48 Hours in Mui Ne, Viet Nam
48 Hours in Mui Ne — 48 Hours in Viet Nam’s Beach Town
Mui Ne* is a Vietnamese fishing village where fishermen have long come to rest between catches, and where backpackers from Russia once arrived early to camp on the sand and surf. Over 48 hours, we found out why it is so beloved as a beach resort in Viet Nam.
Words Parc Jinmyoung
In collaboration with Vietnam Airlines
* Mui Ne is about a three-hour drive south from Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest metropolis. In late April 2023, the Phan Thiet–Dau Giay Expressway opened, linking Ho Chi Minh City with the Phan Thiet area where Mui Ne is located, and cutting travel time by about an hour and a half.
Day 1, 9:00 a.m. Po Sha Inu Cham Tower
Several origins are told for the name Mui Ne. One finds it in the Vietnamese words themselves, meaning ‘a cape sheltered from wind and rain’ (Mui Ne combines the Vietnamese words for cape, Mui, and to hide, Ne). True to the name, there are sand dunes that shield the coast from typhoons, an easygoing sea, and people who live slowly and peacefully, like ripples spreading gently outward. In Mui Ne, where these three elements blend in harmony, our first stop was Po Sha Inu Cham Tower, a place where you can glimpse the region’s distinctive culture and history.
Set on a hilltop with a sweeping view of Mui Ne Beach, the tower was a site where people made offerings to the Hindu god Shiva, praying for safety at sea. It is regarded as one of the most important remaining relics of the Champa Kingdom in Viet Nam. The Cham, one of Viet Nam’s ethnic minorities, settled here more than 1,000 years ago. The Champa Kingdom, a confederation of independent city-states formed from the second century, ruled what is now central and southern Viet Nam and parts of Cambodia, and the Phan Thiet area, including Mui Ne, was part of it. The Cham adopted Indian culture and practiced Hinduism, and Po Sha Inu is one of the Hindu temples they built (the kingdom was fully absorbed into the Vietnamese kingdom in 1832). On the first day of the first month of the Cham lunar calendar, the Kate Festival is held here, with prayers for the well-being of the nation, the people and every family. Sheltering from Mui Ne’s fierce sun beneath the shade of trees more than 1,000 years old, you stand face to face with the red-brick temple. Looking at the restored traces between the bricks, the faded Hindu statues and the descendants of the Cham who still come here with earnest hearts, you try to imagine, however dimly, what this place looked like a thousand years ago.
Daily 6:45 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Phu Hai, Phan Thiet City
11:00 a.m. Fish Sauce Museum
In Viet Nam, the fish sauce that adds a deep savory note to food is called nuoc mam. Made from salted fish, this condiment is considered the ‘soul of Vietnamese cooking.’ Rice bran, which acts as a filter, is laid in a large wooden barrel and layered with salt, then small fish such as anchovies or shrimp are added. After six months to a year of fermentation, the concentrate passes through the bran, and only then is the nuoc mam complete. It serves as a dipping sauce for traditional Vietnamese dishes such as banh xeo (crispy savory pancakes), fresh spring rolls and fried fish, and as a seasoning that adds umami to fried rice, Vietnamese fried chicken and rice noodle soup, giving each region’s food its own distinctive aroma and flavor.
Five minutes by car from Po Sha Inu Cham Tower, the Fish Sauce Museum tells the history of Mui Ne, one of the country’s leading fish sauce producing areas. Its antique displays include boats and nets used by fishermen of old, salt-gathering baskets, and models and wax figures re-creating the fish sauce-making process. Tasting is another stop you can’t skip. I savored a single drop of the clear, amber-colored liquid. I had expected it to resemble Korean aekjeot (fermented fish sauce), but it was saltier and less sweet. Dilute this rich, deep-flavored sauce with water and add lime or red chili to taste, and you get the Vietnamese-style fish sauce we know so well. The shop inside the museum sells the nuoc mam you have just tasted.
