The Ngo's Family Reunion - Nha Trang /Khanh Hoa - March 19th - 20th, 2026.

 Today marked the end of the Ngo family reunion as most of our family members returned to Saigon, where our trip began ten days ago. However, four of us sisters and our families decided to extend the vacation by traveling to Nha Trang together. We hired a private van for the four- hour journey, heading northeast from the Silver Beach Resort in Ke Ga and passing through the coastal port city of Phan Thiet. 

Port Phan Thiet.

Enjoying a quick stop at port Phan Thiet.

Nha Trang: is a stunning coastal resort city on Vietnam's south central coast, famous for white-sand beaches, diving sites and offshore islands. The city's main shoreline features a long, curving stretch along Tran Phu Street, just a short walk from Florida Hotel.

Checking in - Florida Hotel.

Exploring Cho Dam (Dam Market), Nha Trang's largest and oldest traditional market, just a short walk from our hotel.

After a wonderful dinner, we spent the rest of the evening exploring the Nha Trang night market, enjoying street food, browsing local handicrafts, and feeling the cool ocean breeze from across the street.

Dinner at a local restaurant, filled with the city's most traditional dishes.

Nha Trang night market.

A fun place to spend the evening.

My favorite street food: ice cream😋!

A stunning Tram Huong Tower - an iconic building for performing arts - from across the street as we left the night market.

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The next day, we explored the city's top attractions, visiting Hon Chong Beach, Long Son Pagoda and Po Nagar Cham Towers. We relied on taxis and Grab rides to get around the city and visit these attractions.

Hon Chong: Also called Hon Chong Beach is located about 4km northeast of Nha Trang city center. It's known for stacked boulders and serene beach surrounding by mountains.

Hon Chong Assembly Hall. This traditional wooden Hue style house displays historical artifacts and has live performances of Vietnamese folk instruments. 

Performance of Vietnamese folk instruments.

Hon Chong in the background.

Hon Chong

Hon Chong Beach.

Long Son Pagoda: is a hill top Buddhist Temple, one of the famous landmarks in Nha Trang. The pagoda complex sits close to the city center and it is home to Vietnam's largest outdoor seated Buddha statue.

Long Son Pagoda complex.

The seated Buddha statue.


Seated Budda statue with the Hoa Thuong Thich Quang Duc memorial altar.

Along the base of the seated Buddha, seven carvings commemorate the Buddhist Community's sacrifices during the anti-Diem protest in Vietnam. Hoa Thuong Thich Quang Duc is one of the honorees.

Relaxing in the shade.

Po Naga Temple Tower: A Hindu Goddess Temple (Thap Ba) founded in the 8th century and located in the medieval principality of Kauthana, near modern Nha Trang. It is situated on Cu Lao Hill, about 3km north of Nha Trang city center, overlooking the Cai River.

Entrance to the temple complex.

The temple towers are located on a hill.

Intricate carvings on brickwork - Champa architectural tradition.

The altar.

We wrapped up the day with a heartfelt farewell dinner - first for Oanh and Chin heading to Da Lat early tomorrow, and later for Amy, Peter and Angeline before their return to Saigon.  

Our farewell dinner.

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The Ngo's Family Reunion - Ke Ga , Mui Ne / Binh Thuan - March 17th - 19th, 2026.

 Deja vu: just like the March 10th morning, van #1 stopped by Bong Sen Hotel to pick up the people who had stayed overnight in Saigon. We left the city early in the morning and met up with van #2 at a restaurant and rest stop outside of Saigon. 

We took the scenic, coastal "Ocean Road" from Saigon toward Mui Ne. For much of its length, this route hugged a deserted coastline. Inland, it frequently wound through cashew orchards, dragon fruit plantations, white salt flats, green rice fields, and quaint villages. While it is much longer than the direct route via Highway1, the Ocean Road offers more rewarding and picturesque journey. It took us over five hours to cover roughly the 250km from our meeting point to our hotel, the Silver Beach Resort in Ke Ga, South of Mui Ne. 

On the way, we visited Song Vinh Church in Phu My City (Ba Ria), Vung Tau Province. It's a popular landmark and stop for travelers driving between Saigon and Vung Tau.

Song Vinh Church, well-known for its striking classic European Gothic architecture.

Song Vinh Church.

The church ground.

The church sanctuary.

The church nave.

View from the "Ocean Road".

It was late afternoon when we arrived at the Silver Beach Resort in Ke Ga, our home for the next two nights. Ke Ga - a township, cape, bay- is a picturesque and peaceful coastal area in Binh Thuan Province. The Silver Beach Resort itself is beautiful, with long stretch of sandy beach and an excellent restaurant to serve hotel's guests. 

We spent the next day exploring Mui Ne, a coastal resort town of Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan Province. Mui Ne is an hour drive north of Ke Ga with Phan Thiet roughly at the halfway point. Main attractions include the visit to the Red Sand Dunes and the White San Dunes.

