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Three Musicians (Nous autres musiciens)
1921
Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973)
Pablo Picasso had a large ambition for this monumental canvas: to look back at and say farewell to a key period in his own career, when he pioneered the transformative style known as Cubism. The composition is pieced together from paper-thin and angular planes that fit together only inconsistently to generate eye-fooling ambiguities. It is forcefully modern in style.
The subject, however, looks to the past. A three-man band sits at a table in a shallow, stage-like interior. The violinist wears the costume of the trickster Harlequin, and the figure in white with a clarinet or recorder is the melancholy Pierrot—both from the tradition of popular, improvisational theater in Europe. The third figure wears the costume of a monk and plays the accordion. These figures relate to costume designs made by Picasso for the Ballets Russes dance company’s 1920 production of Pulcinella, a modern ballet based on a scenario from an Italian manuscript of 1700.
Three Musicians is the title of two similar collage and oil paintings by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. They were both completed in 1921 in Fontainebleau near Paris, France, and exemplify the Synthetic Cubist style; the flat planes of color and "intricate puzzle-like composition" echoing the arrangements of cutout paper with which the style originated. These paintings each colorfully represent three musicians wearing masks in the tradition of the popular Italian theater Commedia dell'arte.
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The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA), originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, opened in a into its permanent home on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwestern end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, in 1928. The main building's Greek Revival design was the product of collaboration of the architectural firms of Horace Trumbauer and Zantzinger, Borie and Medary, but mostly credited to two architects in Trumbauer's firm--Howell Lewis Shay for the building's plan and massing, and Julian Abele, the first African American to graduate from University of Pennsylvania's Department of Architecture, for the detail work and perspective drawings. The museum houses more than 240,000 objects including major holdings of European, American and Asian origin, spread across more than 200 galleries spanning 2,000 years.
In 2007, the Philadelphia Museum of Art was ranked #24 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.
The First Lady delivered a keynote address during the plenary session on the 'Digital Inclusion for Women's Empowerment', as part of Transform Africa 2015, on 20 October 2015.
This event was organised in collaboration with ITU, Alliance for Affordable Internet and UN Women. It featured the research presentation on ICT inclusion of women in Rwanda, by the World Wide Web Foundation and Imbuto Foundation.
The panel was moderated by Sonia N. Jorge, Executive Director of Alliance for Affordable Internet, and featured:
•Hon. Rebecca Joshua Okwaci, Minister – South Sudan
•Diana L. Ofwona, Regional Director - UN Women
•Dr. Shikoh Gitau, Senior Consultant, Technology Innovation for Inclusive Growth - AfDB
•Crystal Rugege, Business Development Director – Carnegie Mellon University Rwanda
•Alline Kabbatende, COO – RwandaOnline
•Dorothy K. Gordon, Executive Director – Ghana-India Kofi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT
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Vietnam was our original choice for a touring holiday back in 2015, mainly to see Halong Bay, but we got sidetracked by the gorgeous pictures of Myanmar in the brochures and ended up going there instead. Myanmar, and probably touring holidays in general, was hard work, we are both in our sixties and do not really travel that well after having a lot of pampered holidays in the Maldives, so after the final three hour wait in another airport lounge we said 'never again'. But three months later after sitting back and looking at the best set of holiday photo's we have ever taken, we realised what wonderful people we had met and amazing places we had seen and that you have to put up with airport lounges, train stations and car journeys to get that. So the next thing we knew we were booking another touring holiday to Vietnam with Mango Journeys based in Cambodia! Warren the owner of Mango, actually an Aussie guy, sorted out our itinerary, click to view, we booked a couple of flights and it was done. Vietnam has a lot of Buddhist tradition like Myanmar so we figured that the people would be similar to the lovely people of Myanmar we met last year. Plus the landscape and scenery looked so green and lush so it all boded well.
However when we arrived in Saigon, all the Vietnamese still call it Saigon, in mid December it turned out that it was still the rainy season. So it was quite cloudy, foggy and rainy.....and it stayed like that for most of the holiday actually. We hadn't quite bargained for that, Myanmar was dry and sunny at the same time last year so this was quite a dramatic change. We were also in their winter so no crops were growing, hence all the lovely green and golden paddy fields you see in the brochures were mostly brown and muddy. Vietnam is big and very busy, there were a huge amount of Chinese tourists here, especially at Ankor Wat in Cambodia. A lot of the local people traditionally come home from all over the world at this time of year to see their families, so the place is buzzing. The Vietnamese people are also a lot more 'tourist savvy' here compared with the totally charming Burmese people we met last year, they seem to have that air of indifference you get in developed western countries towards tourists.
It's all sounding a bit disappointing and I'm afraid that is how it felt quite a lot of the time. We were in Saigon for 2 days....way too busy for us. Then a boat trip to the Mekong Delta, sounds idyllic but actually just a big busy river, we never really got far enough into the smaller tributaries where it might be more like you imagine the Mekong Delta to look like. A flight to Siem Reap then a couple of days around Ankor Wat. This was undoubtedly the highlight of the holiday. The Angkor Archaeological Park is mind boggingly massive! It took us 45 minutes by car to reach the pink sandstone temple of Banteay Srei in one corner of the park! The distances involved when moving between the various temples are all the same.....huge! Ankor Wat itself covers an enormous area but hugely impressive. It shows the power of this place when you get to the entrance at 5:00am to watch the sunrise and there are already hundreds of people there! And it happens every day of the year apparently. Although hordes of people can bug you sometimes, the collective enjoyment factor seems to override that here, the place is just so awe inspiring.
