GEOGRAPHY

Phu Yen situated in South-Central Coast, borders with Binh Dinh province to the north, Khanh Hoa province to the south, Dak Lak and Gia Lai provinces on the west and East Sea on the east.

Phú Yên is separated from these provinces by two passes: Cu Mong pass in the north and Ca pass in the south.

The province’s topography consists of hilly regions in the west (70%) and the fertile plain of Tuy Hòa in the east. Lowlands also extend west along Da Rang river. The highest peaks are at 1592m on the border to Khanh Hoa province in the south and at 1331m in the northwest Dong Xuan District. There are several hills near the coast, including Mo Cheo (Núi Mô Cheo, 814m) in Song Cau and Da Bia mountain (Núi Đá Bia, 706m) near Dai Lanh in Dong Hoa District.

The main rivers that flow across Phú Yên are Da Rang river (the longest river in Central of Vietnam), Ban Thach river and Ky Lo river. Song Hinh Lake (a large artificial lake, is located in the southwest of the province). Phú Yên has various picturesque landscapes, such as the Ô Loan Lagoon, Sông Cầu coconut ranges, Da Bia and Nhạn mountains, Rô Bay, Xep Beach and Long Thủy Beach.

CLIMATE

Influenced by ocean climate, the weather here is hot with high humid and lots of rain. Annual average temperature is 26.5ºC.

Phú Yên has 9 district-level sub-divisions:

  • 7 districts: Đông Hòa, Đồng Xuân, Phú Hòa, Sơn Hòa, Sông Hinh, Tây Hòa, Tuy An
  • 1 district-level town: Sông Cầu
  • 1 provincial city: Tuy Hòa (capital)

TRANSPORTATION

Tuy Hoa City is 120km from Nha Trang, and 561km from Ho Chi Minh City and 1,156km from Hanoi. National Route 1A as well as the North – South Railway run through the province. Phu Yen’s main railway station is Tuy Hoa Railway Station. Smaller railway stations are located in Dong Xuan District and Tuy An Distict on the north of Tuy Hoa. National Road 25 connects Tuy Hoa to Chu Se in Gia Lai Province, mostly along the Da Rang river.

Dong Tac Airport a small domestic airport is located on the south of Tuy Hoa. There are daily flights from: HCMC-Tuy Hoa-HCMC and Ha Noi-Tuy Hoa-Ha Noi

The province has a port around 28 km to south of Tuy Hòa, namely Vung Ro Port (cảng Vũng Rô).

RESTAURANTS/DINING

Though Phu Yen has few standout restaurants, there are hundreds of inexpensive places to eat in its capital Tuy Hoa and surrounding districts. Seafood is the main culinary attraction, with grilled blood clam one of the province’s local specialties. Other local favourites include Hoa Da girdle cake rolled with boiled pork and raw vegetables, dit leaf sour soup, steamed glutinous rice cooked with young dove meat, ocean tuna and giant perch.

Oysters and mai fish from O Loan Lagoon are also sought after. The mai fish is made into a salad with lemon, roasted peanuts, basil, coriander, green tomatoes, green banana, star fruit and spices. All along the beach of Tuy Hoa are rustic cafes serving fresh seafood and beer, while more restaurants are found along the main highway and Tran Hung Dao street.

Those craving burgers and pizza head to Bob’s Cafe’ American on Nguyen Dinh Chieu street in Tuy Hoa, one of the few western restaurants in the area. Outside of the hotels, most restaurants do not have menus in English so it’s good to learn the names of some of the dishes you want to try before venturing out for a meal.

NIGHTLIFE

Phu Yen is not exactly a nightlife centre but there are some places open after dark, mainly in the capital Tuy Hoa. The scene here is mostly relaxed, where you can savour a cold beer and listen to some live music in pubs with an open, outdoor setting.