 

The Red Sand Dunes: an extraordinary natural wonder of southern Vietnam with reddish-orange sands, a beautiful desert landscape across the Vietnamese coastline. 

Having fun (climbing) up the dunes.

Happy to be (sliding) down.

The White Sand Dunes: About half-hour drive northeast of the Red Sand Dunes. The White Sand Dunes are a spectacular geological anomaly and one of the only true desert landscapes in Southeast Asia. Visitors can enjoy thrilling desert adventures here, including dune bashing with ATVs or quads and sand boarding down the slopes.

Where the pale yellow-white desert (The White Sand Dunes) meets the deep blue.

ATVs for dune bashing.

Camel farm.

Ostrich farm.

Visiting Mui Ne's Red and White Sand Dunes was our highlight of the day. On the way back to our hotel, I couldn't help but think about this being the final day of our reunion. All good things must come to an end!. We will say "good bye" in the morning. One group will return to Saigon, while others continue with their travels toward Nha Trang. 

Morning views from our hotel's room.

 Last day at Silver Beach Resort. Time to say "goodbyes".

On the morning of March 19, we said our goodbyes after breakfast at the hotel. The Silver Beach Resort was a wonderful host for our group's final stay. Traveling together for ten days was quite an adventure for all of us. Although we have returned to visit Vietnam many times in the past, this was the first and only time eight of ten siblings and our families were together for a reunion trip.

 We had a lot of fun, laughing, telling jokes, telling stories, and walking down memory lanes as we visited familiar places from our past. Through this journey, we have created even more fond memories to last a lifetime. We dedicate this reunion trip to Vietnam to our beloved parents, in honor of their love and memory. More importantly, this year (2026) marks our father's 100th birthday, and today - the date this blog is published (June 15, 2026)- marks the 14th anniversary of our mother's passing. 

Denver, Colorado - Our Parents' Final Resting Place.

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Acknowledgement: HUGE thanks to Bao for making our familly reunion trip unfogettable!!. Coordinating a big group is no easy task, but your patience, energy and local expertise made everything effortless for us. Thank you for the incredible memories!

**We also want to extend a special thank you to Tan & Lieu, and Dien & Kim for your hard work in planning meals, coordinating transportation and handling all the behind-the-scenes details. 

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The Ngo's Family Reunion - Can Tho, Saigon - March 16th, 2026

Can Tho:...is the largest city in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, a region also known as the "rice basket of Vietnam". The city's bustling river life, fertile fruit orchards and floating markets - such as Cai Rang- are major attractions for visitors. For our trip, Can Tho was our last stop of the Mekong Delta before we returned to Saigon.

 Cai Rang Floating market: The market is located in Cai Rang district, about 5km from Can Tho city center. It is accessible by boat from Ninh Kieu Wharf or nearby canal homestays. Like most tourists, we look forward to experiencing the unique life along the Hau River. 

Waking up at 4:00am was a struggle, but we wanted to arrive by the time the market opened around 5:00 am. 

Ninh Kieu Wharf.

On the boat.

All set - ready to go to the market.

Quang Trung Bridge, first of the three bridges on Can Tho River.

Cai Rang Bridge, last of the three bridges crossing Can Tho River.

Merchant boats along the river.

"Pineapple" merchant.

"Coffee" vendor .

"Fruit" vendor.

Making "sales" .

Houses along the river.

On our way back - Crossing Hung Loi Bridge, the second bridge on Can Tho River.

Back to Ninh Kieu Wharf with our purchases.

We made it back to the hotel just in time for a scrumptious buffet breakfast. Charmant Suites was definitely a perfect choice for our Can Tho stay. Since our final destination for the day was Saigon - a pleasant three hour drive away- we had time to enjoy a few stops along the way.

Can Tho Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge over the Hau River, the largest distributary of the Mekong River.

A lunch stop at Bao's relatives' house before heading out of the delta.

Rice paddies encircle the house. 

Our last stop was our old home in Saigon, where I visited my childhood friend, Cuc, who still lives across the street from our old house.

Picture of our old house - 195 Co Giang Street - taken in June 2023.

195 Co Giang Street - March 2026.

Cuc - my childhood friend.

Saigon sunset.

We stayed overnight at various hotels in and around Saigon. Our reunion trip will resume in the morning for the final two days of our itinerary. We made sure to enjoy a fun evening out on Bui Vien Walking Street. 

Bui Vien Walking Street.

Pham Ngu Lao/Bui Vien Walking Street.

Thai Binh market, just a short walk from our old house.

Nguyen Cu Trinh Street, located a few blocks from our old house.

Although the Cai Rang floating market was a highlight of the day,  we truly cherished taking a stroll down memory lane on Co Giang street to visit a dear friend. Our reunion trip is winding down, but we are still excited for the next few days north of Saigon.

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