We really enjoyed Cambodia, we wished we had spent more time there, we only met a few people but they all seemed to have more of that charm of the Burmese people. Cambodia has had an extremely troubled past, the war didn't end until 1998 and everybody appears to have been tainted by it. Our guide lost 15 of his immediate relatives to it, and a lot of people seem to have similar horrific tales to tell. The landmine museum we visited was a poignant reminder of those days and our guide was obviously quite emotional in his rendering of the museum's history and the people involved in it. As a result of the regime's slaughter of all the ruling elite including politicians, teachers, scholars and intellectuals Cambodia was left backward in the rapidly growing economy of south east Asia. They are moving in the right direction now, albeit slowly, and we both felt we should have spent more time there and given them more of the benefit of our tourist dollar.
Of all the other places we visited, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, Tam Coc, Mai Chau Valley, Hanoi and Halong Bay, Mai Chau Valley was like an oasis in a sea of traffic, busy people and tourists. When you look down at the valley from the main photo vantage point it has the look of the promised land, a lush green place nestling in the surrounding mountains.
We had a couple of lovely walks around here over two days enjoying the beatiful landscape and meeting a few of the local people. We realised afterwards that we should have stayed away from the cities and done more of this sort of stuff. We stopped and spoke to a lovely 68 year old lady in Mau Chau vilage, there was nothing to her she looked so thin and frail. She told us, interpreted by our guide, that her husband left when she was 36 years old and because of the culture she was never allowed to be with another man after that. Her only daughter was married at around the same time and again the culture dictates that she moved to the husband's village which was in south Vietnam. Her daughter is extremely poor and travel for local people is so expensive that it is extremely unlikely she will ever see her mother again. A small story but one that is probably played out a lot in this country. This amazing lady took us back to the one room brick built house with a small garden no bigger than your average shed that she now lives in. She managed to build it with help from the villagers who all seem to look after each other extremely well, so at least she now has somewhere dry to live. She was so welcoming though and showed us how she cooks, where she sleeps and the small garden she tends, it was without doubt the most touching moment of our holiday and one we will always remember.
If you like busy cities then Hanoi is probably a better option than Saigon, it has an old quarter that is strangely quaint for a big city, is a lot more photogenic and a nicer place to be. We were never taken to new Hanoi so I guess it's probably just like Saigon.
Halong Bay was the main inspiration to visit Vietnam in the first place. I saw photo's of this place back in 2014 when searching for more of the limestone karst scenery we had seen in Thailand's Phang Nga Bay on a previous holiday. The boat trip with an overnight stay was the holiday finale and supposed to be one of the highlights. I mistakenly thought we would be touring around Halong Bay the whole time....a foolish assumption! We sailed for about 30 minutes, during which time we had a briefing and some food, then we dropped anchor and that was it! It turned out to be more of a booze cruise, with kayaking, happy hour, games, karaoke and Tai Chi in the morning! Oh my God, what a waste! This place is massive and to just sail into it for half an hour seemed ridiculous to us. I know a lot of it looks the same but as a photographer you are looking for those subtle differences in composition and quality of light that make great photographs. You can't get that when you are sat in the same spot. I managed to get some reasonable photographs but overall, disappointing.....again!
As I write this back in the UK, I've just finshed post processing our holiday photo's after around four weeks work. Originally, because of the dull weather we had, I thought they were not going to be a patch on the photo's from Myanmar last year, but I have been pleasantly surprised. I am constantly amazed at what you can pull out of seemingly dull photographs with the help of Lightroom, Topaz Labs and Photomatix for HDR. Back in the days of film I used to love the punchy colours you could get on a sunny day with the help of a polarizing filter and Kodachrome 25! Nowadays with the help of modern software it's possible to get so much colour into photographs almost out of nowhere! I love making 'impression' type of pictures where the photo is transformed into a sort of painting....used judiciously they conjure up more of the feeling of a place than a straight photo. Those plus the power of HDR photography and Topaz Labs give our holiday snaps a warmth and colour that maybe isn't true to life but always makes them look amazing! No wonder we got suckered into doing another touring holiday.....the photo's just look so good!
A word about Mango Journeys, they were amazing. All the guides were there to greet us and look after us wherever we went and they all seemed to enjoy their work, which always helps. Everything on the itenerary worked out OK.....in the end! We had one hiccup where we missed our flight from Cambodia back into Vietnam but Warren stepped in at 9:00pm at night and got us on another flight and into a hotel without too much bother and no extra charge. As it was our first visit to Vietnam Mango tried to give us a bit of everything I guess, stuff that most tourists want to see. In hindsight and learning from our Burma trip last year we should have really studied the itinerary and made sure it included what WE wanted to do, especially staying away from big cities! We are quite new to touring so it's a learning process.
Our next holiday? As soon as we got home we knew we 'needed a holiday' it had been so busy with a lot of travelling. We booked a week on Veligandu in the Maldives at Easter! Back to our favourite place in the world! Not only that we decided to put touring on hold for a while and booked two weeks on Filitheyo for Christmas. Back to just sunbathing, snorkelling, scuba diving and chilling! Heaven!