Enjoy cocktails and wine with nice views over the glittering lights of the city at the bar on the seventeenth floor of Tuy Hoa’s swankiest hotel, the CenDeluxe on Hai Duong Street. Just across the road from here is a cluster of bars and restaurants in the city’s main entertainment district, Thuan Thao 25. Night-owls seeking more variety and excitement after dark head south to Nha Trang, a larger beach resort town with a wider collection of pubs, discos and bars.

SHOPPING

Like most anywhere in Vietnam, there’s no shortage of things to buy in Phu Yen. Tran Hung Dao Street is where the Tuy Hoa market plus a number of shops are located. Find souvenirs, clothing and more.

Hung Vuong Street has shopping centres among its hotels and restaurants, where one can spend and afternoon browsing and strolling this wide, pleasant avenue. Every village outside of the city has a central market where you can snap some colourful photos of local daily life scenes even if you’re not there to buy the fresh produce.

One of Phu Yen’s most prized products is its bird-nest soup. Made from the saliva secretions of swiftlets, the nests are harvested twice a year with some 1000 kilograms collected each year in the province. The soup is considered to help boost health and virility, and it certainly boosts the fortunes of those selling it with going rates as high as US$2000 per kilogram.

ACTIVITIES

Phu Yen is the place to enjoy the great outdoors, with some fabulous terrain to cover by hiking, biking or driving its picturesque coastal highway. Along the shore line catch a local boat to explore the bays and offshore islands, while the mountains offer panoramic views of the river valley for those who make the effort to walk up to the peaks.

One of the most popular hiking spots is Nhan Mountain, with the ancient Thap Nhan Tower at the top. O Loan Lagoon is a scenic spot to enjoy sailing, kayaking and swimming, while early risers will be treated to a spectacular sunrise swim if they hit the east-coast beaches at dawn.

Catch the action of this bustling fishing town’s harbour at the mouth of the Da Rang river in Tuy Hoa, where ocean tuna and other seafood is brought in to the large warehouses then chopped up, packed and prepared for overland delivery.

MANG LANG CHURCH – ONE OF THE OLDEST CHURCHES IN VIET NAM

35km from Tuy Hoa city to the North, in An Thach commune (Tuy An district), located Mang Lang Church, one of the oldest churches in Vietnam, was built in 1892 by a Frenchman named Joseph de La Cassagne, whose Vietnamese name was Co Xuan by the parish residents here, he was the first priest of the Mang Lang parish in charge of building the church; this is also the place storing the first book of national language in our country.

Located within an area of 5,000 m², painted in white, but time has turned the church into black color as an ink wash painting. The gothique architecture of the church front side evokes imagination of an artistic-full church in France or Roman. On the flanks are two bell towers, the cross in the center; stepping inside, you can see two ropes of a ringing bell for ceremony, and if luck knocks on you, you can witness wire-pulling to ring church bells boisterous the neighbor.

With a history of nearly 120 years of existence, each wall, door, praying table … is tinted with time. Along the uniqueness of the shape, lines with XIX century’s architecture, Mang Lang church is a destination that tourists never fail to visit.

NHAN TOWER

Location: Nhan Tower is near to Nhan Mountain, on the northern bank of Da Rang River, close to National Highway 1A in Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province.
Characteristic: The tower has quadrilateral shape with four stories; the fourth story is smaller than the first one.

Nhan Tower was worship place of ancient Cham people in dated in the late 11th to the early 12th centuries. The tower is 20m high; each side of the foot tower is 11m long. The middle gate sharp is with monsters on the top. This top is special one because it was harmoniously combined with the pyramidal symbol with linga symbol; one of Cham’s worships. During the French domination, the tower was nearly ruined. At the end of the year 1960, the tower was rebuilt by the administration of Diem’s regime. Nowadays, there is only a flat stone with the high of 1,30m and lotus flower carved at the foot of the stone. At the foot of Nhan Mountain, there is another stone on which were 3 ancient letters (the same Phan letter). The stone has square shape; each side is 5m wide. Nhan Tower is a symbol for the architectural art of Cham in Phu Yen Province

DA DIA RAPIDS

Location: Da Dia Rapids is located in An Ninh Dong Commune, Tuy An District, Phu Yen Province.
Characteristic: It is strangely structured rocks include large upright stones equally arranged in a star pattern.

