Con Dao - Paradise in the middle of the ocean

Con Dao Island district is an archipelago of 16 large and small islands belonging to Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and located in the southern reaches of Vietnam’s East Sea. (Photo: VNP/VNA)

Con Dao Airport’s runway is one of the most interesting in the world, with both ends facing the sea. (Photo: VNP/VNA)

The road to the centre of Con Dao district curves through rolling mountains and by ocean waves. (Photo: VNP/VNA)

Visitors to Con Dao district. (Photo: VNP/VNA)

Hang Duong Martyrs Cemetery, the resting place of thousands of revolutionary soldiers imprisoned at Con Dao Prison from 1862 to April 30, 1975. (Photo: VNP/VNA)

Rows of almond trees are “living witnesses” to the rise of the island district from “hell on earth” during the French colonial period and the resistance war against the US to the “tourist paradise” of today. (Photo: VNP/VNA)