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. 

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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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