Heaven on earth

By Thuy Duong - The Guide

I must say, first up, that either this place is quite hard to find or I’m a bit of an idiot.
 I was told about it by a travelling companion a few days beforehand, and the guesthouse
 I was staying at gave me some crystal-clear instructions on how to get there.
But I still managed to get lost. Once I found it, though, Bai Xep,
a mysterious and unknown stretch of beach some 10 km from the centre of Quy Nhon town
 in Binh Dinh province, soothed my soul.

After a short ride along Highway 1 by taxi, there was a sign saying ‘Welcome to Bai Xep’.
I told the driver to stop, paid and bade him farewell, and headed down a small lane.
But there was no village well, which my instructions said there should be,
nor any happy smiling people.
There was just dead quiet. I darted back to the highway, but the taxi was long gone.
 With no other choice,
 I trudged along the side of the highway under the scorching sun only to receive
 ‘what-on-earth-are-you-doing-here’ stares from nearly every truck driver that passed by.
After 15 minutes but what felt like a century I arrived at the tucked-away village with the well.

The moment I stepped into my guesthouse I knew immediately that this was the place I had been longing for.
 I could hardly believe it was real. Everything looked like it came straight out of a dream.

The sandy white beach was so close that the sound of breaking waves calmed me down immediately.
 I spent the whole afternoon taking a long stroll along the deserted beach gazing at the sea washing against jagged-rock outcrops. The warm breeze teased my hair and the scent of the ocean filled the air.
 It’s just pure luck that rampant tourism hasn’t come here yet.
 As far as I walked I saw not another footprint.

As the afternoon light began to fade I joined a dozen local kids for a cool dip in the turquoise sea.
 I couldn’t help but envy them, as they’ve grown up amid such absolutely stunning scenery.
Jumping in fully clothed, howling with laughter, they looked naturally content and happy.

Evening came, and I satiated my hunger with a lovely dinner of spicy tuna and mango salad at a garden bistro.
After experiencing endless winters in northern Europe,
 the fact that I could dine in an open air environment under a brilliant silver moon felt like paradise.
Across the bay, the bamboo prawn traps were beautifully lit up and the seductive waves silently kissed the shore. Life just doesn’t get better than this!

The next day I got up early and was blown away by the most spectacular sunrise I’ve seen in years.
The first orange light streaked through the palm trees and in a moment the sun rose from the pink horizon,
basking the whole sandy beach in its gorgeous shining colour.
 Tell me city-dwellers, when was the last time you saw such a breathtaking dawn?

Later I wandered around the zigzag laneways of the village.
With no cars, this community of a few hundred finishing families was extremely peaceful.
As is so often the case outside of big cities in Vietnam,
the hard working local people have retained their friendly and cheerful charm.
They don’t mind starting a conversation with a stranger and are willing to offer assistance if you ask.

It was a delight to visit the early morning market and sample local dishes like banh xeo and banh hoi at about a tenth of the price I’d normally pay for breakfast in Hanoi.
Not far from the market, the fishing beach is the perfect spot for taking photos of everyday life as fisherman busily launched their boats and coracles (little round boats) dotted the shoreline.

The following night I was lucky to join the traditional annual festival in the village.
Once a year the whole community is brightened up with a procession, ceremonial praying at the temple, and three nights of Tuong - once a popular traditional performance art.
Hundreds of villagers turned out on the crowded beach, eagerly watching the troupe playing in their colourful, sparkling costumes.

I spent the next several days enjoying the same routine: watching the sunrise, taking a morning stroll and swim, picking up seashells, having breakfast in the village, reading books in a hammock under the shade of a palm tree, downing a late lunch of salad and ice cream in the company of Skippy the cat, writing on my blog, gazing at the sea, taking an afternoon walk followed by a long dip in the ocean, then a candlelit dinner with some beer and moon watching.
Could I ever tire of this? The truth is there isn’t a whole lot to do around Bai Xep, except for the beach. But it was exactly what I was looking for, and I can honestly say it was perfect.

The sun rises and sets, then comes the moon. The whole world keeps changing, but my wish is that Bai Xep will remain an untouched hideaway. Forever!

Handy tips

Bai Xep is located in Ghenh Rang, Quy Nhon. It’s a pleasant motorbike ride from the town centre. Both taxis and local buses are convenient, but make sure you get off at the right stop or you might find yourself wandering along the highway, which is something to be avoided!

On the same stretch of beach are various accommodation options. The Avani Resort (formerly known as Life Resort) is brilliant if you’d like to treat yourself to luxury and style. Their spa’s also good for a pampering session.

Haven and Life’s a Beach are two small, friendly guesthouses across from each other and are the perfect place to unwind, kick back, and relax at a reasonable cost.
 Both have open-air bars located right on the beach with stunning views.

Next door, Big Tree Backpacker and Bistro offers clean and comfortable single dorm beds for travellers on a shoestring budget.
The relaxed bistro at Big Tree has fantastic local and Western food, which is great if you suddenly miss
some comfort food like fish and chips or a burger.

You can always enjoy a delicious meal in nearby Quy Nhon and don’t forget to try the fresh seafood
 at 141 Xuan Dieu restaurant. In fact, the whole street of Xuan Dieu is known for fantastic seafood and you can literally pick any place to eat in.

Once you’ve fully relaxed on the beach, other little adventures could include a visit to Eo Gio, a lovely cove on the east side of the city, snorkelling on Hon Kho Island, and riding for an hour or two in a local fisherman’s coracle or learning how to paddle one yourself. An hour’s drive away, Ghenh Da Dia is another natural beauty spot that’s been compare

Time for the country

A day on a farm not only offers a much-needed respite from the city but also teaches us where our daily meals originate.

