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2010 Windsurf Fun Cup Tournament in Mui Ne

This year Mui Ne’s 11th Fun Cup featured more divisions, faster riders, more competition, and bigger prizes than ever before. Both days started with light wind, building up to 20 knots plus by the last race of the day.

Ov professional, women’s, and amateur categories were calculated with the point system to determine overall ratings. The professional division with the flying start gave a good chance to showcase positioning techniques, and the LeMans start for the amateurs and women allowed the crowd to enjoy watching the competitors jostle at the beachstart. A small shorebreak gave some trouble to those not used to these conditions, but all competitors soon got underway.

After the races, the award ceremony and barbecue party followed with such entertainment as vocalists, traditional Cham ethnic dancers, and DJ providing fun for all.

Results are as follows:

See you next year at the 2011 Fun Cup at Jibe’s!

Hotels and Restaurants Keeping or Serving
Wild Animals are Committing Crimes

It is a crime to eat wild animals or keep them as pets in Vietnam, now with a maximum fine of 500 Million VND and penalty of 7 years in a Vietnamese prison. Have you been offered rice wine with bear bile? Does your guesthouse or hotel keep monkeys, gibbons or loris in cages? Did you see tiger teeth or bear claw necklaces for sale in your hotel gift shop? Was wild deer, civet or a strange animal on the menu at your restaurant last night? Did your tour company take you too a farm raising bears, deer, leopards, monkeys or bright blue-green lizards? You may have witnessed a serious crime. Please call ENV's anonymous hotline below, or contact us and we will help look into it.

Consulate-General's Car Involved in Accident

02.01.10 According to witnesses, a Consulate-General's car was involved in an accident this morning in front of Seahorse Resort. The motorbike appeared to have collided with the side of the Asian diplomat's car early in the morning. Police appeared to have responded promptly to the scene of the accident, thought the diplomate was delayed at the scene for a few hours.

Mai Linh Taxi Hits Man and Runs

01.01.10 This evening at approximately 9:35pm a Mai Linh taxi struck a local man seated on a motorbike on the side of the road and immediately fled the scene. The accident happened in front of Shades Appartment and Joe's Cafe. The man was given first aid by bystanders but an ambulence failed to arrive after 45 minutes, though an ambulence sped past the scene, apparently in response to an unrelated accident elsewhere on the beach. The police arrived at approximately 10:30pm, after the man had already been taken to the Ham Tien clinic by a friend.

Two Tourists Victims of Hit-and-Run
on New Year's Eve

01.01.10 Yesterday evening Two Vietnamese men drove a motorbike into a group of Russian tourists, sending two to the hospital, but immediately left the scene of the accident. The incident occured between 10 and 11pm on New Year's Eve, in front of the Swiss Village Resort. Police did not investigate the scene of the accident. The roads in Mui Ne have been highly chaotic over the holiday vacation, with no observable presence of law enforcement, despite high levels of traffic and drunk driving.

Luke Nguyen's Vietnam

04.12.09 Luke Nguyen, Restaurateur, Chef, Author, and Television Host, has launched a new series called “Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam,” which is currently being broadcast on Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) television network. This year’s series follows Luke’s culinary journey, starting in Saigon, winding through the Mekong, up the coast with an episode in Dalat, and then on up through Hanoi to Sapa. Episode 5 finds Luke in Phan Thiet (and Mui Ne), where he visits family and explores local cuisine, like razor-clam salad, fresh prawn and pork spring rolls, various soups, and glimpses of banh xeo and be tuoi. In the episode Luke visits several spots around town including the Phan Thiet Port’s seafood market and the Mui Ne’s fisherman’s market in Mui Ne. This well-rounded and in-depth episode and others can be freely viewed in their commercial-free entirety on the show’s website once they have aired.

Luke Nguyen was born in Thailand in 1978, after his parents escaped Vietnam as boat people. He spent time in a Thai refugee camp before his family eventually settled in Sydney, Australia. Luke is the chef and owner of the award-winning Vietnamese restaurant, Red Lantern, and is the author of “Secrets of the Red Lantern” and “Songs of Sapa.” In 2009, Luke Nguyen and Suzanna Boyd founded the Little Lantern Foundation in Hoi An, which provides disadvantaged youth with a hospitality training program in Little Lantern’s hotel, restaurant and bar.