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To view the rest of my Photography Collection click on Link below:
www.flickr.com/photos/nevillewootton/albums
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Photography & Equipment sponsored by my web business:
We are UK's leading Filter Specialists, selling online to the Plant, Agricultural, Commercial Vehicle and Marine Industries.
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PLEASE NOTE: I take Photographs purely as a hobby these days so am happy to share them with anyone who enjoys them or has a use for them. If you do use them an accreditation would be nice and if you benefit from them financially a donation to www.sightsavers.org would be really nice.
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Mũi Né is a coastal fishing town in the Bình Thuận Province of Vietnam. The town, with approximately 25,000 residents is a ward of the city of Phan Thiết. Mui Ne and the other wards of Phan Thiet that stretch along the coast for approximately 50 kilometers have been transformed into a resort destination since the mid 1990s, when many visited the area to view the solar eclipse of October 24, 1995. Most notably, tourism has developed in the area from the city center to Mũi Né, which has more than a hundred beach resorts, as well as restaurants, bars, shops and cafes.
Mũi Né ward has two beaches; Ganh Beach and Suoi Nuoc Beach, both with a number of resorts and a few shops and restaurants. But the most highly developed area is Rang Beach in Ham Tien ward, which extends west of Mui Ne. Strong sea breezes make all three beaches very popular for kitesurfing and windsurfing. The tourist season is from December to April The average temperature is 27 °C, and the climate is hot and dry much of the year.
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Mui Ne is a traditional fishing town in Binh Thuan Province that became a ward of the City of Phan Thiet in 1999. The name Mui Ne is often erroneously used as the general name for the main resort area in Phan Thiet along Mui Ne Bay, 220 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (South Vietnam).
Mui Ne is a coastal fishing community in Bình Thuận Province which is part of the South Central Coast of Vietnam. The town, with approximately 25,000 residents is a ward of the city of Phan Thiết. Mui Ne and the other wards of Phan Thiet that stretch along the coast for approximately 50 km have been transformed into a resort destination since the mid 1990s, when many discovered the area during the solar eclipse of October 24, 1995. Most notably, tourism has developed in the area from the city center of Phan Thiet to Mui Ne, including Phu Hai and Ham Tien wards along Phan Thiet Bay. The dense resort area along Phan Thiet Bay and beyond now boasts over two hundred beach resorts and hotels, as well as guest houses, backpacker hostels, restaurants, bars, shops and cafes.
In 2018 the Prime Minister approved the master plan to develop Mui Ne (Binh Thuan) as a National Tourist Site with a size of around 14,760 ha by 2025, with an orientation towards 2030.
An area of 1,000 ha has been defined as a core area for the establishment and development of functional areas for the tourism sector. Mui Ne National Tourism Site will be developed in an environmentally responsible way with a focus on protecting existing natural resources and environments, landscapes, and in particular the ecosystem in the Bau Trang tourist area (White Sand Dunes) as well as the sand dunes along the sea shore.
UNDERSTAND
Northeast of Phan Thiet the coastal road climbs over the slope of a Cham tower-topped hill and descends into the long, sandy crescent of Mui Ne Bay. The formerly little-inhabited beach southwest of the historic fishing village of Mui Ne proper has seen some serious development in the last 15 years. Now it is a 15 km long strip of resorts that line up like pearls on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, shaded by coconut palms. The main resort strip lies between the addresses of 2 and 98 Nguyen Dinh Chieu and is called Ham Tien. Like Mui Ne it is now a ward of the city of Phan Thiet which stretches over 50 km of coastline to the south and to the west of the original city center of Phan Thiet.
At the shoreline, nature moves the sand around, much to the dismay of some developers. Beach sand tends to migrate up and down the coast seasonally, leaving some (but not all) spots with just a concrete breakwater rather than sandy beach. There is always a good sandy beach somewhere along this 15 km beach. Accommodations at higher addresses tend to be smaller and less expensive, somewhat removed from the main tourist section and more mixed in with local life. If a sandy beach is important to you, some research is called for before booking in the area, especially after the tropical storm season. This research is important as without the beach there is little for non-kite-surfers to do in Mui Ne.
Quite a few bargain and "backpacker" hotels have popped up on the inland side of the road, across from the shoreline resorts. If you stay on the inland side, you will need to pass though one of the resorts to reach the beach, which might or might not result in some hassle from the guards. The resorts jealously guard their lounge chairs and palapas, though the beach itself is open to everyone.
Mui Ne Bay has become very popular with Russian tourists. Major Russian tour operators who bring busloads of tourists to Ham Tien and Mui Ne from the airports in Cam Ranh and Ho Chi Minh City have bought up several hotels along the main road and fill them year-round with Russian charter tour groups. English and Russian menus are common in most restaurants, and many stores and hotels are advertising and catering specifically to the Russian-speaking tourists, especially along the lowered numbered area of the strip on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street which some guidebooks have rebaptised "Little Moscow."
