Mui Ne Boats

Sal, Liz and Hill decided to hop on a bus a few months ago to get away from the turmoil of HCMC. They ended up in a small fishing village called Mui Ne, about 200km north and east of home, in Binh Thuan Province. Apparently the bus ride was "interesting", but the road, Highway 706, is very busy and dangerous. But the destination is a welcome break from the pace of the big city.






Mui Ne actually means 'sheltered beach' and is known for its desolate beaches, palm trees, beautiful sand dunes and YES - fishing boats and fishing men.

(Hilly didn't actually take this picture, but since the dunes are so famous, thought you might want to see some sand Mui Ne style.)















The circular boats are made of bamboo and are called 'coracles'. They are still used for work, but there is some fun too. There is an annual boat race along a nearby estuary which apparently draws a lot of onlookers. The racers have to shake and twist their tea-cup boats around the course. Probably takes a while.........




The fisherman are getting a little tired these days - they string all their coracles together, stick them behind a boat with a motor and off they go. And that's not the only thing that has been changing around town.




Reality bites.

Mui Ne is now better known as a resort town rather than a fishing village surrounded by culture. There are many resorts that are built right along the beach - close enough that high tide laps the gardens.


Apparently some French tourist visited Mui Ne about ten years ago and liked it so much that he decided to stay and open a resort - Coco Beach. And that was the start.

Rooms were good and the pool just great. But the hard part is that these places have been pushing the village right out of the village.



The marketing material says that the sun is almost always shining in Mui Ne. Well, Mother Nature decided that the marketing department needed to have a re-think. The girls were treated to one of those few days that it rains in Mui Ne.