Ghenh Da Dia (or the Cliff of Stone Plates) is a baffling and beautiful riddle of Nature, and set in stone for all time. It’s like a giant jigsaw, irritatingly made of the same shaped pieces, and forming a solidified structure that has proved more than just a curiosity for thousands. Looking down on it, visitors often liken it to a gigantic beehive, others as a pile of stone plates. For despite a lengthy series of historical, archeological and scientific probes of the cliff’s square kilometer, its formation remains a mystery. Even counting the stone columns has failed to yield an exact figure as exhausted researchers usually call a halt at around 35,000.The stones are 60-80cm in visible height and 20-30cm across and cluster round a small fresh water pond that is fed by underground rivers and never dries up. Not surprisingly researchers find intriguing – and perhaps frustrating – comparison between.

The rapids have been listed as a National Heritage Site by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

WHITE STONE PAGODA

The Da Trang (White Stone) pagoda festival opened yesterday in An Dan commune, Tuy An district, Phu Yen province, attracting a large number of locals, Buddhist followers, and pilgrims.

The festival will commemorate monks and heroes who have contributed to the nation, including Tran Cao Van and Vo Tru, two national heroes who took part in the uprising led by Le Thanh Phuong (1825-1887).

The Da Trang pagoda, officially named the Tu Quang pagoda, was built by Buddhist monk Huy Phap Chuyen of the Lam Te faction in 1797.

The pagoda is famous for its group of stupas, a unique Buddhist architectural feature of the southern central region.

A series of cultural, arts, and sports related-activities was also organized.

O LOAN LAGOON

O Loan (Ô loan), a brackish water lagoon which is right at the end of Quan Cau (Quán Cau) pass, is very near the national highway 1A. It is 22-km away from Tuy Hoa (Tuy Hòa) city. This is the famous place for its historical movement named Can Vuong (Cần Vương) in Phu Yen (Phú Yên) province.

O Loan lagoons area is about 1, 200 ha. It shares its borders with many communes of Tuy An district such as An Cu (An Cư), An Thanh (An Thạnh), An Hai (An Hải), etc. having a view from Quan Cau pass, O Loan looks like a phoenix on its wings. Meanwhile, it on map seems like a swan opening its wings.

Every year, on lunar January 7th, the traditional boat racing festival on O Loan lagoon is held, showing Phu Yen traditional folklore features. The festival attracts thousands of people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year”s Days.

O Loan lagoon was recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information as the National Level Landscape Vestiges on September 27th 1996.

Visitors coming here to study, admire the fairylike beauty of the nature and enjoy many kinds of special sea foods like bloody shells, crabs, shrimps, jelly fish, oysters, edible seaweed… Especially the bloody shells here are extremely delicious.

The sea falls into sleep on entering O Loan lagoon
Bloody shells develop in the depth of the blue dream.

Visiting O Loan, nothing is more marvelous than going on a boat, watching the rippling waves and the beautiful green shapes of hills besides sugar cane fields in the morning while sitting around a coal cooking fire and grilling the red oysters. When red oysters are done to a turn, tourists can enjoy the dish with a dipping sauce of salt, pepper and lemon juice, spicy vegetables, grilled girdle cake and wine.

Red oysters can be grilled, boiled or steamed but grill is the most simple and delicious way. Although fellow dinners can enjoy various dishes from the red oyster such red oyster rice soup, stir-fried red oyster and more, the dish is at its best when eating on the water. Another choice is sitting beside the lagoon bank, drinking wine, enjoying seafood and singing the poems of Phu Yen people.