Jeep jaunts

     The central province of Binh Thuan is a longstanding favorite with tourists for its famous Phan Thiet beach town, Mui Ne, the Cham towers and an array of beautiful landscapes.
Travel agencies in the province now offer a new kind of sightseeing – jeep tours – to please photo buffs and lovers of the great outdoors.
The jeep routes vary, but the top five destinations - Bau Trang (white lake), Doi cat trang (white sand dunes), Thung lung Hong (red canyon), Lang chai (fishing village) and Suoi Tien (fairy stream) - are not to be missed for their natural beauty and spectacular scenery.
The tours are easy to find in almost any Phan Thiet tourist agency, with fairly good prices and services. Tourists can also test their driving skills on the beach or on the dunes in the vehicles, with the careful instruction of the guides.
“Driving in the jeep gives me very different feeling; like I am a part of nature, experiencing shimmering sunshine, cool breezes and hot sand. Every moment in the jeep is another amazing experience that I can catch with my little camera,” says Dung, a Vietnamese-American tourist.
According to Dao Van Chinh, the owner of Pho Dem Restaurant and a jeep tour provider, the tour attracts many foreigners.
“I have done this business for one year, but it is making good progress. The start-up capital ranges from VND70-120 million (US$4,375-7,500) per jeep with a few other expenses like vehicle maintenance.
“I also offer a lot of open routes for customers, some of them through relatively untouched areas. Tourists love to take photos along the way, especially of the sunset,” says Chinh.
The costs differ but are usually around VND400,000 ($25) per four-hour-trip.
Tourists should choose modified jeeps with wide tires if they want to explore the white sand dunes or the red canyon.