Tourists explore the easternmost tip of Vietnam in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa

A group of local backpackers explore Vietnam’s easternmost area.

Our goal was to motorbike to the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, not for the famous beaches of Nha Trang, but rather to stand on Mui Doi Point in Van Phong Bay, where the sun first hits the Indochina Peninsula each day.

Though Mui Doi is most often reached by boat, we had heard we could get to it on foot – through hot sand and dense forest, over steep mountains and jagged rocks.

The five of us reached Van Phong Bay in Van Ninh District by motorbike at noon.

Arriving late, we though it might be best to take a boat to avoid walking in the afternoon heat.

But no boatmen would take us, fearing a dark, rainy evening ahead. We then asked several locals about getting to Mui Doi by foot.

Three men volunteered as guides and said the trip would take two hours.

Without any discussion, we agreed.

The first hour was slowed by a fine rain, though we were able to escape the mud by walking on the sand.

But after four and a half kilometers and our backpacks weighing down heavily, we were tired.

And it got more difficult as we traversed three small mountains.

The first took an hour and the guide then said we were only a third of the way there.

The guides urged us to hurry up unless we wanted to sleep in the woods.

The second mountain was even steeper and we got cut up by thorns and bushes. The slippery, sandy slope was also not easy to deal with as it began raining harder.

The third mountain appeared impassable and one of the guides told us very few people ever traveled this far.

It took nearly two hours to struggle through the thick, dark forest before we descended the mountain and reached a beautiful beach.

It was pouring rain.

After six hours, we walked across the beach to peer over some rocks: and there we saw the point. Turning a corner, Mui Doi appeared before our eyes.

Proud laughter drowned the sounds of the sea, rain and wind.

Reported by Thuy Tram