tran Hung Dao, past the new bridge, and keep your eyes peeled for a right hand turn 2 km down. The street is unmarked, but it's the most promising of the right turns you'll find, and there is a very small sign which is only visible if you are coming from the other direction. Luckily it's one site the locals all know and by shouting, Thap Doi, Thap Doi! over and over again, you'll get their fingers wagging in the right direction. A small admission fee is sometimes collected if someone is on site to collect it.
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A few km out of town, Qui Nhon
HAGL Resort-Quynhon (Hoang An)
01 Han Mac Tu St, Qui Nhon
T: (056) 747 100; F: (056) 747 111
The HAGL is a very acceptable, beach-side, mid-range option that makes a lot more sense than the Siagon-Quynhon if you're here for more than just the night. It has two swimming pools and it's on a nice patch of sand at the extreme southern end of the town beach. It's actually on An Vuong Duong St, but it takes it's street address from it's proximity to the tomb of the Vietnamese writer on the hillside nearby. The rooms are connected by a system of concrete catwalks, that gives everything a good indoor-outdoor feeling, and there are also some rooms on the lower floors that have patios overlooking the water. There's a choice between garden and seaview rooms, but we'd say it's worth the bump to go for the seaview. The rooms are spacious and well-equipped in four-star style, with light-wood interiors and parquet floors that are mysteriously bouncy, but at least they're easy on your knees. There's a polite uniformed staff and an associated restaurant.
Hai Yen
104 Hai Ba Trung, Qui Nhon
T: (056) 822 480;
The Hai Yen is in a good central location, and has spacious doubles that were impressively cool on a hot day. We found them clean, with big TVs, nicely-tiled and well-maintained bathrooms -- very much the place to stay if you want something nice but you aren't flush enough for the truly high-end.
Life Wellness Resort Qui Nhon
Ghenh Rang, Bai Dai Beach (Highway 1A), 15km south of Qui Nhon
T: (056) 840 132; F: (056) 840 138
This is one of those places: if you're looking to stay here, you ain't lookin' it up on Travelfish! And you have no idea where Qui Nhon is and don't particularly care. You book it through your travel agent, someone picks you up at the airport, whisks you to your room, and there you 'make like a cauliflower' for as long as you can afford to. But if you're looking for someone to second the advice of your travel agent (or life coach) here's the score. The Life Resort is set on the most beautiful piece of beach in the area -- great rock formations, an island across the water, gorgeous sand, the works. The high end design is aesthetically pleasing, and the whole place exudes an air of relaxing calm. The infinity pool is nice, but a little small. The rooms are located in a rather uninspired rectangular building along the beach, but they all offer views and the interiors are good and sumptuous -- large fluffy beds with excellent bedding, and a design that incorporates contrasts like cool slate and warm bamboo to create 'dynamic tension in harmony.' We just made that up, but it sounds like something you'd read in Architectural Digest. Anyway, its disgustingly posh, and we wish we could afford to stay here. In case you're wondering about the 'wellness' aspect, there's a full range of pricey spa services, though the restaurant does serve bacon and eggs for breakfast and the bar is fully-stocked. Be well.
Saigon-Quynhon Hotel
24 Nguyen Hue St, Qui Nhon
T: (056) 820 100; F: (056) 828 128
This is the local franchise of Vietnam's premier hotel chain, and like the others, it's almost the four-star outfit it claims to be. The main lobby is impressively large, with a huge, sweeping, spiral staircase and marble floors, but falls a bit short in terms of decor -- a couple of sofas, a couple of ferns, and a lot of dead space. The superiors and the deluxes are about what you'd expect -- good bedding, nice interior design and good views of the water. We were let down by the suites which were really just doubles with an awkward, unattractive living-room as the entrance-way. The hotel does offer a pretty decent sauna, steam-bath, Jacuzzi and massage service for 110,000 VND, which is worth the price for a legit massage and clean facilities. They also have a business services centre that's a good place to get things done, and the internet here, while outrageously priced at 40,000 dong an hour, does offer a high standard of service in a more tranquil atmosphere. You can also swim in the pool here for 20,000 dong a day if you're not a guest. There's a restaurant on site -- huge and usually empty -- where you can get your lamb chops or lobster thermidor along with a decent bottle of wine for 100 to 250,000 per main course. High-end travels usually head straight here and have no regrets.