GET IN
BY BUS
Most overseas visitors reach Ham Tien and Mui Ne via "open tour" buses that run between Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. Most depart from Ho Chi Minh City between 07:30 and 09:00 (07:30 for Sinh Cafe's air conditioned bus) and arrive at Ham Tien and Mui Ne at about 13:00. In the opposite direction, buses typically depart from Mui Ne and Ham Tien around either 14:00 or 02:00 and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City approximately five hours later. Joe's Cafe is a good place to catch an outgoing night bus as it offers full service all night and you never know how late the bus will be. Outside Ho Chi Minh City, the coach will stop at a petrol station with a large shop and stalls selling snacks, drinks, and fruit.
The buses stop in the heart of the tourist strip in Ham Tien, so there is no need to take a taxi. The cost is about 105,000 dong each way, and tickets are sold all over the tourist districts of both Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. If you are traveling to Ho Chi Minh City from Mui Ne and Ham Tien, you will most likely be put on an already full bus traveling from Nha Trang. As you are not assigned a seat, you may not be able to sit with any traveling companions, and at some of the less scrupulous travel agents you may not even get a real seat. You might get a mat at the back of the bus with four other people.
Public buses from both destinations also travel to the Mui Ne area, though finding the departure stations and figuring out the schedule is difficult for visitors. It's not worth the trouble unless you have a strong need to depart at a different time of day other than when the open tour bus leaves. Travel agencies play dumb because they don't earn anything from helping you find a public bus. The main bus station in Phan Thiet is at Từ Văn Tư, Phú Trinh and a taxi from there to the tourist strip can cost more than your bus ticket from HCMC!
BY TRAIN
A train runs daily from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet, departing around 06:30 and arriving five hours later. The return trip leaves Phan Thiet around 13:30. The cost is quite modest at around 60,000 dong per person each way (similar to the bus). The train station in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon Railway Station) is in District 3, about 3 km from the centre. The railway station in Phan Thiet is about 5 km (80,000 dong taxi ride) from the beginning of the Ham Tien resort strip, and taxis are abundant to take you there. The railway also sometimes runs a mid-sized bus from the station to Mui Ne for 25,000 dong per person. Tickets are sold on the train, though the announcement might be made in Vietnamese only, and you need to watch carefully for the ticket sellers to pass by.
The train has regular carriages operated by the state railways, and sometimes other carriages booked and operated by private companies. The latter have somewhat larger seats for a higher price, but fall short of luxury. The regular carriages are a bit cramped for the Western-sized body. When the train is not full, railway staff usually packs everyone into one carriage, leaving another one empty, and then run a side business selling "upgrades" to the quiet, empty carriage. The entire train will be jammed on holidays.
Overall, the train is probably less comfortable and convenient than the open-tour bus, though it has some advantages. You get a better view of the countryside and avoid the endless honking of horns and lunatic driving of the bus drivers.
BY TAXI
You might consider coming to Mui Ne from Saigon by taxi, instead of open bus. The departure times of the open buses might not suit your schedule. They are also slow sometimes, because the driver makes stops at rather bad restaurants where he receives commission. The ride by taxi takes 4-5 hours, depending on road conditions, and will cost US$70-100, depending on your ability to bargain. Talk to taxi drivers in the airport to get best prices.
Fare from Tan Son Nhut Airport to Mui Ne by SATSCO is US$100/trip.
GET AROUND
You can't get lost in Mui Ne and Ham Tien, since the whole place consists of one long strip along a main street, Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Motorbike taxis are present everywhere and their drivers will bug you each time you leave the hotel or walk along the road. Along the tourist strip it is much cheaper to stop a xe om as long as you know how to bargain. It can be hard for Western tourists to get appropriate prices (10,000-15,000 dong is more than enough to pay for a ride from one place to another along the main strip). Taxis are also abundant, with fares slightly higher than Ho Chi Minh City, but still reasonable (starting at around 20,000 dong).
You can rent motorbikes and bicycles at many resorts and tour agencies. Since traffic is light, motorbikes or bicycles are a pleasant way to explore the surroundings. Motorbikes cost anywhere from 60,000-150,000 dong per day depending on how late in the day you start, how many hours you need, and age/type of motorbike (automatics can cost 230,000 dong). The locals say it's getting harder to rent because of bike thefts and police driving license enforcement. Your hotel might rent to you, which may be a bit more convenient since they already have your passport. Western tourists should avoid taking a rented motorbike to the White Sand Dunes if you are not in the possession of a Vietnamese driver's license. The Mui Ne police is known for stopping all motorbikes on the road leading to Bau Trang (White Lake) and collect at least 1 million dong from any foreigner not able to provide at least an international driver's license.
Be careful when riding a bike in Ham Tien and Mui Ne. Traffic is light, especially during the summer months, but nobody pays any attention to traffic rules. For example, it's common to see Vietnamese riders turning left from the right lane. Also, Vietnamese riders don't stop or even look when entering the main road from secondary one. The increase in big motor coaches shuttling Russain tourists in and out of Ham Tien and the uncontrolled jeeps used to bring hundreds of tourists to the White Sand Dunes every day contribute to increased risks for motorbikes and pedestrians along Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in particular. Traffic fatalities are not uncommon. Rumors are that up to 30 people die every month in accidents. If you plan to ride a bike here, investment in medical insurance, if you can get it, is a wise move.
Even-numbered addresses are on the sea side of the street, and odd numbers on the inland side. Even and odd addresses are not aligned, thus 39 on the odd side can be several hundred metres from 40 on the even side.