●By Duong Nguyen. Photos: Minh Hai - Source: The Guide

For many years the Japanese town of Inakadate remained a sleepy little place that welcomed few visitors. With just 8,000 residents, who traditionally relied primarily on farming, the town, which has neither alluring seas nor striking mountains, offered little in the way of interest for tourists, unless you felt like staring at rice fields!

But it was these very same rice fields that turned Inakadate into a major hit. Every summer since 1993 the fields are transformed into gigantic works of art, attracting thousands of visitors and starting a tradition that has now become the backbone of Inakadate’s tourism industry.

The story of Inakadate highlights how agri-tourism, one of the fastest growing sectors in the eco-tourism industry, can revitalise a community and appeal so much to travellers.

In the shoes of farmers

Fundamentally, agri-tourism involves agriculturally-based operations that draw visitors to a farm or any natural site for outdoor recreation, education, shopping, or short stays.

With ‘getting back to nature’ becoming a new slogan for modern-day healthy lifestyles, agri-tourism is gaining increasing popularity among tourists all around the globe. Visiting a rice field, joining harvest festivals, staying at animal farms, or picking fresh produce all draw a great many tourists to the countryside. When city-dwellers tire of the concrete jungle, over-crowded transport and shopping malls, the farmland suddenly reveals its inner charm. The long-forgotten rhymes of cicadas and crickets, not the ringing of an iPhone, are what most crave. So turn off the wi-fi, put on your farmer’s hat, and start exploring the organic circle of how the vegetables we eat come to life or perhaps take the kids for their first fishing lesson.

Although many people would like to think that agri-tourism dates back as far as civilisation has existed, most agree that modern-day agricultural tourism really only started over the last few decades as a way of giving small farmers another means of survival.

Agricultural tourism then hit the world by storm, with notable success stories found in countries such as Italy, Spain, the US, Canada, Israel, and the Philippines. Going beyond the traditional route of planting crops and raising livestock, agri-tourism has proved to be the solution for farmers to keep the farm and make a living from it at the same time. The business model, however, varies from one farm to another and from country to country. While some farms in the US have found a path out of hardship in corn mazes, which now even feature modern apps like maps on smartphones, others offer the chance to pick your own pumpkins or take a pony ride. Agriturismo, as it is known in Italy, on the other hand, is popular for rustic family-run farm stays, where guests can enjoy home-cooked meals on a Parmigiano Reggiano cheese factory tour, which shows the entire farm-to-table process from untreated milk to finished product. Today, in Italy, agriturismo has reached a high level of sophistication, sometimes showcasing elegant cuisine and exclusive winery tours.

In an age when people are constantly seeking new experiences, the idea of luxury hotels, for some, has become too dull, so moving from five stars to the farm guarantees a real taste of the day-to-day lifestyle of rural living, the earthy smell of farming products, the hominess of the wide-open spaces, the chance to put your feet on actual ground, direct your eyes to sky, and start to heal our deep and disturbing disconnection from the land that sustains us.

Sowing seeds

Vietnam, as an agricultural-dominated country, has tremendous potential for agri-tourism without much additional investment being needed given its abundance of natural resources, biological diversity, and strong cultural heritage.

Numerous projects have already sprung up all over the country with a view to revitalising the agriculture sector through tourism and increasing tourist traffic. Activities offered are diverse, from cultivating rice on a Ba Vi farm to collecting honey, from experiencing a day with herb farmers in the village of Tra Que to rural stays in Ha Giang, from exploring the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta to harvesting activities for kids in the outskirts of Hanoi.

Pawel, a tourist from Poland, loved having the chance to plant rice seedlings ‘It was a totally new experience for me, something I’ve never done before,’ he said. ‘I enjoyed it so much, seeing the way a small-scale family farm is run. It’s a tough life for farmers, though’.

Meanwhile, Judy from Australia was excited by her stay in a rural village in Ninh Binh. ‘I’m very much a country girl at heart and my homestay was wonderful,’ she said. ‘I had the chance to interact with very friendly local farmers in the village and luckily gained a glimpse into their everyday life.’

On many farms that welcome tourists, however, there is usually a lack of lodgings, so day trips are more common. For these farms the goal is less about providing a unique vacation and more about fostering a deeper understanding of the farming process through education and hands-on experience.

Tue Vien organic farm, just ten minutes from the centre of Hanoi, offers the perfect setting for visitors, especially families and children, to learn about the sustainable model of organic agriculture. For Ms Lien, the owner of the farm, they are not only promoting organic agriculture but also a natural, friendly way of life.

Every weekend Tue Vien opens its doors to hundreds of people of all ages coming to explore food production, from farming and processing.

Ms Yen, a working mother who visited the farm with her seven-year-old son, said the visit had not only been an exciting learning experience for her child but had also inspired her as well. ‘Like most kids in the city, my boy is very much into iPads and other electronic devices,’ she said. ‘One time I asked him, “where do vegetables come from?”, and he answered, without even thinking, “from the supermarket”. Something has to change in the way we educate our children. I started taking him to various farms so he knows where the food he eats every day comes from. I also become very mindful when buying fresh produce and I try to buy organic as often as possible.’

As a new product in a crowded market, agri-tourism in Vietnam still has a lot of untapped potential. No measures have been forthcoming from local authorities to regulate the development of the sector and at times the services offered are not up to expected standards. For travellers seeking new adventures, though, the unexpected might be just what they want.

So pick a farm, jump on your bike, leave the paved road for the dirt track and let the traffic noise fade into the background as you melt into green, green fields.