28 Nguyen Hue
28 Nguyen Hue, Qui Nhon
T: (056) 823 721; F: (056) 816 628
This place offers good access to the beach and looks a lot like a motel. There's a restaurant and such on site, and despite it's size, there are only 16 rooms available in the whole structure. We're not even sure what the rest of the place is up to. The decor of the rooms is pretty eclectic -- or 'thrown together' if you prefer that term --but we found the effect pleasing enough. All the rooms have air-con, and we found the staff helpful.
Hotel Au Co
8A-24 An Duong Vuong, Qui Nhon
T: (056) 747 699;
You'll pay a little more to stay at the Au Co, but you'll definitely get something in return. It's in a beautifully-designed building across from the beach -- a little like three English country homes stacked one atop the other. And the interiors of the rooms are a real trip. They feature cement trees with fake leaves that are incorporated into the design, like a room in a theme park, with big, substantial wooden beds and fun furnishings. The balconies are fitted with vertical cement louvers, which do obstruct the views, but we reckon do a good job of keeping the morning sun from baking you alive. WiFi is available here for an extra 10,000 dong per day.
Train
Qui Nhon has a train station, but it's at the end of a spur that connects to the main line 15 km north at Dieu Tri, with is the main station for the area. There is one train a day directly from Qui Nhon that stops at Dieu Tri at 18:45, costs 5,000 VND and takes 45 minutes. A good way to go, but there are very few train departures from Dieu Tri that make it convenient.
To get to Dieu Tri, head out of town on Tran Hung Dao until you reach the intersection after 9 km. The town of Dieu Tri is 6 kilometres further north on Highway 1A -— you can't miss it. A taxi should cost about 70,000 VND and takes about twenty minutes (due to traffic).
Departures from Dieu Tri head north and south, as they do all along the line. Below we give the lowest possible prices available (for the TN trains that means a hard seat, for the SE trains, a soft seat with fan) and the highest—a first class sleeper, where available.
Hanoi
Special Express trains leave for Hanoi at 06:42, 09:06, and 00:06, take about 23 hours, and cost from 416- to 670,000 VND.TN trains leave at 0:56, 05:23, 09:06, and 10:04, take 26 to 27 hours, and cost from 270- to 634,000 VND.
Saigon
Special Express trains leave for Saigon at 17:45, 18:17, and 09:11, take between 9 and 11 hours, and cost from 240- to 386,000 VND. TN trains leave at 13:26, 16:53, and 21:57, take about 14 hours, cost from 155,000 to 365,000 VND
You should book tickets at least a day in advance at the Qui Nhon Station for departures from Dieu Tri. An easier option is to go to Barbara's and let them book it for you.
Qui Nhon Station
T: (056) 822 036
Hours: 07:30 to 11:30, 13:30 to 18:00
Dieu Tri Station
Booking: T:(056) 833 255, Information: T:(056) 834 706
Have an update or correction?
Bus
Qui Nhon's bus station is located at the west end of Tay Son St, at the southern end of town. A mototaxi should cost about 15,000 VND from anywhere else in town. There are at least five different bus companies all operating out of booths at the station. In general, Ho Chi Minh buses cost from 120,000 to 155,000 and depart at 6:30, 7;00, 17:00, 17:25, 18:00, 18:25, 18:30, 19:15, 19:25. The trip takes 10 hours. 16-seat vans are fine for short trips, but brutal for long ones. The ordinary buses run by Thuan Thao are cheaper, but notoriously packed to the gills.
