I went from Ho Chi Minh to Quy Nhon by bus on a long journey that was actually shorter than I had expected.
I booked a bus with a company that goes directly from Ho Chi Minh to Quy Nhon without any other stops. I bought my ticket online and you can also do it HERE!
I booked my ticket departing from Ho Chi Minh at 6 pm and the expected arrival time would be at about 6 am the following day. This is not the best time to arrive at any location, especially if you are on a budget and don’t want to pay for 2 nights. This timing leads to a long wait until check-in time which is usually between 12 pm and 2 pm.
Even though it was early to arrive at Quy Nhon, I found it to be the best option to go from Ho Chi Minh to Quy Nhon as I didn’t see any buses leaving the city later than that. Quy Nhon is not a famous spot among foreigners either.
Bus from Ho Chi Minh to Quy Nhon
As I had nothing to do that day I decided to go to the bus station by public bus. The bus station is called Nga Tu Ga and is far from the center. Even though I left District One at about 16.15 pm, I wasn’t at the bus station in time and it was very stressful. I don’t know why I didn’t hop on a bus earlier, so this happened omg. The bus was just too slow, so at some point, I decided to drop off, which was already not that far from Nga Tu Ga bus station, and order a Grab bike that would be faster. But the motorbike took too long to pick me up so half the way on that motorbike rushing to the bus station was spent talking to someone on the phone from the bus company and begging them to wait for me. The problem was that they didn’t speak English at all!! haha So, they kept calling and calling me and I would just laugh on the phone along with them because none of us was understanding each other. I kept yelling on the phone “Wait for me” and “Nam phut” 5 minutes in Vietnamese, because I was literally 5 minutes late. It was stressful and funny at the same time because I heard them laughing on the phone because we don’t speak the same language so our conversation was hilarious.
Well, 5 minutes after 6 pm I finally arrived and my grab driver helped me to talk to the company staff on the phone and this way they met me at the entrance of the bus station. The bus station is very big. If I had to search for this company on my own, it would probably take quite a while, a while that I didn’t have to spare.
I thanked the staff very much for waiting and for all the patience and entered a bus where everyone was waiting for me. I was very ashamed haaaa but at least I was still able to hop on the bus and I also didn’t make them wait for that long. I have seen many buses departing with a much bigger delay. Still, I don’t like to make others wait, especially all the Vietnamese waiting for the only foreigner. Don’t underestimate Saigon’s traffic.
Anyway, I was extremely happy I could make it to the bus and I was on my way to Quy Nhon, a place I WANTED TO VISIT for a long while already.
Arriving at Quy Nhon
What I was certainly not expecting is that at 4.30 am I was already at the homestay door ready to check in! OMG! The bus was much faster than I had expected and predicted. This is such a bad hour to arrive by bus at a place. I’m glad I’m an experienced traveler otherwise it could have been scary to arrive at this weird time and wait in the darkness on the street. There were several moto taxis at the bus station anyway, so it was easy to go to my homestay. It cost me 40K dong. Grab is available in Quy Nhon, but this time I didn’t use it. I left Quy Nhon bus station with one of those guys who harassed everyone arriving at the bus station.
So at 4.30 am, I was in a dark street waiting for my homestay to open doors. Even though it was early, it didn’t take long to start seeing movement on the streets… people exercising, starting to prepare food for the day, etc. It wasn’t that scary to wait at the spot honestly. Plus, I was 3 minutes away from the beach, and as my homestay wasn’t opening, I decided to head there to watch the sunrise along with all my belongings. It was my first sight of Quy Nhon and I really liked what I saw. The beach is surrounded by mountains in the distance and I love the view! Already conquering me.
My homestay opened its doors at about 7 am and I could actually check in at that time. I stayed in the heart of the food street in a homestay called Nha Muoi Homestay.
They were so nice omg. They arranged a bed for me to sleep in until it was check-in time. That was super cause I WAS SO sleepy and tired. Truly awesome.
At 2 pm I could finally check-in in my room. When I booked this homestay, I booked a dorm, but only there I realized it was a male dorm, so I couldn’t stay… Fortunately, they had a private room and that’s where I stayed. It was on the rooftop. Kinda nice! No complains!
Walking around Quy Nhon Beach
In the afternoon it was time to explore Quy Nhon which I found very lovely and beautiful! I Fell for the place honestly. So quiet, peaceful, and charming! As I had the afternoon to explore, I decided to simply walk along the beach. I walked all the way until there was no more land, by Quán Nhậu Sóng Biển, but I was stopped by military personnel. I don’t know if the area is a military base or whatever, but as soon as I crossed the furthermost part, there was a man waving his arms making a cross sign and shouting NO NO. So I turned around without hesitation and went all the way back. The spot would have offered a nice view though with a hill on the other side and colorful boats in sight.
This way, I decided to spend the rest of my time at Quy Nhon Beach which is actually clean, quiet, and with a beautiful surrounding. I really liked it! The few people I saw on the beach when it was hotter were foreigners and surprisingly, there were more than I was expecting. I saw more than a dozen foreigners while in Quy Nhon and I was expecting to see less than that.
