Tourists often come to Dai Lanh Cape up to the 26 meter high lighthouse to catch the first rays of the sun on the extreme east coast of the country. There, hundreds of meters above the deep blue sea, you can see a spectacle, a combination of flat ocean, running hills and streams that bring fresh water from high mountains, absolutely untouched by the hands of modern life.
That’s what tourists usually do. However, my first visit to Dai Lanh Cape was quite late in the evening, after I’d exhausted myself the whole morning climbing Da Bia Mountain, the highest mountain in the border region between Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces. The vehicle ran along the road named Phuoc Tan - Bai Nga, which embraces Vung Ro Port for about 15 minutes, and now I could see the white lighthouse Mui Dien from a distance of a few kilometers. We were left on the small road that leads to Mon, a wonderful beach between two mountains, on one of which is the Dai Lanh lighthouse.
Though Dai Lanh Cape is no longer the easternmost tip of the country’s mainland, it could still take our breath away on seeing the magnificent work of Mother Earth and humans.
It was quite late in the evening, so I decided not to stay on the beach and went up to the lighthouse. The small road leading to the lighthouse from Mon Beach is plain and easy to climb with ranges of trees alongside. Summer was beginning hence we could hear the symphony of thousands of cicadas everywhere.
Dai Lanh lighthouse, other names include Dien Cape and Ke Ga Cape, was originally built under French colonial rule in 1890. In wartime, it was destroyed and rebuilt only in 1997. That gave it a modern look though it was rebuilt on the same model that came to dust half century ago.
Under the lighthouse was where I guessed the coast guards had lived with their dark healthy complexions and shiny smiles. They showed us into the darkness of the lighthouse then we climbed the wooden stairs to reach the top. “4,3,2,1 and.. here we are!” Finally we were on the top, not only of the construction but also of the whole cape, which is the end of Ca Pass that links Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces. There, on the top, we had unforgettable moments with the whole nature of ocean, mountains, jungles, sea breezes and fishing boats, which looked like toy boats floating on the flat surface like a mirror of the ocean.
A lightkeeper told us we could stay over to catch the sunrise in the early morning as there is a small but convenient hotel there. He told us that tourists, especially couples on honeymoon like the place. A friend there told me that before the only road Phuoc Tan - Bai Nga opened the site was almost desolate. There are only two ways to get there, one on boat and one through the forest. Also from the friend, I heard that authorities and tourist companies would plan to turn the place into a high-class resort and entertainment complex.