Phuong Trang
T: (056)210 288
Ho Chi Minh City: Departs at 18:30, 19:15, costing 140,000 VND (45 seats), taking 10 hours.
Vataco
T: (056) 547 956 (16 and 46 seat buses)
Da Nang: Departs at 08:00, 08:10, 08:30, 08:40, costing 65,000 VND (16 seast), 60,000 (46 seats) taking 6 hours.
Gia Lai: Six departures between 05:45 and 9:30, costing 45,000 VND (16 seast), 35,000 (46 seats) taking 3 hours.
Ho Chi Minh City: Departs at 07:25, 17:00, 18:00, 18:30, 19:15, costing 155,000 VND (16 seats), 120,000 (46 seats) taking 10 hours.
Kon Tum: Departs at 07:45, costing 50,000 VND (16 seast), 40,000 (46 seats) taking 4 hours.
Quang Ngai: Departs at 07:00, 08:00, costing 35,000 VND, taking 3 hours.
Vataco also runs buses to directly to Laos that stop in Pakse (250,000 VND) and Vientiane. They leave at 06:30 and take forever.
Trung Tam
T: (056) 846 246 (all 45 seats)
Buon Ma Tuot: Departs at 06:30, costing 85,000 VND.
Da Nang: departs at 05:00, 05:20, 05:40, costing 65,000 VND taking 6 hours.
Ho Chi Minh City: Departs at 17:25, 18:25, 19:15, costing 155,000 VND taking 10 hours.
Kon Tum: Departs at 05:45, 06:30, 10:50, costing 50,000 VND taking 4 hours.
Nha Trang: Five departures between 09:30 and 5:30, costing 65,000 VND taking 4 hours.
Pleiku: Five departures between 08:00 and 12:20, costing 45,000 VND taking 3 hours.
Thuan Thao
T: (056) 746 674 (Ordinary buses)
Buon Ma Thuot: Departs at 06:30, 14:00, costing 60,000 VND.
Da Nang: Departs at 04:20, costing 60,000 VND taking 6 hours.
Ho Chi Minh City: Departs at 06:30, 07:00, 18:00, 18:30, costing 120,000 VND taking 10 hours.
Kon Tum: Departs at 07:00, costing 40,000 VND taking 4 hours.
Nha Trang: Departs at 06:00, 07:00, 08:00, costing 40,000 VND taking 4 hours.
Pleiku: Departs at 06:20, 07:30, 08:30, 10:30, costing 35,000 VND taking 3 hours.
Mailinh Express
T: (056) 546 666 (16 seats)
Gia Lai: Departs at 10:45, 11:20, 17:40, 17:50, costing 50,000 VND, taking 3 hours
Nha Trang: Departs at 08:00, 09:00, 15:00, 16:00, costing 65,000 VND, taking 4 hours
It's impossible to review Qui Nhon without pointing out that Barbara's Kiwi Connection on Xuan Dieu is a great place to eat. There isn't a huge selection, but unlike a lot of other places, if it's on the menu, they always seem to have it in the kitchen. There are daily specials like pork shops or roast chicken and rice, some pasta dishes -- macaroni, spaghetti, or penne with great beef marinara sauce and healthy does of shredded cheddar and parmesan cheese. They also make a great toasted cheese sandwich with tomatoes, onions, ham, and even pineapple, if you like. The prices are surprisingly fair, considering they've practically cornered the Western food market in town, and the local Qui Nhon beer is available for 4,000 VND per bottle.
The other Western option is the Imperial Restaurant at the Saigon-Quynhon Hotel. It's large and usually empty, but they do have dishes like Lobster Thermidor and Lamb Chops, with entrees in the 100- to 200,000 VND range, and a good selection of wines. There's also an upscale but reasonably prices pho shop attached to the restaurant, if you want a very cleanly-prepared, slightly-pricey bowl of noodles.