SEE
CHAM TOWER
The Poshanu Cham Tower in Phu Hai ward (Thap Po Sah Inu) is a derelict remainder of the ancient Cham culture that was built in the 8th century. It is still in use for religious and social gatherings by the local Cham population, especially during the annual Kate festival.
Fish Sauce Plants, where the famous nuoc mam (fish sauce) is produced. Big jars harbour the concoction that, after months in the blazing sun, is sold all over Vietnam to add some spice to the food.
The famous Red Sand Dunes (Doi Cat), on the main coastal road a short distance north of the fishing town at the north end of Mui Ne Bay, about 10 km from the main resort strip. The whole region is fairly sandy, with orange sand threatening to blow onto the coastal road in some spots. The dunes that visitors visit are about 50 ha (1/2 km²) of open sand on a hillside with ten-meter undulations, staffed by dusty children with plastic slides, who will offer instruction and assistance if you want to slide on the sand. Caution is recommended since a number of tourists have lost money, cameras or cell phones in the sand or through theft and pick-pocketing on the dunes. The sand dunes offer nice views of the sea coast to the north. On the opposite side of the road are a series of small cafes (illegally built but tolerated by the local police), where you can park your vehicle for a small fee if you ride there on your own. Most day tours sold by local tour operators include a stop at the dunes. The trip by taxi from the main resort strip in Ham Tien is about 170,000 dong each way, and less by xe om. It is reachable by bicycle in 30-45 minutes, passing the Fairy Stream on the way. From the resorts on Malibu Beach (Ganh Beach) it is just a short 5 to 10 minute walk to the bottom of the dunes.
Mui Ne Market (Chợ Mũi Né) and fishing harbor (Lang chai Mui Ne). If you are staying on the resort strip in Ham Tien or Phu Hai wards, don't miss out to visit this once quiet "fishing village" but nowadays bustling town, at the northeast end of Mui Ne Bay. The coastal road leads straight into the town (with a left turn required at the first red light to continue up the coast). If you arrive during the dry "winter" season, don't miss the harbor overlook at the entrance to Mui Ne with a splendid view of hundreds of colorful fishing boats moored in the bay. The boats move to the other side of the "Shelter Cape" (English translation of "Mui Ne") during the monsoon season from May through October, when the wind direction changes from mainly northeast to mainly southwest. Further along into town, just off the main road, there is a colorful local market. If you take your transport just down to the water, you will reach the fishing harbor, where you can purchase fresh seafood (if you have any means to cook it) or purchase steamed crabs, shellfish, etc. to eat on the spot from local vendors. Walking along the beach, you'll pass by fishermen sorting out their catch, ship-wharves and, at the southern end of town, a section where clams have been rid of their shells for many years, so the sand on the beach is by now substituted with littered shells. Be prepared to encounter piles and stretches of rubbish on the beach.
The Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien) is a little creek that winds its way through bamboo forests, boulders and the dunes behind the village, in parts resembling a miniature version of the Grand Canyon. Local children will want to accompany you to show you the way (and of course earn a dollar or so), but since you're just following the stream, there's little need. For the most part, the stream is about ankle-deep and no more than knee-deep even at its deepest. It is sandy with few stones and can be walked comfortably barefooted. You can climb up the red sand hills overlooking the river valley and even walk there parallel to the river, however, the sand may be hot on a sunny day, so bring some footwear. Walking upstream for about 20 minutes, you will reach a small waterfall into at most waist-deep water, great to take a refreshing bath before heading back. To reach the stream, head along the main road towards the east until you cross a small bridge. The stream is underneath, you will see a sign pointing towards a path to the left, go that way to reach an easy place to enter the stream. By bicycle it's about 15 minutes from the main resort strip and shouldn't be more than 20,000 dong by xe om. You can enter somewhere along the beach or at the bridge where you will be charged 10,000 dong for entry (although entrance is officially free) and 5,000 dong for motorcycle parking.
The White Sand Dunes are approximately 45 km away from the Ham Tien tourist strip to the northeast, and some 24 km from the Red Sand Dunes and nearby resorts on the east side of the Mui Ne peninsula (GPS 11.068254 108.428513). Trips are offered by any tourist agency along the resort stretch for 4x4 or quad drives, as well as by some resorts with their own vehicles. While too far away for a bicycle trip especially in summer, a motorbike trip can bring you there. Make sure to bring an international driver's licence if you do not own a Vietnamese one (driving without Vietnamese driver's license is illegal in Vietnam), the local police is well-known for stopping foreigners on motorbikes on their way to and from the White Sand Dunes and extort a fine (up to 1 million dong) or sometimes even confiscate the motorbike. Entrance is a 10,000 dong fee.
DO
KITE SURFING
Kitesurfing is offered by many outfitters and hotels. Kite surfing instruction is available, starting at US$60/hour, beginners package of 7 lessons start at US$350. From November till March you generally will have strong winds every day. The Winds in Mui Ne emerge by thermal movements, after the shores got warmed by the sun. You will have perfect wind everyday from 11:00 until the late evening. Gusty winds are seldom. With strong winds, the sometimes choppy waves can be as high as 4 m and more. The water is free of rocks, which makes it relatively safe to kite. However in the peak season there up to 300 kiters in the water at the same time. Beginners and Students, who mainly practice close to the beach front makes things a bit more dangerous. So watch out for other kitersurfers and swimmers and control the speed, in particularly because swimmers are difficult to see when waves are high. Accidents between kitesurfers or between kitesurfers and Swimmers happen from time to time and medical facilities are limited in terms of their equipment and abilities.