Looking for a cooking class in Mui Ne? We have one now! Get info here.

Another Tragic Week in Mui Ne

01.12.09 A 63-year-old woman from Altmünster, Austria drowned this week in strong currents, confirms the Austrian Times newspaper. Her name has not been released, but she leaves behind one daughter and three grandchildren. Her companion was hospitalized after he almost drowned while trying to rescue her. Currents off Mui Ne’s beach are very strong this time of year, particularly in the evenings, and are often impassable, even for strong swimmers.

According to multiple reports there was also a tourist suicide at L'Anmien Resort last week in the middle of the night. Apparently a Russian woman jumped from a balcony on the third floor, dying from her injuries. According to neighbors, the body was discovered the following morning.

Our condolences to all who were affected by both incident.

Sea Turtles in Local Market

11.10.09 Vietnamese news media recently reported that inspectors found a 35-year-old hawksbill turtle (Ertemochelys imbricata ) being slaughtered and for sale in Cau Ke Market (Binh Thuan Province). The turtle, which weighed about 100 kilograms, is of one of seven sea turtle species listed as endangered. We aren't entirely sure where Cau Ke is, but we are sad to say that sea turtles were commonly available in restaurants and markets until 5-10 years ago, when the supply died out due to over-hunting. Their lacquered carcasses can still be found, sold in shops as souvenirs, in cities like Vung Tau (pictured right, 2008), Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang and Hanoi.

Adam Bray Discovers Second Ancient Cham Temple in One Week

A second ancient Cham Temple site was discovered this weekend in Binh Thuan Province by resident travel writer, Adam Bray, while exploring the countryside. The temple sits on a mound in the middle of crop fields, and appears to support the remains of 4 structures, thought to have once been towers. The largest of the 4 still has 3 standing walls, though they are hidden among trees and vines. Weathered red bricks lay scattered about, along with the lintel of the temple entrance, though no statuary or decorative elements are immediately visible.

Adam Bray and a friend found another temple site buried in the jungle earlier in the week (see “New Discovery of Ancient Cham Tower by Resident Guidebook Writer” below), also in the general vicinity. Even more astonishing, locals have suggested a third undocumented temple site is also located in the area, though Mr. Bray did not have time to investigate yet. The discovery of several ancient Cham sites in the same locality in Binh Thuan Province is an exciting development because the Champa kingdom was not known to have large settlements in the area. Other temple sites, such as Thap Po Sha Nu, Thap Po Dam, and the recently-discovered temple at Thuan Hoa (see “Another Ancient Cham Temple Discovered in Binh Thuan Province” below), all date from the 8th-9th centuries. If these new temples also date from the same time period, it suggests a much more significant settlement at that period than previously though, and could change our understanding of Cham history overall.

Friday Movies at Snow

Another Ancient Cham Temple Discovered in Binh Thuan Province

06.10.09 Early this past summer, the Binh Thuan Antiquities Department excavated the foundation of a [relatively] recently-discovered ancient Cham temple ruins in Dan Hoa village, Thuan Hoa commune, Ham Thuan Bac district. The main body of the tower had almost completely collapsed, but 1.2m of the foundation remained, mostly buried under the soil. Local officials determined the structure to be from the 9th century, based on the style of foundation, bricks and un-named decorative elements.

The tower is located adjacent to a village of Nop (pronounced “nub”), a little-known local minority group that is not officially recognized by the government. Villages of Rai, another unrecognized minority group native (perhaps exclusive) to Binh Thuan, are also located in the area. (By unrecognized we mean not granted special status as an independent and unique ethnic group).

Villagers stated that they have known about the tower ruins for quite some time but left it relatively undisturbed, for fear of offending the spirits of the temple. They said that tomb robbers (most likely ethnic Vietnamese living in the nearby town of Ma Lam) desecrated the site about 2 years ago, at which time authorities took note and then determined to excavate the site this year. The excavation lasted for about 1 month, according to villagers.

