Quy Hoa is closely connected with the poet Han Mac Tu. He spent the last days of his life here. Quy Hoa is now not only a leper camp but a destination for tourists.
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Statues of famous doctors are put along a road inside the Quy Hoa leper camp. Photo binhdinhngaynay
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The Quy Hoa leper camp is located under a peaceful valley next to the beach. It is 3 km far from Quy Nhon city. Tourists who travel along the national highway No.1D could see the camp which looks like a beautiful village. Instead of calling it Quy Hoa National Leprosy Dermatology Hospital, many said this is Quy Hoa village.
The village was set up in 1929 when a French Catholic priest Paul Maheu came here and built a camp for lepers who were kept away from the society at that time.
It became a home for the lepers since then. After Paul Maheu had passed away, the camp was devastated by a storm in 1932. Soeur Charles Antoine and the others rebuilt the houses and saved the lepers.
The village has a very beautiful landscape. Perhaps those who built it wanted to offer the lepers hopes to continue living. The precincts of the village are very spacious and full of trees.
Alongside the treatment area for the lepers coming from 11 central and Central Highlands provinces, it sees many small houses where the lepers have lived for years. Many people who are not lepers are also living here as they are the lepers’ children. The more people live here, the more houses are built. A village has gradually formed.
Coming here, tourists could feel a friendly atmosphere. It looks like a luxury resort. 40 statues of different famous doctors were built within the precincts of the village.
Also, at the leper camp, there is a room dedicated to the poet Han Mac Tu who was once cured here. His room is now become a destination for the poetry lovers to visit whenever they come to Binh Dinh.
At the northern side of the hill was the first tomb of Han Mac Tu before it was disinterred for reburial on the Thi Nhan hill located at Ghenh Rang.
Unlike other tourism sites, the Quy Hoa village is very quiet, even when hundreds of tourists come here. Visiting Quy Hoa in the morning or afternoon, tourists could enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. Relaxing on the hammocks which are often hung between two casuarina trees near the beach, they will forget all burdens of their life.
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