There are several kitesurfing schools along the beach, which all employ beach boys who will help you to start and launch the kite. It is widely common to tip the beach boys with US$1/day. If you bring your own equipment and don't want to carry it from and to your hotel every day, you can store it at one of the kitesurfing schools for US$20/week or US$60/month, including usage of their compressors and shower facilities.
If you are a beginner but already can practice independent without an instructor, you might avoid the area around Sunshine Beach Hotel/Sankara/Wax, because there are too many kite surfers and swimmers which may lead to accidents, particularly if you can not fully control the kite. Try the western part of beach front around the Kitesurfing School Windchimes. There are less kiters in this area and you can practice without bringing you and others into danger.
There is a place called "wave spot" or "Malibu beach" (10.92676, 108.29500). It is suitable only for intermediate/advanced kiters, but its much less crowded there.
OTHERS
All-terrain vehicle. You can ride one on white sand dunes.
Cooking classes, 400,000 dong/hr. If you want to learn to cook Vietnamese food, check cooking classes near C2SKY kitesurfing school (opposite Kim Shop). You will learn to cook pancakes, Pho Bo soup, shrimp salad and fresh spring rolls. All ingredients are ready, you'll just mix them under supervision of Vietnamese cook.
Day tours, US$10-13. Travel agents and restaurants abound with day tour offerings. The standard half day tour takes in the fishing village, fairy stream, and the red and while sand dunes. Tours normally start at either 17:00 or 14:30 so you can watch the sunrise/sunset over the sand dunes.
Balloon riding, ☏ +841208536828, ✉ booking@vietnamballoons.com. 05:00-08:00. Mui Ne is the only place in Vietnam where you can fly hot air balloons. A balloon company has European management, balloons, and pilots. Most flights take place over white sand dunes. When the winds in dunes are too strong, flights take place from Phan Thiet city centre. (updated Jan 2018 | edit)
Sailing, 108 Huynh Thuc Khang. Manta Sail Training Centre was newly founded in 2010 and water sport has been gaining popularity since then. Classes are available at US$50/hour for individuals with certified international and local instructors. The sailing area is safe, quiet, with no swimmers and only a few advanced kitesurfers. edit
Surfing. Sometimes you get good waves in mornings of windy season. Lessons, day trips and rentals are available, don't hesitate to ask around. While Mui Ne is not the best destination for surfing, it can be good place to give it a try.
Swimming. The sea is wonderfully warm, but it can be quite rough, with large waves and a strong rip tide. When the tide is in, there is not much of a beach to speak of. When wind is blowing it can be quite chilly to even think of swimming. The area between kilometre markers 11 and 13 has the largest stretch of enduring sandy beach. Since large waves normally emerge after 11:00 you might prefer to swim in the early morning hours, when the water is flat and free of Kitesurfers. Most mid-range and top-end resorts have swimming pools for their guests. Some are open for day users starting at 80,000 dong per day. But you can always behave as guest from this hotel and buy a few drinks for these 80,000 dong.
Water sports. Most outfitters offer a host of water sports including kayaking, paddle surfing, and jet ski rental.
Windsurfing. If you like to do some windsurfing, go to eastern part of Mui Ne. Starting from Hai Au resort, there are some hotels that are offering good place to water start, rent or store your gear.
BUY
Along the Mui Ne strip are several small nameless shops; all selling the same sundries and souvenirs. You can find packaged snacks (Oreos, cakes, biscuits, ice cream, etc.), liquor, clothing, and souvenirs.
Anything beyond very basic necessities should be brought with you. There is a small pharmacy, but it would be wise to bring your own first aid kit.
Standard souvenirs offered include wooden and lacquered bowls, wooden statues, snake whiskey, and pearl necklaces. Compared with Ho Chi Minh City, souvenirs are almost five times more expensive in Mui Ne. The same small wooden bowl selling for US$3 in HCMC is US$14 in Mui Ne.
Several travel agencies along the strip also double as used book stores. Most have a few shelves of English books, along with a small selection in German and French. Books cost 80,000-100,000 dong and most shops will give a 50% discount if you trade in a book.
Coop Mart, Phan Thiet (corner of Nguyen Tat Thanh and Tran Hung Dao), ☏ +84 62 3835440, +84 62 3835455. 08:00-21:30. A large, Western-style grocery store that also sells books, jewellery and necessities.
EAT
Every resort area in Ham Tien and Mui Ne is surrounded by restaurants specializing in seafood. The food is invariably fresh, well-prepared, and served in friendly and interesting surroundings. By all means get out of your hotel and try one of the local restaurants. The best restaurants are a motorbike ride away, found outside of the tourist/resort district on the ocean.
