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The breathtaking scenery along the QL29 mountain pass to Tuy Hoa - Phu Yen.
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1. Route to Tuy Hoa - Phu Yen
Our pit stop on the Phu Yen adventure journey was Tuy Hoa City, about 30 km from Bai Mon along QL29. It's a short stretch of road but it passes through a beautiful mountain pass, where you see the sky above and the vast sea below.
The road from Bai Mon to Tuy Hoa City - Phu Yen.
Above is the vast sky, beside is the deep calm sea.
A beautiful route for a motorbike trip.
Looking into the distance, one can truly appreciate the beauty of the nature of this land.
Due to a late start, by the time we reached Tuy Hoa it was already 1 PM. We had planned to try the local specialty, banh hoi with pork intestines, but after circling around and finding all eateries closed (the whole city seemed to be napping...), we reluctantly settled for a roadside grill that was still open.
The price for a portion of grilled pork or beef is 30,000 VND, and rice paper is 5,000 VND per portion. We ordered one portion of grilled meat, two portions of grilled sausage (similar to spring rolls), and two portions of rice paper, totaling 100,000 VND. Personally, I found the food to be decent, but eating it at 1 PM in the scorching heat felt a bit too dry and harsh.
A plate of grilled sausage is more than enough for two people.
The grilled meat here resembles grilled pork sausage.
After a satisfying meal, we headed back to the hotel. Tuy Hoa is quite small and the city is divided into two distinct areas - the old and the new. Most eateries are located in the central area (the old quarter - near Hung Vuong Bridge), while hotels are situated in the new area (along Hung Vuong Street towards Quy Nhon). We noticed there are many newly built mini hotels in Tuy Hoa, with spacious and clean rooms, so you don't need to worry about accommodation.
Due to lack of sleep from camping the previous night and the scorching sun, we cleaned up and rested at the hotel until evening before going out for dinner. According to recommendations we found online, tonight we dined at Chao Hau 373 (373 Nguyen Hue Street). A bowl of clam porridge costs 20,000 VND and comes with one egg and a shrimp. The fried clam with egg was delicious (though they don't serve rice to go with it), stir-fried noodles with clam were average and not as generous with clams as the other two dishes. The three of us finished three bowls of clam porridge, one plate of stir-fried noodles with clam, two servings of fried clam with egg, and three rice crackers, totaling 132,000 VND. I'm not sure if this dish is considered a specialty here, but if you're in Tuy Hoa and don't know what to eat, you can try the clam porridge.
Nourishing clam porridge.
And the fried clam with egg is quite unique, you should try it.
As for the third dish, it's stir-fried noodles with clam.
2. Specialty: Banh Hoi with Pork Intestines
Our first stop this morning is... the pork intestine steamed rice cake eatery (Yen Restaurant - 118 Hung Vuong - right under Hung Vuong Bridge), since we missed it yesterday, we're determined to make up for it today. By the way, this is our breakfast... (for those who are as clueless as I was yesterday...).
Steamed rice cakes with pork intestines and pork intestine steamed rice cakes.
A portion of pork intestine steamed rice cakes or steamed rice cakes with pork intestines costs 20,000 VND, including one plate with intestines and one bowl of porridge, served with vegetables and dipping sauce. The three of us had 3 steamed rice cakes with pork intestines, 1 pork intestine steamed rice cake, and 3 glasses of soy milk, totaling 95,000 VND. Additionally, the eatery also sells pork intestine steamed rice cakes, roasted pork intestine steamed rice cakes, and various types of noodle soup. For someone who loves offal and steamed rice cakes with pork intestines, like myself, this dish is just perfect. Tuy Hoa City may not be very exciting, but the food here has left a special memory from yesterday till now. After satisfying our hunger, we head back to the hotel to prepare for the journey ahead.
3. O Loan Lagoon, Tam Giang Dam, Mang Lang Church
In the Phu Yen area, there are quite a few scattered attractions towards the north of Tuy Hoa. Not wanting to miss any spot (except Vân Hòa Plateau due to the detour), we planned to visit all the significant attractions before heading straight to Quy Nhon. The visiting order is as follows: Hotel - O Loan Lagoon - Tam Giang Dam - Mang Lang Church - Ganh Da Dia - Ong Cop Wooden Bridge.
