Skip to the Interactive Map!
Here is a nice drive that visits a beautiful valley southwest of Hoi An and almost due south of Da Nang. While lacking any marquee attraction or sight, this is still a worthwhile drive because it not only visits some wonderful local villages but also gets a ways into nature, offering some great peace and quiet amongst the forests at it's end. This drive can be done in just a few short hours as well, making it a good half-day possibility to do on a sunny morning before it rains or an afternoon trip after sleeping in. It is a great road to do as well because it is off the beaten path, and you are not likely to see many other people along the way.
Getting There
This valley is found in Duy Xuyen District in Quang Nam. If you are coming from Da Nang, take QL-1A (the main highway) south. Stay left in Vinh Dien, and cross over the Thu Bon River. A couple of short kilometers on the other side and then a turn to the right in Nam Phuoc onto DT-610. Look for the big signs for the My Son Ancient City, as you will use the same road for the first bit.
If coming from Hoi An, you've got two options. The first is to head west on Hung Vuong Street until it turns into DT-608. Join the highway and turn south, cross over the river and follow the above instructions. However, there is a second, more rural way to access this which just adds more charm to the drive. To get there this way, get yourself to the Cua Dai Bridge in Hoi An.
If coming from Hoi An, you've got two options. The first is to head west on Hung Vuong Street until it turns into DT-608. Join the highway and turn south, cross over the river and follow the above instructions. However, there is a second, more rural way to access this which just adds more charm to the drive. To get there this way, get yourself to the Cua Dai Bridge in Hoi An.
Once on the road heading west out of Nam Phuoc, drive for approximately 7 or 8 km to Tra Kieu, a small town and once the site of an impressive Cham city. A very short ways past the small hill that Tra Kieu is centered around is a road taking off to the left. Look for a large sign that says "Khu Du Lich Sinh Thai Duy Son", that is the turn you want to take. For more on this interesting place, please read the story here. Follow this road for a couple of kilometers, through some rice paddies and over the train tracks. At the first big intersection you come to, turn right.
|
Duy Son Valley
The road from here starts wandering west. For a couple of kilometers the village of Duy Son is spread out along both sides of the road. A couple of small coffeeshops can be found in this section. The new expressway will run right through this village soon, but its unlikely there will be an offramp for this village. For now the construction is just a short patch of dirt. There are a couple of decent temples in this area, as Duy Son is mostly Buddhist. Locally there is a higher number of Catholics thanks to the presence of nearby Tra Kieu and it's history, but this village is almost all Buddhist.
After a little while the houses fall away and you find yourself driving through a second growth forest with small trees. To the south the mountains of Que Son rise quite abruptly. These mountains are made of granite, and were likely pushed up from below in the form of a laccolith. Their large slabs of rock and visible drainage channels tower over the valley to the south. Two primary peaks dominate the range, including Nui Mat Rong, the more pointed one on the west. The peak of Hon Chau, one half of the landmark peaks that are visible from My Son (the other is Nui Mat Rong) rises to the west, and the monocline ridges of Duy Xuyen rise to the north. For the time being these peaks are still covered in old growth forest.
Soon enough the road goes up and over a very small rise, and a decent sized lake appears before you. This lake, known as Ho Duy Loc, it's peaceful and beautiful and sits between the ridges and the mountains. At higher water levels the reservoir stretches into several basins, including one split from the main body of the lake by a large causeway that the road goes over. A short concrete road takes off to the north, which crosses over both the main dam and a secondary one, but this road ends abruptly at the trees on the other side. The concrete path to the south, opposite the dam road, doesn't go anywhere and ends quickly in the forest.
Once back on the main road, cross over the lake and keep going. After some brief forests, the road breaks open into another basin of the lake, and past several large fields filled with lotus plants. If you were to time it just right, this could be an amazingly photogenic place with hundreds of lotus blossoms rising in front of the rugged peaks behind. But even if they are not in bloom, the area is quite beautiful, with a handful of classic, small Vietnamese concrete block houses hidden in the trees here and there. Most of the forests are 2nd growth, and alternate with open rice paddies.
The next section of the road is especially nice as it wanders through some quiet forests. The area is all second growth forests but they've been given a chance to really grow, and the road is often in the shade of these forests. Since they are not old growth, the undergrowth is very thin and it's quite possible to park the bike and walk in the quiet shade off the road. There is one house in here that is really beautiful, sitting inside it's own grove of trees. In addition, as the road crosses a small divide between the basins of Duy Son and Vinh Trinh, there are a handful of impressive granite walls and boulders to get out and explore. One wall will be especially impressive in rainy season.
|
It's hard to tell when you are out there, but at this point you are extremely close to My Son Ancient City as the crow flies, perhaps 5 or 6 kms. It's literally in the next valley behind the ridge to the west. After a couple more short kilometers, the end of the road comes rather abruptly at a small farm. It's hard to tell, but you are actually at the upper reaches of Ho Vinh Trinh, the lake that fills the valley to the north of Duy Son. When the lake is full, there are many branches and arms reaching up into this basin. It's even possible that some sections of the road may be submerged; however, this is only a very short part of the year, and for the rest of the time it is likely to be lots of green fields of short grass. Once you've hit the end of the road, there are a couple of logging roads heading off into the woods, but they look pretty heavily overgrown and I can only imagine what an adventure it might be. Go at your own risk. For just about everybody else, turn around and return the way you came!
The Map
All photos copyright Kit Davidson unless otherwise noted.
All maps copyright and courtesy Google.
All maps copyright and courtesy Google.