Song Of The South

Vietnam Is Fast Emerging As Asia’s Most Spellbinding Destination. Simon Clays Heads To The Amanoi In Ninh Thuan Province In Search Of The Magic.

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said that: ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’.

As I set out on a journey to discover the untouched shores of South Vietnam’s Ninh Thuan province, south of Tzu’s native China, I hoped he was right. After the usual Delhi shenanigans and layovers in Bangkok and Hanoi, I was beginning to think the venerable Tzu was about as sage as a sage-and-onion stuffing with zero sage. Or stuffing, for that matter.

But now that I am out on the road traversing the sublime coastal highway that leads from the diminutive Cam Ranh International Airport to the Nui Chua National Park, things feel a whole lot better. No more passport control, just the viridian green and the kiss of the surf of the South China Sea. It wasn’t that long back that pirates used to run these waters. Less time still that the Americans operated one of their biggest air force bases out of Nha Trang. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that, at times, I’m not caught in a palm-and paddy field freeze frame that’s dragged, screaming, from a scene from any number of Vietnam war movies. But it’s a distant, distant memory and one whose celluloid engram is burnt away, like the napalm of yesteryear, by the incredible, unspoiled beauty of this rugged, yellow-rock coastline.

Tributaries and inlets are dotted with villages: the villages in turn are punctuated by lobster pots on poles, beachside shacks, and myriad fishermen going about their piscine business. Their conical, wide-brimmed hats hide charcoal-lined faces etched with a million stories from a life led in parallel with the aquamarine. Or so it seems, as I take one more metaphorical step.