The site is unkempt and has grown over with vines and shrubs since. It is now difficult to see the ruins. We feel it would be prudent for the government and surrounding minority villages to take pride in the site and develop it as a tourist attraction. In conjunction with cultural displays from the surrounding Cham, Rai, Nop and K'ho villages, it could be a formidable attraction--rivaling the very best that Sapa or Kon Tum has to offer in regard to minority culture. At present the potential is being squandered.

Mid-Autumn Festival's Spectacular Start Drowned by Rain

04.09.09 Friday night Phan Thiet Celebrated Trung Thu, or the Mid-Autumn Festival, with it's award-winning night-time parade. The show had a spectacular start at 5:50pm, lead by the city's school children carrying lanterns on poles, and interspersed with lantern floats, drummers, dragon and lion dancers. The streets descended into chaos however, when there was a downpour of rain around 6:30, and the traffic cops ran for cover. It was the children who were the heroes of the evening, as they continued to plod on in the pouring rain.

See more photos from the festival on the Mui Ne Blog.

New Discovery of Ancient Cham Tower by Resident Guidebook Writer

29.09.09 Yesterday amidst the wind and rain of the typhoon currently pounding the Vietnam coast, resident travel writer Adam Bray and a friend made an amazing discovery. On the way home from a long trip through the countryside, they stopped in a remote forested area for a break, and stumbled upon an unusual mound, camouflaged by trees and vines. Noticing a few old red bricks scattered on the ground, they climbed to the top of the mound for a better look. Wading through tall shrubs and thorny vines, they discovered a series of four shafts, 15 to 20 feet deep, lined with brick walls, descending into the ground.

The ancient red-brick walls of the buried towers were tell-tale signs that the two had discovered a previously unknown temple complex, attributed to the ancient Champa Empire. The Cham once dominated most of south and central Vietnam, and were contemporary adversaries of the Kingdom of Angkor in Cambodia. Today the Cham now heavily populate Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan Provinces of south-central Vietnam, with a thriving matriarchal, Hindu-descended culture. They are known for their beautiful hand-woven textiles, pottery made on a stationary wheel (the craftswomen circles the table, walking backwards as they work) , the white robes, turban and red tassels worn by Cham men, and bizarre burial rituals that include exhuming a corpse on the anniversary of death.

The location and arrangement of the temples is highly unusual. Rather than being located on a hilltop facing the sea or a river, the towers are buried underground, in a remote area that is currently difficult to access. The towers are also packed tightly together, and may even form a single structure with multiple chambers. It’s not possible yet to know precisely how old the towers are. However, if comparing the other temples here in Binh Thuan Province, including those found at Phu Hai (8th Century), Lien Huong (8th-9th Century) and the newly discovered temple at Thuan Hoa (9th Century), an age of 1100-1300 years is plausible. To unlock the temples secrets, and discern which god-king or goddess they were built to worship, the temples will need to be fully excavated and researched. For now, we’ve decided to nickname them “Thap Po A’dam-Hung.”

Sankara Bursts on the Scene

27.09.09 Mui Ne's hottest and much-anticipated new venue had a soft opening this weekend, positioning Mui Ne as a viable alternative to Saigon's nighlife. View the photos here.

Moon Cakes! Moon Cakes!

26.09.09 What are all those "Moon Cakes" about, you ask? Read the blog and see the photos to find out.

Mui Ne's First Cooking Class

Local Seafood Plants Polluting the Bay

05.09.09 The following story is an excerpt from an 21 August report by Que Ha for the Thanh Nien News Agency. The whole story can be read here. The Phu Hai river mentioned is in a neighborhood located between Mui Ne (Ham Tien) and Phan Thiet (Phu Thuy). Pollution in the Phu Hai River, among other sources, results in periodic red tides in Mui Ne, and regular discolloration of the water, as well as garbage on the beach. Begin excerpt:

Nguyen Ngoc Hai, director of the Binh Thuan Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said pollution at the Phu Hai Seafood Village along the Phu Hai River in Phan Thiet, a popular resort town in Binh Thuan, was “extremely serious.” A large amount of fish and shrimp had been killed by the waste near the river’s mouth, according to local authorities and residents.

