I've been to Quang Binh twice. The first visit was merely for the sea, Phong Nha Cave and nothing else. This second journey, a good number of years apart, was mainly for work and though way busy, we managed to have one day off to wander around the area. The first day in Quang Binh, I woke up to a quiet morning on the beach with the brilliant sun above glazing calm water. Except for some angry moments, the sea in Quang Binh is normally so calm with no waves at all, thus ideal for not-so-good swimmers. That morning, the beach was almost empty except for one or two local people dipping themselves in shallow wat
er looking for clams for a living. Unlike Nha Trang and some other coast cities I have been to where local people have the habit of doing exercises on the beach every morning, it seems that Quang Binh residents do not have such a habit. (Or maybe they do it elsewhere?) But that turned out good for a person who hates crowds and noises like me.. What a feeling to have the whole sea, the whole sun and the whole beach to myself... (As always, click on each pix to see its larger version.)
After breakfast with bánh xèo and bánh bèo, (also a big surprise for us because we Hue people don't eat such dishes for breakfast at all), while others were heading for the market nearby, I decided to leave the group to satisfy my personal pleasure of wandering around on my own and went as far as my feet could go.
Dong Hoi is a young city with lots of land and low density population. Single-floor houses with red-tiled roofs create an interesting image from afar. Neat parks have been built along Nhat Le River; however, the trees are not big enough to provide good shade. It was a sunny morning and soon the heat tired me and my new shoes hurt my feet...
The owner of this cafe must be an artist, or maybe one of creation.
This bridge spans Nhat Le River.
The remains of an old church
A new structure in Dong Hoi.
Dropping by a souvernir shop near the market, I spotted this snall painting on display but the shop owner that I guessed a painter refused to sell it. "You have an eyes uh?" he smiled when I asked to buy it. He explained that he painted it to recall his sister at childhood who had often played such a game with her friends. The painting became his favorite beyond his expectation and he intended to duplicate it in silk versions and that's why he couldn't sell it to me. My deal was unsuccessful but I thought he was the artist who knew what he was doing...
And this is where we stayed.
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