NEP
05-23-2010, 03:09 PM
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-NLVP/20100523CONDAO-slide-NLVP-slide.jpg
The isolated 16-island archipelago of Con Dao (its largest island, Con Son, is commonly called Con Dao Island), 110 miles off Vietnam’s southeastern coast, was once the site of a French-run prison. Despite, or perhaps because of, its ugly history, Con Dao is one of Southeast Asia’s most untouched and breathtaking getaways.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-4TV0/20100523CONDAO-slide-4TV0-slide.jpg
Though the government hopes to more than double the islands’ population to 13,500 by 2013, Con Dao’s slow, friendly rhythms and spectacular beauty remain largely undisturbed.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-JIU9/20100523CONDAO-slide-JIU9-slide.jpg
Con Dao’s prettiest beach, the boulder-peppered Bai Nhat, emerges only with the low tide.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-YKEF/20100523CONDAO-slide-YKEF-slide.jpg
Despite its rich beauty, Con Dao is still far from being a luxury destination. Right now there is only a smattering of Vietnamese-run lodgings and restaurants.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-98VM/20100523CONDAO-slide-98VM-slide.jpg
The much anticipated arrival late this year of a Six Senses resort, from the Bangkok-based company known for introducing eco-luxury to the region’s most unspoiled up-and-coming locales, suggests that Con Dao might soon become part of the international travel scene.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-PICG/20100523CONDAO-slide-PICG-slide.jpg
A villa in the Six Senses resort.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-90WJ/20100523CONDAO-slide-90WJ-slide.jpg
For 113 years, this island was home to one of the country’s harshest prison systems, established by French colonists in 1862 and later ruled by South Vietnamese and American forces until Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975, at which point the prisons were closed. At left, the Phu Binh Camp.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-VITL/20100523CONDAO-slide-VITL-slide.jpg
Children jump off a pier on Con Dao Island.
The isolated 16-island archipelago of Con Dao (its largest island, Con Son, is commonly called Con Dao Island), 110 miles off Vietnam’s southeastern coast, was once the site of a French-run prison. Despite, or perhaps because of, its ugly history, Con Dao is one of Southeast Asia’s most untouched and breathtaking getaways.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-4TV0/20100523CONDAO-slide-4TV0-slide.jpg
Though the government hopes to more than double the islands’ population to 13,500 by 2013, Con Dao’s slow, friendly rhythms and spectacular beauty remain largely undisturbed.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-JIU9/20100523CONDAO-slide-JIU9-slide.jpg
Con Dao’s prettiest beach, the boulder-peppered Bai Nhat, emerges only with the low tide.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-YKEF/20100523CONDAO-slide-YKEF-slide.jpg
Despite its rich beauty, Con Dao is still far from being a luxury destination. Right now there is only a smattering of Vietnamese-run lodgings and restaurants.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-98VM/20100523CONDAO-slide-98VM-slide.jpg
The much anticipated arrival late this year of a Six Senses resort, from the Bangkok-based company known for introducing eco-luxury to the region’s most unspoiled up-and-coming locales, suggests that Con Dao might soon become part of the international travel scene.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-PICG/20100523CONDAO-slide-PICG-slide.jpg
A villa in the Six Senses resort.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-90WJ/20100523CONDAO-slide-90WJ-slide.jpg
For 113 years, this island was home to one of the country’s harshest prison systems, established by French colonists in 1862 and later ruled by South Vietnamese and American forces until Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975, at which point the prisons were closed. At left, the Phu Binh Camp.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/23/travel/20100523CONDAO-slide-VITL/20100523CONDAO-slide-VITL-slide.jpg
Children jump off a pier on Con Dao Island.