Further south, and just 200km north of Ho Chi Minh City, is the small fishing town of Phan Thiet.
While Phan Thiet is a pleasant enough town, the real attraction is the nearby Mui Ne Peninsula and its 10km of sandy beaches and coconut groves. Many attractive small-scale beach resorts have opened up in recent years amongst the palm trees of Mui Ne and it has become a popular place to rest up for a few days.
At the end of the peninsula near to the fishing village are some enormous sand dunes that look as if they belong in the Sahara rather than southern Vietnam.
For golfers Phan Thiet offers one of the best links golf courses in the region, the Nick Faldo-designed Ocean Dunes Course.