“It would be odd if a fish could survive this kind of pollution,” said local resident Huynh Thi Tra, 73.

The factories discharge untreated wastewater into the river, Tra said as she showed Thanh Nien the dense black wastewater flowing out of a pipe from the Phu Hai seafood village into a canal that flows into the Cai River.

“This site makes strangers want to throw up,” Tra said.

A tourist named Lan from Ho Chi Minh City said she couldn’t bear the odor even though she just passed through the area for several minutes. “I don’t know how people living here can stand it.”

Le Thi Nhu Den lives on the canal but has sent her children to their grandmother’s as the factories were running at full capacity during the height of the fishing season.

“The kids usually get sick and I don’t know what to do.”

Phu Hai seafood village first made headlines last October as factories producing fish sauce and anchovy products were found discharging untreated effluents into the Phu Hai River.

Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment reported at the time that none of the 250 fish sauce firms in Phan Thiet had ever built waste treatment plants.

The provincial government then said it would suspend any factory that hadn’t built a treatment plant by the end of last year.

But no plants have been built more than eight months after the deadline.

Two more Dead in Mui Ne - Hon Rom

31.08.09 Last night two girls were killed on the road between Mui ne and Hon Rom, when a car struck their motorbike, acording to locals. Hon Rom is largely popular with Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean tourists, and long known for prostitution. The deaths follow a long list of gruesome fatal accidents around Mui Ne and Phan Thiet this month. This week banners were hung throughout downtown Phan Thiet, in apparent response to the accidents, with propoganda messages like "Wear a Helmet", "Don't ride with 3 people on a motorbike", "Stop at red lights or when people are in the crosswalk", and "Don't drive after drinking rice wine and beer." The signs are perhaps needed, given the September 2 holiday falls on Wednesday--a day when fatal drunk-driving accidents are common in Mui Ne. However, a much-needed traffic police presence in the city remains to be seen.

Announcing "Binh Thuan Authentic"

Mui Ne's new shop, Binh Thuan Authentic, is the ONLY place to buy high-quality local items made by minorities in Binh Thuan Province. We specialize in all the stuff you want but can't find ANYWHERE else in Vietnam. Our first two items are 1. Local Honey: Cashew Flower Honey and Wildflower Honey to be precise, and 2. Minority Baskets (Backpacks) made by the K'ho, Rai, Rag Lai and Churu tribes of Binh Thuan Province. These unique specialty baskets have never been offered for retail in Vietnam before. Visit out shop for more information.

Nguyen Phi Hung Filming in Mui Ne

23.08.09 Vietnamese singer-actor Nguyen Phi Hung is in Mui Ne this week shooting scenes for a movie sequel. The original film also included scenes from Mui Ne, including the beach, sand dunes, and Kim's Shop. This morning they filmed new scenes at Kim's at 121 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. See more photos on our blog.

Two More Dead in Phan Thiet's Street Carnage

Update: 23.08.09 According to witnesses and friends of the victim's families, the 2 women killed Friday night were on their way to the hospital because they believe their entire family had swine flu and were seeking medical attention. The two women were passengers on a motorbike, driven by a third person (a man) who survived the accident. The dump truck that killed them was tailing them at high speed. When the truck blasted its horn, it startled the victims, who fell off the motorbike, and were subsequently crushed by the truck. The funerals were held the next morning (yesterday).

22.08.09 Last night in downtown Phan Thiet near the city fire department, on an evening set aside by the government to pray for the souls of accident victims, at least two more women were ploughed over by a dump truck in the grisliest traffic accident to hit Phan Thiet yet this week. Though we believe there were probably only two victims, after a visual survey of the human remains, we were unable to rule out the possibility of additional victims, due to the extremely graphic nature of the accident. Last night's tragedy is sadly only one of many in a long series of horrible accidents around Phan Thiet and Mui Ne recently. This morning dried pools of blood and residual body tissue encircled by chalk remains across much of the street lane dowtown.

