‘World’s Best Beaches: Vietnam’s Hang Cau Beach

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On Ly Son Island, Hang Cau Beach is a beach lover’s dream: listening to the waves, laying on the sand, walking in the transparent water, finding all kinds of sea life. Colorful fishing boats sit on the shoreline. A photographer shoots wedding photographs of a lovely couple fully dressed into traditional clothes. But it is more than just one photographer—it’s an entire entourage, including make-up artists and hair-stylists. In Vietnam, Ly Son is one of the most treasured places to create such lifelong memories.

But if you can take your eyes off the water scene, turn around! Behind the beach is a huge black volcanic cliff on the northern side of Thoi Loi’s volcanic tuff ring …

Ly Son’s Goddess of Compassion

A Writer's Life, Learn about Vietnam

Ly Son Island exploded in a fiery creation, erupting out of the South China Sea 25-30 million years ago. Today, molded gently into the cliffs of one of Ly Son Island’s craters, stands a majestic white statue of a woman whose face shows the exact opposite of such a violent beginning. She is Quan Am, the bodhisattva of compassion.