The itinerary from Tuy Hoa to various attractions.
From Tuy Hoa to Ganh Da Dia, there are two routes. One is the shorter route, leading directly to Ganh Da Dia. The other option is to take the national highway, where you can pass by O Loan Lagoon, Tam Giang Dam, and Mang Lang Church. Although we didn't intend to visit these places, we wanted to drive by to get an idea, so we all chose the national highway.
The first stop is O Loan Lagoon, turning in from a small side road intersecting the national highway (very easy to drive on). To put it simply... there's nothing much here. It's just a place for aquaculture by the locals. I heard that blood cockles are famous here, but later, a lady at a nearby restaurant near Ganh Da Dia said those places cater to tourists, so they're not cheap. Overall, it's okay to drive by to see, but not worth stopping by.
View of O Loan Lagoon from the mountain pass.
Inside O Loan Lagoon.
A vast expanse of water and sky.
From here, we saw on the map a small village road leading to Ganh Da Dia. But because the small road seemed daunting, and if we took the main road, we could pass by Tam Giang Dam and Mang Lang Church, so we decided to stick to the national highway.
I thought the road to Ganh Da Dia would be very desolate, but it felt like passing through a small village, with beautiful, well-maintained concrete roads. Alongside were stretches of rice fields, and clusters of small houses, reminiscent of the scenery in Tuy Hoa. In general, it was like a typical countryside road, with some sections where people were drying straw or rice by the roadside, filling the air with a rich fragrance. For someone like me, a city dweller at heart, driving through this village road was truly an interesting experience. There were even some flood level markers along the way (which I didn't take photos of). I bet during the flood season, the water would flow right over the road...
The road leading to Ganh Da Dia.
Rice fields on both sides of the road.
Drying rice stalks.
Drying hay.
On the way, we passed by Tam Giang Dam and briefly stopped to take a look at Mằng Lăng Church.
Tam Giang Dam.
Outside Mằng Lăng Church.
Classic architecture.
Inside Mằng Lăng Church.
4. Gành Đá Dĩa and the legendary lunch spot
One bone-chilling experience from that trip was if you truly want to enjoy the scenic beauty, avoid weekends and holidays. We went on a Saturday, so Gành Đá Dĩa was packed with tourists. Since this place is so famous, it has become a fee-charging tourist destination. Parking costs 2,000 VND per vehicle, and entrance tickets are 20,000 VND per person. Along the road, there are a few spots offering free straw hats (expect them to sell you drinks when you return the hats).
The Gành Đá Dĩa.
These flat rocks resembling discs give it its name.
Crystal clear water revealing the bottom.
Right at the rock beach, swimming isn't feasible, but in the distance, there's a small, pristine white sand beach, rumored to be swimmable (according to the lady selling food nearby). Since we didn't fancy taking Instagram-worthy photos (plus it was sunny and crowded), we snapped some shots of the surrounding scenery and headed back.
A perfect spot to sit and admire the sky, admire the sea.
It's now past 1 PM. We all agreed to find a place to eat along the way back as hunger started to kick in (probably because we had breakfast quite early...). We stopped by a chicken rice restaurant marked on the map, but unfortunately, they only serve chicken rice... in the morning. So, we decided to keep going.
As mentioned earlier, people in this Central region are very punctual about their lunch break... Not to mention, in such a small village area, there aren't many eateries around. In the area near Gành Đá Dĩa, there were food stalls, but we didn't want to get ripped off. After a while of running around, we finally spotted a rice eatery still open. It looked decent, so we went in straight away. One of the best decisions of the trip! We wouldn't have come across this rice eatery if we had taken the right path (we were all heading towards Ông Cọp Wooden Bridge), but just as we were about to make the turn, we ran another 10 meters and saw the eatery. It's located right outside, marked as Cafe Bi Bo (Hamlet 4, An Ninh, Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen).