1 Bo Ke Street (Go to the fishing village past the Tien Dat Hotel until you see many small cafes near seashore). This is a street full of local cafes that serve BBQ seafood. Prices are very cheap and choice is wide. Scallops with onion and garlic sauce are must-to-have here. If you're a fussy about hygiene, don't bother coming here. edit
Joe's (The Art Cafe), 86 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien (Across from Shades Resort), ☏ +84 62 374 3447. 24 hr daily. Joe's is the only place open 24/7 in Mui Ne. It's a cosy old farmhouse cafe offering Western fare. A Canadian developed the menu, and the pancakes with maple syrup (50,000 dong including coffee) are great. The sandwiches with home cut fries and salad (60,000 dong) are also recommended. Two movies are shown each evening in the pillow-filled loft. Free Wi-fi, exhibits and live performances. A great place to have your bus pick you up at 02:00 when you head out and great for a chill spot for after party breakfast or a romantic glass of wine. A 24-hr supermarket is part of the complex. Joe is on the strip, offering now even accommodation. Drinks 10,000 - 60,000 dong, meals 50,000 - 120,000 dong. edit
Lâm Tòng, 92 Nguyễn Đinh Chiêu (Right on the beach next to Jibes under some shady palms), ☏ +84 62 384 7598. You can even sit at tables in the sand. There's a little hut with hammocks strung. Try one of the pancakes (bánh xèo) with condensed milk (sữa đặc), the fried fish with lemon, and the chicken fried in fish sauce. edit
2 Pho Bo and sandwiches, Bo Ke St (Go past Bo Ke St in the direction of Pogo Bar, small pavilion on the right). The only place to have food at night (since Joe's doesn't serve food at night anymore). They serve nice sandwiches with chicken and scrambled eggs (30,000 dong). Also you can have pho bo here. edit
3 Santimatti Pizzeria, 83 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. Classic Italian cuisine. Place is nice looking, with a good atmosphere. Locals and long stayers enjoy a 10% discount with membership card. Owner is on-site, so expect good service. edit
4 Sindbad Kebap, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (opposite Pogo Bar). Good beef/chicken/veggie kebabs, shawarma and tsatsiki. edit
Smoky House, 125 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. Offers large, high-quality meals, and offers all customers free ice cream. edit
Snow Restaurant, Club and Sushi Bar, 109 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. 10:00-02:00. Famous for its cool air-conditioned hall that is unique in Mui Ne. European, Japanese, Russian and Vietnamese cuisines, including exotic dishes such as filet of crocodile. Lounge still open after 22:00, cinema-sessions in the evening. Free Wi-Fi, free pool, and free transfer by Taxi Mai Linh to the restaurant and back to hotel. edit
The Terrace Restaurant, 21 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St (in front of Anantara Resort), ☏ +84 62 3741293, ✉ admin@herbalhotelmuinevietnam.com. 08:00-23:00. The restaurant's first floor is fully air conditioned and the terrace on the upper floor is an open concept with a a nice view. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant specializes in sushi, fresh seafood and Vietnamese food and the bar serves beer, wine and cocktails. US$3-15. (updated Jul 2016
DRINK
Deja Vu Restaurant and Shisha Bar, 21 Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Opposite Anantara Resort), ☏ +84 62 374 1160, +84 913327232, ✉ dejavuvn@gmail.com. 11:00 - 24:00. Family restaurant focused on good food and entertainment for all the ages. Daily live music, cozy garden with kids area. Seafood, European food, Vietnamese food, kids menu, exotic food, cocktails, shisha- culture show "Folklore night" (show + dinner) every W 20:00. Exotic food show every F 19:00. edit
DJ Station (El Vagabundo), 120C Nguyen Dinh Chieu (300 m to the right when facing Sinh Cafe). 09:00-03:00. Ocean view terrace area, dining area and large dance floor. Happy hour 18:00-21:00 means selected cocktails are 30,000 dong, and regular priced cocktails are all buy-one-get-one-free. It's a popular backpacker place and usually very crowded weekends. edit
Pogo Bar, 138 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Popular place once, but you can still expect surfers and expats. Cocktails and buckets are cheap, but not tasty. edit
Mooney's Irish Bar, 121 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Phường Hàm Tiến, Thành phố Phan Thiết, Bình Thuận, Vietnam (almost opposite Joe's Cafe), ☏ +84 91 402 65 96. 18:00-02:00. A small establishment run by a genuine Irishman (which marks it out from many 'Irish' pubs in Asia), an affable chap form just outside Dublin. There's a pool table, but the best thing to do is order a beer and have a chat with Liam. (updated Jul 2018 | edit)
The Crown and Anchor, 117c Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Ham Tien Phan Thiet (about 2 minutes from Mooney's Irish Bar.). 16:00-23:45. A new establishment that promises a lot. Great design, long bar, games room with pool, darts and table football. Brian from the English Midlands and Adele from Kyrgyzstan are the friendly hosts. Live sports and Sunday Roasts are popular features. (updated Jul 2018 | edit)
Old Fashioned Bar, 151 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Phường Hàm Tiến, Thành phố Phan Thiết, Bình Thuận, ☏ +84 368 307 432. 08:00-03:00. Classic bar. Large territory: bar, hookah, restaurant area, cinema, air-conditioned room of a coffee shop, rooftop. European cuisine. Live music. The largest bar in Muine with the largest selection of coffee, tea, alcohol, cocktails and services. Located near the BOKE site.
SLEEP
Mui Ne and Ham Tien have over 200 accommodations to choose from, in every price category (US$5-200), along the main ocean strip of Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Huynh Thuc Khang ("HTK"). Small guest houses, family-run beach hotels and some big luxury resorts can also be found east of the town center of Mui Ne proper, along the road leading to the Red Sand Dunes, where Ganh Beach offers long sandy beaches and excellent kite-surfing on the east side of the Mui Ne peninsula.
