Even though Vietnamese islands aren’t very popular, I’m exploring them as they are definitely off the beaten track, and I like to explore the unknown. It’s funny that I have never heard about this island. I learned about this island’s existence about 1 month before visiting it. I thought it was worth a visit and it WAS! The island I decided to explore is Nam Du, a small island not that far from Phu Quoc, and not very far from Rach Gia. This was the reason why I visited the city!
I went from Ho Chi Minh to Rach Gia by bus with Futa bus, on a trip that lasted about 5h but at least it is done on a sleeper bus. It cost me 190K Dong.
I went to Rach Gia just and only to hop on the ferry that departs from Rach Gia to Nam Du island, but I still had some time to explore the city. I visited this island during a Vietnamese holiday and I bought my tickets online otherwise I wouldn’t be able to buy one. You can buy tickets within Vietnam HERE!
Exploring Rach Gia
Before going to Nam Du I walked around Rach Gia which is not a touristy spot and doesn’t have a lot to see or attractions to visit. There is no Grab service available so I walked pretty much everywhere.
The first thing to mention about Rach Gia is that beaches here are a no-no. There was this extremely dirty part of the ocean, so dirty that was stinking, but a bit further the waters were fine. Another thing is that there is a bird sound everywhere in town. There are birds’ houses everywhere and they play the birds’ tweets on the speakers so it feels like there are always hundreds of birds flying over you, but there are not haha. Sometimes this sound is pretty loud! Very characteristic of this city. I’m sure you will notice it if you walk around to explore a bit.
I stayed in this hotel called SeaStars Hotel that seems to have a park nearby, but forget about this park haha. Well, at least it is near the ocean so I could go for a walk with an ocean breeze.
I visited two temples while in Rach Gia. One of them seems to be a popular attraction as many people are visiting.
Nguyen Trung Truc Temple
Nguyen Trung Truc Temple is near the pier where the ferries to Nam Du or Phu Quoc depart. It is beautiful and looks old. Very traditional Vietnamese and charming. Won’t take long to visit so it is worth it to pass by. This temple is in front of a river canal that poses a good along the river walk. I like it here, very quiet and beautiful.
From Nguyen Trung Truc Temple I decided to walk to Chua Phat Lon, a Khmer temple.
Chua Phat Lon
I’m very glad I decided to do it because this was the highlight of my stay in Rach Gia, not because of the temple itself but the experience it created.
The temple is nice indeed. It is not a traditional Vietnamese architecture. It looks like a temple in Cambodia, and it is a Kmer temple! Walking here was a surprise for locals as I passed by. Haha Loved to see their faces of astonishment.
The best happened once at the temple. After looking around the beautiful temple, I sat for a while and that’s when I was approached by locals. Their English was basically “How are you”, “Where are you from”, yes and no. Haha, Why do they keep asking me questions in Vietnamese when I obviously can’t speak the language, only God knows why… They asked me for a picture and I thought they would leave after sharing a lot of smiles, but I was wrong. The guy seemed to be drunk but I wasn’t sure, the lady grabbed my arm and showed me around hahaha.
A very local one-of-a-kind experience
She didn’t stop talking I swear! In Vietnamese of course, so our conversations were hilarious. She took me around and talked about everything in Vietnamese. I was answering her in English just like trying to imagine what she was saying by the gestures she was doing. The funniest of all is that she was grabbing me all the time. She didn’t let go of me for 1 second, we walked arm to arm all the time. I couldn’t help but laugh and laugh, omg so precious. She then introduced me to more people working at the temple and offered me their food. That was their lunch so I refused. Not gonna take away their meal. Still, they offered me fruits and she went outside the temple to buy me some fried treats and a drink!!
