Ninh Hoa Nha Trang

Ninh Hoa is about thirty-three kilometres north of Nha Trang, on the road to Doc Let. Most visitors drive straight through it on the way to the beach, which is a pity: the town holds three things the city does not.

The old Ninh Hoa district hall, its arcaded front intact, served the imperial administration and then the French, and is now a listed monument. The Tue Thanh Assembly Hall: its gate inscribed Thien Hau Thanh Mieu, was built by the Cantonese Chinese community, with curved tiled roofs and stone lions in the yard. Add the My Hiep communal house and its triple gate.

Third, and the reason to come with a camera: the Hon Khoi salt flats. The workers start carrying salt very early, while the pans still mirror a pink sky. To see that you must be there at dawn, which means leaving Nha Trang around four or five in the morning. The salt season runs through the dry months, roughly January to July.

Ninh Hoa is also the home of nem Ninh Hoa, the fermented and grilled pork rolls the whole province knows by name. Eating them here is the most practical reason to stop rather than drive on to Doc Let. One caveat: this is a working town, not a tourist site. Expect no signage and no ticket desk.

On the same northern run: Dốc Lết, Điệp Sơn and Monkey Island. The area's nem has its own page.