Dong Hoi City
Dong Hoi City
Dong Hoi (Đồng Hới) is the capital city of Quảng Bình Province in the north central coast of Vietnam. The city's area is 155.71 km2 (60.12 sq mi). Population as per the 2013 census was 160,000. It is served by National Highway 1A, the Đồng Hới Railway Station, and airport. By road, Đồng Hới is 486 kilometres (302 mi) south of Hanoi, 195 kilometres (121 mi) south of Vinh, 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Huế and 1,204 kilometres (748 mi) north of Hồ Chí Minh City. It borders Quảng Ninh District on the west and south, the South China Sea on the east, Bố Trạch District on the north.
Đồng Hới has a 12-km-long coastline with white sand beaches. It is the closest city to Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, UNESCO's World Natural Heritage Site, 50 km north. There are many ways to get to Dong Hoi from Hue, such as local bus at Hue North Bus Station. There are taxis from city center bus station (6 km). The bus fare is around $8. It takes 3.5 hours to drive to Dong Hoi/Quang Binh Town.
Đồng Hới is endowed with beautiful beaches with fine sand and clean water of Nhật Lệ. The Da Nhay and Ly Hoa beaches (60 km north of the city) are popular tourist destinations. The Bang Spa (hot mineral spring) is ideal for those who enjoy spa baths. The city is 50 km south of the World Heritage Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park which is ideal for cave and grotto exploration and biological research activities (mainly Phong Nha Cave and, from September 2010, Thiên Đường Cave and Sơn Đoòng Cave are available for visitors).
Đồng Hới is accessible by road (National Route 1A (Vietnam) - Asian Highway 1, Hồ Chí Minh Highway), by rail at Đồng Hới Railway Station on the Hà Nội–Hồ Chí Minh City Railway, or by air from Hà Nội or Hồ Chí Minh City at Đồng Hới Airport. Đồng Hới Airport was put into use on 18 May 2008, and the first commercial flight was from Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, followed by air link with Ho Chi Minh City's Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport from 1 July 2009.
The city provides tourists with 98 hotels and guest-houses from 1 to 3-star hotels like Cosevco Hotel (which is closed and not available for booking), Saigon-Quảng Bình Hotel, Nam Long Hotel and Nam Long Plus Hotel (all available for online booking through several sites) and the 4-star resort of Sun Spa Resort. The cuisine includes seafood, the traditional "hot pot", Vietnamese and European-style meals. In 2005, the city welcomed nearly 300,000 visitors.
A complex of 10 contiguous golf courses, three clubhouses, more than 1,000 villas, a large resort hotel, commercial village and convention centre is under construction in seaside area of Dong Hoi and Quang Ninh District, Le Thuy District, which is scheduled to achieve the completion of all construction of the first phase by November 2016, with spring 2017 set as the opening date for play.
