Up to the forest, down to the sea

The sunlight of early morning wakes the hidden charms of the white-sand beaches and forests of Chua Mountain National Park in Ninh Thuan Province and shows the path to a number of unparalleled natural attractions.
The little-trodden path takes in Binh Tien, Cha La and other pristine beaches lying in front of the foothills and the stone mountains and the trees within the national park in the central province.
However, Nguyen Si Hung of the Ecotourism and Environmental Education Department in the central province does not want his guests to sit or lie on the sand too long and too early as he knows these beaches are ideal resting areas at the end of the journey.
Hung lets his guests stay for a while to shoot pictures of these quiet beaches in the glow of dawn and then asks them to continue their steps up toward the path through the bushes to the national park.
The running water of a far-off stream lifts the spirit of Hung’s guests from being a little tired after some 20 minutes of trekking. And a few more minutes of walking leads to the Binh Tien Stream.
Hung easily makes his way through the bushes and trees by the stream but it is a hard job for his guests to follow him in the alien forest. However, the more they go upstream, the more astonishing their scenic reward is.
The stream, the boulders, the greenery, the tree-clapped mountains and the waterfalls form a picturesque background for photo shooting. Near and far from the stream are wild flowers and some trees whose leaves are in unusual colors as a result of cold nights and hot afternoons in the national park around this time of year.
The stream has some areas large and deep enough for swimming, and those who do not like soaking their body in cool water can sit or lie leisurely on the flat boulders to rest and admire the running water and small but eye-catching waterfalls in the stream. This is one of the biggest streams ever discovered in the nearly 30,000-hectare national park.
Hung says the stream winds its way down from the mountains all the way to Cha La Beach. After an hour of letting his guests eat, chat and swim, Hung takes them downstream and then crosses the stream to proceed to Cha La Beach, where many boulders sit firmly on the sand and the turquoise sea is, of course, a great place to swim.
A ten minute trek from Cha La Beach is the arch-shaped Binh Tien, a beach whose white sand and beauty is exposed under the sunlight and can be seen from the national park.
Binh Tien Beach is recognized as one of the most beautiful beaches of central Vietnam and is accessible by road some 40 kilometers from Ninh Thuan Province’s Phan Rang Municipality or by boat from the visit-deserving Vinh Hy Bay.
It goes without saying that the off-the-beaten-track Binh Tien Beach is a destination of choice for locals and a number of tourists, particularly on weekends.