All of this was happening while we were trying to communicate using Google Translate. I stayed there with them talking like this for a long time cause I also had nothing else to do with my day. We shared laughs and misunderstandings and she finally invited me to follow her after the conversation was over. I followed this lady, even though completely clueless about where she was going. I just followed her. We walked out of the temple and headed somewhere on a 10-minute walk around that village. I was guessing she was taking me to her house and I wasn’t wrong. We walked arm to arm while she, very happily, introduced me to her friends along the way. We would all laugh and proceed haha. Then, while walking, it started to rain pretty heavily and I had a camera with me. So I asked her to stop and take shelter even though I noticed she couldn’t care less that it was raining. I wouldn’t mind a fun walk in the rain, but I can’t risk my camera being wet. We stopped already not far from her house, at a neighbor’s. The neighbor was very gentle and offered us watermelon. It was clear that they knew each other. The rain wouldn’t stop so she went to her house to pick up an umbrella for us. Meanwhile, I waited eating watermelon at some random house.
It is funny that I didn’t fear or feel like something wrong could happen even for 1 second. I simply followed a stranger with whom I couldn’t communicate, and I was so sure that I had nothing to worry about. Isn’t this crazy? I have never done such a thing in my life: grab a stranger and bring him to my house. This was such a precious experience. I love the fact that I said yes to all she wanted to do. For once I felt like I had 0 control over what was going on and what was gonna happen next, and I couldn’t be more comfortable with it. It is amazing how we grow as human beings while traveling, learning to trust and believe that the world is a good place and nothing wrong can happen. It takes a while, but after many enriching experiences, this feeling will be inside you unconsciously. The world has been good to me so far.
I waited for her while looking at the rain and smiling inside. She finally showed up, took me to her house, and offered me a change of clothes and lunch. She was obviously poor, her house was tiny, and still, she had many things to offer. She even offered me red lipstick to apply haha. I stayed there with her and her two kids, and mother. They seemed very surprised to see me but were nice too. They were watching TV and playing with the cats. I watched TV with them and played with the cats too – there were Portuguese actors on the TV and that’s when I learned that there is a Portuguese soap opera on Vietnamese TV hahaha crazy.
I don’t know how long I spent with this lady in total, but more than 3h for sure. After sitting in her house watching TV and looking at every detail of the house to figure out the differences between her lifestyle and mine, I thought it was time to go. Didn’t feel like spending the rest of my afternoon watching TV in Vietnamese haha and we couldn’t have a conversation either.
So, I left. She came with me back to the temple and on the way I bought her a drink and when it was time to say goodbye I gave her some money. I gave her some money first of all because she didn’t ask. Secondly, I’m sure she doesn’t see any foreigners at that temple so when she showed me around it was not to take advantage. She was so happy that I was there visiting her country. She didn’t do all these things driven by the money she would get in the end, so for all her behavior, I thought she deserved it, especially after seeing her house and how that money surely was helpful and needed. Most of all, she made me spend hours laughing and smiling and having a great moment of trust that has no value. Thank you so much to this lady, she made my day just by sharing smiles, and not many words. And this is why I love the off-the-beaten-track.
I still had a lot of time that day so I just walked and walked until the night and I found a pretty cool area to walk actually.
Best river walk in Rach Gia
After leaving this lady behind, I headed to Cho Rach Gia or market, but it was not worth my time honestly. After sitting in a coffee shop for a while, I decide to go for a walk. There is no specific point where I want to go and I’m not sure where I’m heading. I saw this sort of park on Google Maps and it was by the river so I headed there. I made the right choice, I ended up walking almost the entire loop around this kind of island in Rach Gia because the architecture was really interesting, the views of the river were great and the place was such a nice walk.
I have to mention it because I think a walk here is worth it. I saw many floating houses on the other side of the margin and the scenery was “raw Vietnam” which enchanted me. This walk made me like Rach Gia much more!
I ended the day with an oceanfront sunset near the pier and saw the major two bridges that are nice to look at. I walked many kilometers that day but it was a damn good day! Loved the fact that I decided to spend 1 day in the city. The following one was to move to Nam Du Island.