Mui Ne Copes with Swine Flu

21.08.09 Yesterday the Mui Ne ward office hosted an informational meeting to inform resort and restaurant proprietors and staff about issues related to swine flu. Items included precautions to deter the spread of the illness as well as information on common symptoms and treatments. Local media and residents alike are captivated by stories on the flu. We've chosen not to post the official count of Swine Flue victims for this area, because while we question the seriousness of the global epidemic, we also suspect the count of local swine flu victims is grossly under-reported. Needless to say, both local and foreign travelers in the area are confirmed to have contracted the illness.

Live Traditional Music at Joe's

31.07.09 Dan To Rung, or traditional highlands bamboo music, as played by musician Ka Ly Tran at Joe's Cafe last night (8-10pm). Visit the Mui Ne Blog: The Fish Egg Tree for a little more info & photos.

Ancient Tombs Discovered...
Desecrated and Robbed

23.06.09 In a recent trip to Phan Ri, in central Binh Thuan Province, we discovered an ancient graveyard with a number of bizarre tombs. Solid monoliths, approximately 1.2m X 1.2m X 2.4m were pilled haphazardly among the dunes, along with other curious tomb markers shaped like crouched tigers and decorated in floral patterns.

The shrimp farmers nearby told us they were aware that the tombs were indeed very old, but had moved most of the monuments into piles, in order to clear land and dig ponds for shrimp. They said a man from Quang Ngai Province had visited the site several times to remove artifacts and valuables from the tombs. It's sad that local people have so little regard--not only for burial grounds, but for the cultural treasures of their own local history. At present, nothing is being done to protect the relics, or determine the time period and ethnic group that they belong to.

Images from Nui Ong Nature Reserve

Binh Thuan's Nature Reserves Being Decimated

10.06.09 We recently made a trip to Nui Ong Nature Reserve, about 2.5 hrs northwest of Phan Thiet. While the insects, birdlife, flowers and other flora and fauna were amazing (see them in our blog), it was still very sad to see how much this Nature Reserve is being actively decimated by what appears to be illegal logging and poaching. We followed logging trails (right) to find trucks hauling out truckloads of bamboo (top) for construction. The forest was full of hunting camps (below) where locals stayed while they poached and apparently smoked meat from wildlife they caught. Large tracts of land were cleared by the local Rai minority to turn into farmland. It's a wonder whether anything will be left of the forest at all in the next 5-10 years.

Click here for more information on Nui Ong Nature Reserve in Binh Thuan Province.

Mui Ne's First Mini Golf Course Opens

06.06.09 Mui Ne's first mini golf course opened today at the new Docking Bar, in partnership with the Forest Restaurant and the Forester Spa. The course opened with a tournament this morning to be followed by a party this evening. The course may be the first in the country. The design of the course is simple--it's laid out like a terraced rice paddie--and elegant, set between a variety of traditional minority stilt houses, thatched-roof mud-grass homes and a lush tropical garden with fish pond. Mini golf is a welcome addition to Mui Ne's growing list of daytime activities and night-time entertainment.

The Docking Bar Mini Golf
7 Nguyen Dinh Chieu
(062) 384-7589
www.forestrestaurant.com

Second Day of
Cau Ngu Festival 2009 Phan Thiet

14.05.09 This morning at around 8am, boats decorated ceremonially in colorful flags and banners arrived from Vung Tau carrying fishermen in full festival costumes. When they landed they were joined by students and a local troupe of dragon and lion dancers. The group then led a parade along the Ca Ty River in Phan Thiet, ending around 10am at the Van Thuy Tu Temple for whale worship, near the harbor. Attendence for the parade was light, largely due to the poor advertising of the event.

A dragon boat race may be occuring in the afternoon, though this has been difficult to confirm. A lantern release is also planned for the Ca Ty River tonight, perhaps around 6:30pm. Performance of traditional vietnamese opera may ensue at Van Thuy Tu afterwards.

Cau Ngu Festival 2009 Phan Thiet

13.05.09 Today Phan Thiet City announced the upcoming Cau Ngu Festival, a local tradition grounded in the whale-worshipping cult of coastal fisherman. Unfortunately the festival was already underway this morning as banners announcing the festival (in Vietnamese-language only) were hung in Phan Thiet, and not Mui Ne (the center of tourism). However, we managed to find the single poster listing the schedule of events, and have done our best to translate it and present the information here:

Wednesday, 13 May: Night Market along the harbor, with dance show and opening ceremonies.