On the Vietnamese side of things, Qui Nhon has a lot of sit-down seafood places. One of the more popular spots is Que Huong 2 -- the chicken with saffron rice and the beef stew come recommended, as well as the seafood dishes. The original Que Huong Restaurant is located bit north on Tang Bat Ho St, corner of Tran Cao Van. The Sinh Thai Lake area to the north of town is good for a visit in the afternoon or evening -- there are a couple of seafood places on Phan Dinh Phung St along the water including Song Thuy, noted for offering endangered species like sea-turtle, though apparently not on the English-language menu.
The area around Long Khanh pagoda on Tran Cao Van street is a great place to head for lunch or dinner. There are several vegetarian places (look for the signs saying com chay,) including Tinh Tam, just north of the pagoda, which has delicious veggie dishes at cheap prices -- definitely try some o hoa nhoi which is bitter-melon, usually with pork in the middle, here a tasty soy substitute. There's nicer seating in the back of the restaurant. The area is also good for meals of com which literally means 'cooked rice' but implies a wide variety of meat, fish, and vegetable entrees served with rice. They usually have all their offerings laid out on display so you can point and pick. A good one, just south of the pagoda, is Com Binh Dan.
There's a funky little neighbourhood just off the beach that you might miss by just wandering around, which has a couple of a seafood places that come recommended by Barbara's Kiwi Connection: 2000 Seafood on Tran Doc St and Dong Seafood, with its impressive storefront and upstairs seating, one block over on Nguyen Lac. To get to this neighbourhood, take Nguyen Hue west until it's just about to end and then take the extreme left down a road that heads to the beach and eventually turns into sand. The side streets are to the left.
In the evenings, you'll notice tables and chairs set up on a corner of the intersection of Ngo May and An Vuong Duong Sts. It's a great place for an evening beverage, with lots of desert-type drinks on offer, and along a side street, some bia tuoi joints serving fresh beer and some very exotic accompaniments, such as cut ram, which is grilled quail, along with trung cut, which are -- there's no good way to put this -- foetal quail's eggs.
2000 Seafood: 1 Tran Doc St, Qui Nhon. T: (056) 812 787
Com Binh Dan: 121 Tran Cao Van, Qui Nhon. T: (056) 823 980. Hours: 07:00 to 10:30
Dong Seafood: 26 Nguyen Lac, Qui Nhon. T: (056) 824 877
Hoang Huy Seafood: 18 Suan Dieu, Qui Nhon. T: (056) 893 915, F: (056) 815 120
The Imperial Restaurant: 24 Nguyen Hue St, Qui Nhon. T: (054) 820 100, F: (056) 828 128. Hours: 06:00 to 22:00
Tinh Tam: 145 Tran Cao Van, Qui Nhon. T: (056) 827 773. Hours: 06:00 to 20:00
Song Thuy: 107 Phan Dinh Phung, Qui Nhon. T: (056) 817 733. Hours: 07:00 to 22:00
Qui Nhon ByNight
Adress: 03 Lê Lai str, Quy Nhơn, Binh Dinh
Bar No1
Adreess: Near Quy Nhon Center Market
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Climate data for Qui Nhon
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Month
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Year
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Average high °C (°F)
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26
(78)
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27
(80)
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28
(83)
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31
(87)
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32
(90)
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33
(92)
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33
(92)
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34
(94)
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32
(89)
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29
(84)
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27
(81)
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26
(78)
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29.8
(85.7)
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Average low °C (°F)
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21
(69)
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21
(70)
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22
(72)
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24
(75)
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26
(78)
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26
(79)
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26
(79)
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26
(79)
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25
(77)
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24
(75)
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23
(73)
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22
(71)
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23.8
(74.8)
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Precipitation mm (inches)
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61
(2.4)
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33
(1.3)
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25
(1)
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38
(1.5)
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53
(2.1)
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48
(1.9)
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66
(2.6)
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61
(2.4)
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254
(10)
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445
(17.5)
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455
(17.9)
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173
(6.8)
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1,712
(67.4)
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Source: Weatherbase
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