Outside the Cafe Bi Bo sign.
The owner of the restaurant warmly invited us in, explaining that they were experiencing a power outage, so it would be cooler inside. Since the restaurant's premises also serve as a cafe and have trees, the three of us chose to sit right under the tree. The restaurant had run out of chicken rice, leaving only rice dishes priced at 20,000 VND each with a bowl of rib soup. Because the owner recommended every dish so enticingly, we each decided to have a mixed plate including eggs, meat, and fish.
Oh my, I usually hate eating fish, especially braised fish, and it's small fish at that, but this fish dish from the owner was delicious! The fish absorbed the seasoning so well, the meat was super tender, I couldn't stop eating it, to the point that for days after, whenever I had a meal, if there was this braised fish dish available, I'd order it even if it wasn't as good as the one from the owner. The three of us couldn't get enough of it, so we ordered more rice. The owner brought out an additional rice dish with fish (probably because we praised the fish so much), and then we even asked for more braised meat (since the owner mentioned there was braised meat available), so in the end, it came to 4 dishes, 80,000 VND!
The 20,000 VND rice dish is the most delicious I've ever had.
Since the three of us were eating like starving ghosts and praising the food non-stop, the owner insisted we sit down and tell stories. She talked about how this fish was a type of flathead fish, freshly caught this morning, so it was very sweet. She mentioned how today there were no squid, but usually there are fresh squid, cooking a whole squid is extremely delicious. Last time, a lady customer stopped by, initially hesitating to eat the squid dish, but once she tried it, she said if she hadn't eaten it, she would have regretted it (the three of us listened, mouths watering). Then she talked about why the Ông Cọp Wooden Bridge got its name, it's because there was a man named Cọp living right under the bridge, and when he saw a guest wanting to cross the bridge who had some martial arts skills, he would challenge that person to a duel, and only if he won, would he let them pass. In general, there were many stories.
I'm usually not one to strike up conversations with strangers, but sharing a meal and chatting with the food vendor was one of the most memorable experiences of the trip. If you ever happen to visit Gành Đá Dĩa, make sure to try her food, you won't regret it. Speaking of culinary experiences during my journey, these authentic local meals are the ones that I'll always remember when I return to Saigon.
5. Crossing the Ông Cọp Wooden Bridge, heading towards Quy Nhơn
The Ông Cọp Bridge - The longest wooden bridge in Vietnam.
Farewell to the food vendor with an indescribably delicious lunch, we headed towards the Ông Cọp Wooden Bridge. The Ông Cọp Wooden Bridge is a locally-built wooden bridge spanning the Phú Ngân River to shorten the travel time from the Gành Đá Dĩa area to QL1A. It's also hailed as the longest wooden bridge in Vietnam. Only motorcycles and pedestrians can cross the bridge, cars cannot.
If you're concerned about the safety of the bridge, when we asked the food vendor at the restaurant, she assured us that people drive across it all the time without any issues. As we climbed onto the bridge, still feeling a bit nervous, we heard a honking sound behind us. Just in time, we dodged to the side as a motorcycle zoomed past us at rocket speed.
The bridge may look precarious, but it's actually very sturdy.
Upon reaching the other end of the bridge, there's a toll booth. We saw the fee sign indicating 5,000 VND per motorbike carrying goods, and since these two bikes were loaded with stuff and had a passenger each, the total was 15,000 VND for both. Once across the bridge, we merged onto QL1A heading towards Quy Nhơn, officially bidding farewell to the beautiful land of Phú Yên with its unforgettable culinary delights.
6. Conclusion
Phú Yên boasts stunning landscapes and delicious local cuisine. You only need 1 to 2 days to explore all the attractions in Phú Yên. Tuy Hòa, the central city of Phú Yên, is just about 150 km away from both Quy Nhơn (to the North) and Nha Trang (to the South), so you can combine trips to Nha Trang - Phú Yên or Phú Yên - Quy Nhơn. I hope this article has provided you with a comprehensive overview of the scenery in Phú Yên and helped you plan your next trip to Phú Yên.
Mytour Golocal
