Northbound, about 10 minutes out of the new airport, on the new highway between Cam Ranh Bay and Nha Trang. When reaching the mountains dead ahead, the highway curves right and climbs. (This photo series was taken on 13 August 2004.)
Sand dunes on the above straight stretch. View is northwest. These dunes were tampered with by earth-moving machinery when the highway was built. Nevertheless, see what's left before they're gone. Hotel concessions are being let on both sides of the highway.
Continuing northbound, now 15 minutes out of the airport, at the first lookout point on the highway. View is westward, where I've just come from. The parking lot is behind me. Scenic view (see next photo) is to the immediate left -- yes, across the highway.
Looking southwest across the extreme northern end of the Cam Ranh Bay peninsula.
Taken from the same lookout point but looking eastward. The highway rides atop the rock fall seen in the upper left. Note where the highway disappears around a bend near the center of the picture. You'll see the opposite side in the next shot.
Next lookout point on the way to Nha Trang, looking south-southwest. The low mountains on the left horizon are at the southern end of the peninsula. Built by the US in the 1960s, the former Cam Ranh Bay airbase lies to the north of a 400-meter-high peak, the peninsula's tallest.
Same lookout point but looking south-southeast.
Same lookout point but looking northeast.
Next lookout point. Yes, still traveling north but the view (south-southeast) is towards the precipitous point we've just rounded. For a sense of scale, a southbound truck is about to round the hairpin bend.
Same place but looking north, the last lookout point before entering Nha Trang, about 15 minutes away. The hazy mountains in the distance represent Nha Trang's northern boundary.
It's my recollection (I'm writing these captions five weeks after taking the pictures) that the lookout points are accessible when traveling north or south. Public buses don't stop at the lookout points; taxis will (cab drivers charge US$15 one way). You'd have to rent a motorbike and shoot while traveling northbound to get the best pictures. Motorbikes traveling north can stop anywhere; cars can't because there's no breakdown lane. Detailed maps of the Cam Ranh Bay peninsula and the new highway appear on the Vietnam map page. Questions can be emailed to the editor.
The following pictures were taken on 2 November 2004 and show the continuation of the highway as it descends to sea level.
Looking NW. Downtown Nha Trang is 10 kilometers away, just behind the mountains on the far right. Pictures 12 and 13 were taken where the highway makes its first turn to the NE.
Looking SE. Picture 11 was taken from the point where the highway disappears on the mountainside.
Looking NW. Pictures 12 and 13 were taken from the same lookout point. Within a kilometer or two, the highway becomes a rural road. In preparation for taking the 4-lane highway to Nha Trang's city limits, the old undulating serpentine road is being torn up.