Daily 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
360 Nguyen Thong, Phu Hai, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan, Viet Nam
1:00 p.m. Cham Garden Restaurant
Cham Villas is a resort with a lovely garden surrounded by coconut palms and dragon fruit trees. We came to visit the Cham Garden Restaurant inside the resort. It serves a wide range of dishes, from traditional Vietnamese fare to Western-style menus, and is open to everyone, whether or not they are staying at the resort. We filled up on stir-fried beef with lemongrass and chili, goi cuon (fresh rolls) wrapping vegetables, herbs, pork and shrimp in moist rice paper, and crispy fried shrimp dipped in sweet nuoc mam. After the meal, take a leisurely stroll on Ham Tien Beach, which connects directly to the restaurant. If your schedule allows, trying paragliding to feel the line between sea and sky with your whole body is a great choice, too. Thanks to its fine white sand and gentle waves, the beach is considered a paradise for paragliding.
From 20,000 dong
Daily 8:30 a.m.–10 p.m.
32 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Quarter 1, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan, Viet Nam
4:00 p.m. RD Wine Castle
RD Wine Castle is a winery founded by Nguyen Van Don, head of Rang Dong, one of the largest construction companies in Viet Nam. Nguyen is such a passionate wine lover that he owns a winery in California’s Napa Valley as well. Inspired by Napa Valley, he opened a wine cellar in Mui Ne, a resort he loves in his home country. He reportedly wanted his fellow citizens, too, to enjoy a high-quality wine and food culture.
Entering the Wine Castle, you find a vast building and gardens reminiscent of medieval Europe. All of the roughly 200,000 bottles stored here come from Napa Valley, and natural conditions such as sunlight, humidity and temperature are strictly managed to American standards. The interior is designed on the concept of Moldovan wineries, whose cellars were created by tunneling into limestone mines (Moldova, in Eastern Europe, is regarded as a country that makes original wines from a long wine history and tradition, its own techniques and native grape varieties. The capital, Chisinau, has two wineries built in former limestone mines, where long wine-aging tunnels are a spectacular sight). At the end of the long aging tunnel is a large Eastern European–style tasting room filled with elegant, lavish ornaments. The moment you down a glass of vintage Sauvignon Blanc shaped by Napa Valley’s nature, Mui Ne’s muggy heat will quickly be forgotten.
Admission 130,000 dong; wine tasting experience 150,000 dong (three glasses)
Vo Nguyen Giap Street, Phu Hai, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan, Viet Nam
18:00 The Cliff Resort & Residences
Mui Ne’s biggest draw is its abundance of luxury resorts that offer excellent value. Most of the resorts along the coastline have quiet standalone villas and clean swimming pools, and the beach is a three-minute walk away. Perched at the top of a gentle slope, The Cliff Resort and Residences faces Bai Da Ong Dia Beach, a spot that offers beautiful sunset views from just about anywhere on the property. The Mediterranean-style accommodations come in 12 types, including bedrooms, bungalows, condos, rooftops, and villas, giving travelers a flexible range of options to suit the purpose of their trip. If you want a quiet yet luxurious getaway with family or friends, choose a Garden View Bungalow. If you’re traveling solo for a cozy, low-key escape, the Azure Ocean View bedroom type is the one for you.
From 1,900,000 dong
Zone 5, Phu Hai, Ward/5 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Phu Hai, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan 80000, Viet Nam
Day 2, 6:00 The White Sand Dunes
In the early hours of the morning, we head to the White Sand Dunes (Doi Cat Trang), one of Mui Ne’s most distinctive natural landscapes. Mui Ne has two dune fields: the Red Sand Dunes (Doi Hong), known for beautiful sunsets, and the White Sand Dunes, famous as a sunrise spot. (The Red Sand Dunes are only a five- to six-minute drive from the resort area.) It is no exaggeration to say that this small fishing village became famous thanks to its dunes. If you came expecting a ‘desert,’ as the media often promotes it, you may be a little disappointed, because the landscape isn’t as vast as a desert. Strictly speaking, these are dunes, not a desert. But once you realize they are hills formed by wind-borne sand piling up grain by grain over a very long time, they start to feel almost miraculous.
