When approaching Vinh Hy Bay in Ninh Thuan
Province, be sure to drive slowly in your car or motorbike so that you
can capture the beautiful views of natural granite stones on the
mountains and hills of Nui Chua Natural Reserve.
You may wonder how
thousands of stones of various shapes and sizes came to be nestled in
mountain creeks and perched on the top, sides and base of the mountains
and hills in the Reserve, which covers an area of nearly 30,000
hectares on the coast of the central province.
The stones look as though they have been hand-crafted into figures
which resemble columns of a house, animals and stylized phalluses
worshiped as a symbol of the god Shiva. But, local citizens say the
harsh winds from the sea, rain and other factors have shaped the stones
into natural works of art.
The asphalted approach road to Vinh Hy Bay is rather quiet, you can
stop here and there on the roadside to take shots of the beautiful
stones. There are sections of the road that wind around the sides and
cut through the mountains and hills; those are the best places to take
picture with the sea and the forest of the natural reserve in the
background.
The travel firm Vietmark offers a package tour for groups of people who
are interested in a trekking adventure in the Nui Chua Natural
Reserve. The trek is from Vinh Hy Bay to Binh Tien, where there is a
beautiful beach near Khanh Hoa Province.
The director of marketing at Vietmark, Truong Hoang Phuong, said there
are options for participants to depart from Vinh Hy Bay and trek in
parts of the reserve before boarding a boat to sail to Binh Tien, or
walk in the forest to the unspoiled beach.
Phuong says locals need about three hours to walk through the trekking
route but estimates that it will take tourists at least half a day to
finish the trip.
Vietmark also offers an over-night camping package in the reserve.
Established as natural reserve in July 2003, Nui Chua is a primitive
forest that represents the dry ecosystem of the Southeast Asian region.
The reserve is home to black-shanked douc langur and many other rare
species, turtles and more than 300 coral species.
