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there, you are at the most easterly point of mainland Vietnam. Its a wonderful spot. I wish we could stay overnight at the lighthouse and enjoy a seafood dinner overlooking the bay! But we head back to Tuy Hoa for a quick lunch before driving to Mang Lang Cathedral and Da Dia Cliff, about 40km to the north of the city. We stop amidst the greenery and serenity of a small quiet commune called An Thach where Mang Lang Cathedral is located. The building has weathered over a hundred years in the harsh central region. The burning heat in the dry season, and seasonal downpours, not to mention storms, floods and typhoons, have not ruined the grand old dame. Like the Cathedral Phat Diem, there is a combination of Eastern and Western architecture styles apparent at Mang Lang – though there is more of the latter than the former. You can peruse the documents about the life of Saint Andrew Phu Yen, a 17th century martyr whose statue stands solemnly on a small hillock in the church yard. Saint Andrew Phu Yen was baptised at the age of 15 by Alexandre de Rhodes, the great Jesuit missionary who wrote the first catechism in Vietnamese and is the author of a Portuguese-Latin-Vietnamese dictionary, which helped pace the way for the introduction of Romanised alphabet still in use today. Mang Lang is a famous destination for Catholic pilgrims but relatively unknown for general tourism. But its easy enough to visit for anyone on their way to the nearby national site, Da Dia Cliffs. To get there we clamber down the “stepping stone” beach which from afar looks like a giant honey comb on account of the vertical and hexagonally-shaped stones. By Da Dia Cliffs the waves crash against the rocks. Fishermen emerge from the water with baskets of oysters – with one eye on our dinner, we take note. Scientists believe the rocks here are basaltic and created during volcanic eruptions about 200 million years ago. When volcanoes erupted, the lava flowed into the sea where it “froze,” and the whole mass of lava cracked. Most of the rocks cracked vertically and this created upright or oblique columns. We sit around a pool amongst the rocks and enjoy a light snack we packed for the trip as we had been told there no restaurants, guesthouses or hotels around. Once again, that only adds the charm of the beach. We look around at the empty beach and the sound of the wind is music to our ears.