Thursday, 14 May:

Friday, 15 May:

Saturday, 16 May:

Sunday, 17 May: Traditional games and fisherman’s parade around Phan Thiet Market and riverside.

Monday, 18 & 19 May: Ho Chi Minh’s Birthday with Communist celebrations at the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

Tourist Bus Plunges Off Cliff Between Mui Ne and Da Lat, Killing 10 People

14.03.09 Phan Thiet, Vietnam. A speeding bus fell off a cliff near Dai Ninh in Binh Thuan Province early Friday evening, killing at least ten people, including nine Russian tourists and their translators.

Eight people were killed in the fall, and two reportedly died later in the hospital. Fourteen others remain hospitalized, some in critical condition. Among the survivors are several young Russian students and the driver.

The bus left 5am Friday morning from the coastal resort town of Mui Ne, heading to the mountain resort town of Da Lat for a day trip. Both locations are popular tourist destinations. On the return trip, around 7pm, the bus plunged some 100 meters over a cliff on the windy mountain road. The survivors were rescued around 11pm and first taken to Lam Dong Hospital near Da lat, but later transfered to Benh Vien Cho Ray in Ho Chi Minh City.

There were at least 22 people on the 39-seat bus owned by the An-Lanta Tourist Company, most of whom were Russian tourists. Apparently this was the driver's first time driving the dangerous stretch between Mui Ne and Da Lat thorough the mountains of the central Highlands. His inexperience on the windy road was likely to be a contributing factor in the deadly accident.

Cultural Treasure Lost

05.11.08 An official at the Binh Thuan Museum (a collection of largely-empty office buildings on the river-front in downtown Phan Thiet) last week conceded what many had long suspected—namely that nearly all the salvaged artifacts from the famous “Binh Thuan Shipwreck,” which were given to the government museum for display, had been sold by local officials and the money entirely spent. Likewise, money given to the government specifically for the construction of a new museum to house the recovered artifacts had been spent on other items, and none of the funds now remained.

The Binh Thuan Ship Wreck was discovered by fishermen 40 miles south of the coast of Binh Thuan Province at a depth of 40m. Local fishermen plundered significant portions of the wreck while the government deliberated on official approval of an excavation on the wreck. Maritime Explorations excavated the wreck in conjunction with the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Vietnam Salvage Corporation (Visal), and the Binh Thuan People's Committee.

The boat was a Chinese junk, 7m wide, 24m long, and divided into 25 narrow compartments. The boat likely belonged to the merchant, I Sin Ho, who was transporting a cargo of silk, porcelain and other Chinese goods from China to Johore for the Dutch, when his ship sank in 1608. The cargo found was comprised of Zhangzhou (Swatow) porcelain and cast-iron pans. This was the first dedicated cargo of Zhangzhou porcelain ever found. There were also fine blue and white ceramics in a variety of shapes. Non-ceramic artifacts included locks, chopsticks, a set of scales, and copper dishes and bowls.

The Vietnamese Government kept all the unique artifacts (including the most valuable and well-preserved items), along with four fully representative sets, designated to remain in Vietnam for ongoing study and museum display. The remaining artifacts (all multiple duplicates), were sold after full documentation. A large part of the profits were earmarked for the construction of a new museum in Phan Thiet to house the remaining wreck finds and other cultural objects. Christie's Australia hosted an auction in Melbourne on the 1st and 2nd of March 2004, in which all lots were sold for a total of A$2 million.

An official at the museum said that the only items now remaining from the shipwreck included some sets of chopsticks and damaged pottery—items deemed to have little or no retail value--and were kept in a locked storage room where they could not be viewed by the public. This unfortunate outcome was carried out solely by local government officials, despite the best efforts of Maritime Explorations to ensure that the artifacts would be preserved for the public in a fully-financed new museum. Without any remain funds to build the new museum, it is unlikely that even these scraps will ever come into public view.

All 3 Photos by Mike Flecker, Maritime Explorations.

Read more: Mui Ne News.

Check out our other sites for tourism & lodging info: Phnom Penh Sleeps; and Sihanoukville Sleeps.

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