“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Anonymous

Binh Thuan Province

Location

Binh Thuan is the province in the South Central of the country. This province is well known with the famous destination which is Phan Thiet beach city. The province is considered the great connection between the tourist cities like Nha Trang City in Khanh Hoa Province, Da Lat City in Lam Dong province, Phan Rang Thap Cham City in Ninh Thuan province and Vung Tau City in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province.
Binh Thuan province is bordered with Lam Dong Province to the north, with Ninh Thuan Province the north east, with Dong Nai to the west, with Ba Ria – Vung Tau to the south west and the East Sea to east. The province has its coastline with 192km long and one of the provinces that strongly develops the marine economy and tourism.


  • Center city: Phan Thiet City.
  • Town and Districts: La Gi Town, Tuy Phong District, Bac Binh District, Ham Thuan Bac District, Ham Thuan Nam District,Tanh Linh District, Ham Tan District, Duc Linh District and Phu Quy District.
  • Tourist places: Phan Thiet City, Ham Thuan Nam District, Ham Tan District and Phu Quy District.
  • Climate: Phan Thiet is in the tropical monsoon climate region. There are the rain season from May to October and the dry time from November to August. The average temperature is from 26 C degree to 27 C degree.  The best time for travelling in this province is in the dry time.
  • Transportation: Travel conveniently by land and railway to the province and from it to other provinces.

         The distance is for reference as below:
         From Binh Thuan to Da Lat – Lam Dong: 172 km
         From Binh Thuan to Phan Rang – Thap Cham, Ninh Thuan: 150 km
         From Binh Thuan to Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa:  245 km
         From Binh Thuan to Ha Noi:  1.500 km
         From Binh Thuan to Ho Chi Minh City:  180 km
         From Binh Thuan to Vung Tau: 160 km
  • Population: There are the main groups who live together such as Kinh, Ra Glai, Hoa and some ethnic groups like Co Ho, Tay, Cho Ro, Nung and Muong.

Landscapes

  • Duc Thanh School: Duc Thanh School is place where Uncle Hoa, called Nguyen Tat Thanh at the time, taught in 1910-1911. The whole Duc Thanh school site is located in a 1ha wide area included Duc Thanh School, a house for relax, an altar of Nguyen Thong, a lotus pond, a bonsai and fruit-tree garden etc. The school was built in 1908. It was restored in 1976 and transformed into a museum displaying exhibits about President Ho Chi Minh’s life and his revolutionary ideas.
  • Po Sha Nu Towers: located on Ba Nai hill, Phu Hai Commune. It is far from Phan Thiet town 7km to the east. Po Sha Nu Towers were built in the end 9th century. These constructions of Hoa Lai artistic style consist of three towers, which have remained intact. Po Sha Nu Towers are the Cham-tower group expressing the elaborate art of architectural structures from the bases to the tops of the towers.
  • Mui Ne Beach: Mui Me - a popular tourist destination in Binh Thuan Province that located far from the center of Phan Thiet town 22km to the northeast. Visiting Mui Ne, you will enjoy a sensation of relaxing with the sea breezes, the shinning sun, the sandy beach spreading seaside, beautiful sand dunes, clean and clear seawater, and beautiful rows of coconut trees…Golden-sandy dunes become Mui Ne’s symbol because of its particular impression like “a beautiful small golden-sand desert” with the various shaped dunes.
  • Mui Ne has many primeval beaches in fresh and pure air. Spending time in Mui Ne, we can go fishing, swimming, yachting…Along the beaches, there are many resorts, hotels, villas and many services relating to tourists, relaxing, serving beach holidays and entertainment during guests’ vacations in Mui Ne.
  • Ke Ga Island: located in Tan Thanh commune, Ham Thuan Nam district, Binh Thuan province. It is far from the mainland about 100km. This is one of the beautiful sites and favored by nature with the nice and peaceful beach. Guests can get the small boat to the island and have view of whole the borders of Ham Thuan Nam by standing in the island’s lighthouse.
  • Vinh Hao Mineral Spring: In the past, the Cham took water from the spring to prepare a kind of fragrant lotion to wash the sacred statues. With the 300C heat and chemical elements, the water of Vinh Hao Spring is refined and bottled to a valuable refresher.

And there are many other impressive destinations in the province.


Festivals:

  • Dinh Thay Festival: (15th and 16th days of September in lunar year) The Thay Festival is celebrated in Dinh Thay Temple, Ham Tan District to commemorate Thay and Thim. According to legend, there was a couple called Thay and Thim, whose hometown was in Quang Nam Province. They learned to make traditional medicine and cured the local habitants from diseases until they died. The festival commemorates the anniversary of their death and still involves superstitious elements. Numerous people come to the festival to pray and to attend vegetarian and meat banquets.
  • Kate Festival: ( 1st of 7th month according Cham Calendar). The festival is first celebrated in the towers, and then the celebrations move to the family homes. This Cham festival is also an occasion to commemorate heroes and spirits (Po Nagar), and kings of merit (Kings Po Klong Garai and Poreme). On this occasion, the Ragai people travel to the Highlands to celebrate with the Cham and join many festivities.

And there are many other unique festivals in the province.


Local specialties

There are different local specialties in the province such as Mực Một Nắng (cuttle fish exposed to the sun reasonably), Nước Mắm Phan Thiết (local fish sauce), Ốc Vú Nàng (shell fish), Bánh Căn Phan Thiết (local rice cake), Thanh Long (blue dragon fruit) and other typical specialties.