When we arrive at the White Sand Dunes, 24 kilometers to the northeast, the place is packed with people who have come to catch the sunrise. Jeeps and quad bikes carrying passengers zip across the dunes in every direction. Riding in a jeep, whooping as if on an amusement park ride as we climb and plunge down steep slopes of sand, we come upon Bau Trang, a huge lake that calls to mind a desert oasis. Its name means ‘white lake,’ and if you want to experience it at its best, I recommend visiting in April or May. Around that time, lotus flowers in every color bloom around the lake, and you can take in a landscape where the deep blue water blends with lush vegetation.
Hoa Thang, Bac Binh District, Binh Thuan, Viet Nam
10:00 Fishing Village
Between Mui Ne village and the beach resorts lies the Fishing Village, where you can witness the lively daily life of people who depend on the sea. Basket-shaped boats crowd the wide expanse of water, and the shore is filled with fishermen cleaning and selling the freshest catch. Pushing through the briny smell of the sea that hangs in the air, we make our way into their midst.
The round boats are traditional fishing vessels, built to get around easily in the shallow waters off Mui Ne, where there are no docking facilities. In Vietnamese they are called Chai Mum. They were originally made of bamboo, but these days most are made of plastic. At the Fishing Village, you can mainly buy hairtail, squid, and blue crab, and you can even have a meal on the spot with the seafood you buy.
7 Huynh Thuc Khang, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan, Viet Nam
15:00 Fairy Stream
As we travel from place to place, red soil keeps catching our eye through the car window. The land of Southeast Asia, where the Mekong River, which rises on the Tibetan Plateau, and its tributaries flow, is red. Long ago, red basalt formed by volcanic activity weathered over the ages into dark red earth, and thanks to the mineral-rich Mekong, the soil became even redder and more fertile.
Known as the ‘Little Grand Canyon’ of the East, Fairy Stream is famous for its spectacular scenery of strangely shaped limestone cliffs, carved by weathering, and red sand. To reach the main spot, where a small waterfall sits, you have to walk along a stream that runs across the cliffs and the sand. Facing the stream as it moistens the red earth, I think I understand why this place is called Fairy Stream. In Mui Ne, where it hardly ever rains, water that flows without stopping all year round can hardly be explained by anything other than fairy magic. Another story behind the name says the sand dunes look like a woman with long hair, which is how it came to be called Fairy Stream.
As I splash barefoot through water that comes up to my ankles, fine grains of sand tickle between my toes. There are stretches where my feet suddenly sink deep into the sand. By the time walking through the water feels natural, I look up and find an unreal landscape spread out before me: mounds of fine red earth that seem ready to collapse at a touch, scattered primeval forest, and white sandstone cliffs. In that scene, the red soil, the spring water, and the fierce sun made southern Viet Nam a region capable of producing three rice crops a year. Everything I have encountered in Mui Ne begins to look like living history.
40B Huynh Thuc Khang, Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan, Viet Nam
18:00 Vista Restaurant
We savor the last of the generous luxuries Mui Ne’s sea has to offer. Vista Restaurant at The Cliff Resort & Residences specializes in seafood and also serves breakfast to hotel guests. Spring rolls, shrimp salad dressed with nuoc mam (fish sauce), and Vietnamese curry fried rice arrive in turn, and then the main dish, the seafood hot pot Lau Tha, makes its stately entrance. Sometimes called Mui Ne–style shabu-shabu, Lau Tha is a brothy dish in which assorted vegetables and seafood are cooked in a stock made from shrimp and lobster heads. The most memorable ingredient is the fermented herring. It looks much like fermented skate, but unlike the pungent skate, the herring is simply rich and nutty. Looking at the vegetables and seafood piled high on a large banana leaf, you can sense the region’s pride in its bountiful nature and ingredients.
Lau Tha 427,000 VND
Daily 6:30 a.m.–10 p.m.