Accommodations at higher addresses of Nguyen Dinh Chieu towards HTK and Mui Ne ward tend to be smaller and less expensive, somewhat removed from the main tourist section in Ham Tien and more mixed in more with local life. If a sandy beach is important to you, some research is called for before booking in that area. Many "beach side" resorts are actually against a sloping cement wall that leads into the sea. The sand itself migrates up and down the long coast seasonally leaving some areas with expansive beaches and others with little at any given time.
A few budget hotels have popped up on the inland side of the road, across from the beach side resorts. If you stay on the inland side, you will need to pass though one of the resorts to reach the beach, which might or might not result in some hassle from the guards. The resorts jealously guard their lounge chairs and palapas, though the beach itself is open to everyone. If all else fails, you can always access a nice sandy stretch of beach via the Wax Bar at 68 Nguyen Dinh Chieu.
Remember that during Tet (Vietnamese New Year), hotels and resorts are booked way in advance.
BUDGET
Go past the Pogo Bar in the direction of the fishing village to find the best budget hotels (as low as US$5 a day for adouble room with air-con).
Bao Trang, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Turn right when exiting from Sinh Cafe). Small bungalows with a beach frontage. From US$10. edit
Guest House 20, 20 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 374 1440, ✉ guesthouse20@yahoo.com.vn. Very nice guest house on main strip without beach access. Also organise tours and transport for you. Very friendly staff, family-owned and operated. From US$15. (updated Mar 2015 | edit)
Hon Di Bungalows, 70 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 847 014, ✉ hdhongdi@yahoo.com. Has simple but nice bungalows with fan and attached bath. There is a shady courtyard strung with hammocks, and four of the bungalows are directly facing the beachfront. A small restaurant and Internet access cater to your needs. US$10-12. edit
Keng Guesthouse, 185 Nguyen Dinh Chieu (About 100 m east of Phuoc Thien Pagoda), ☏ +84 62 374 3312, ✉ yongkeng999@yahoo.com. Simple, clean guest house with all the usual facilities on the quiet end of the main strip. About 15 min walk to the bar and restaurant area. Friendly English speaking owner. Dorm 100,000 dong, rooms from 160,000 dong. edit
Lan Anh, Huynh Tân Phát (Coming from Phan Thiet, turn left when entering the village, in the corner where there's a business called Nhà Tho). Local guesthouse in the village, a couple of kilometres from the resorts and beaches, but close to shops, market and street food stalls. Perfect for experiencing local life. Owner family can barely understand English but are nice. Room with 2 double beds, fan, fridge, toilet, and TV. Free Wi-Fi. 150,000 dong. edit
Mai Am Guesthouse, 148 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Beachfront bungalows with air-con, working shower, mosquito net, and nothing more. Clean pool. Beach seating with chairs and mats, although some of furniture is falling apart. Can hear next door bar till 03:00 nightly which may bother some. Also, they have monkey cages in the courtyard for some reason. US$10-15. edit
Thien Son, 102 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 384 7187, +84 91 861 0727. Guest house just down the road from Joe's cafe with clean, large rooms. Can get breakfast for about US$1. Very friendly people, though English is limited. Also organises tours to sand dunes (depends on size of group, but from US$4-9) as well as buses to Saigon and Nha Trang. From US$12. edit
1 Nam Chau Boutique Resort - Mui Ne Passion ((Formerly Nam Chau Resort)), Khu phố 5, Mũi Né (Coming from the Red Sand Dunes go down the hill towards the town of Mui Ne, the resort lies right after the Pandanus Resort on the left hand side of the road (ca. 600 m from the dunes). Coming from the town center of Mui Ne (Mui ne market or Fishing Village) turn left at the red light (in front of Blue Shell Resort), continue for about 200 m (entrance after Malibu Resort on the right hand side).), ☏ +84 252 3849 323, ✉ sales@namchauresort.com. Rustic beach resort with 48 rooms offering free WiFi, refrigerators, and TVs with cable channels in a 3-ha tropical garden on the beach in Mui Ne. Inexpensive restaurant, beach bar organising disco parties on weekends. Swimming pool, ongoing activities including kite-boarding and SUP. From US$11 for shared accommodations. Dormitories in cottages, private bungalows available.
MID-RANGE
Ngoc Suong Marina Hotel, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Across the road from TM Brothers Cafe, beside Tien Dat Resort). On the beach, with an excellent swimming pool. Rooms have mosquito nets, air-con, satellite TV, and en suite bath. US$40 including breakfast. edit
Novela Muine Resort & Spa, 96A Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Hàm Tiến, Phan Thiết (In the center of Muine Resort), ☏ +84623743456, ✉ sales@novelaresort.com. US$50 including breakfast.
SPLURGE
2 Anantara Mui Ne Resort, Mui Ne Beach, KM10 Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, ☏ +84 62 374 1888, ✉ muine@anantara.com. The resort includes 89 rooms, suites and pool villas designed according to Vietnamese tradition. US$105. (updated Jan 2017)
3 Blue Ocean Resort, 54 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 3847 322. Has various rooms and bungalows. Only metres from many of the kite surfing schools, particularly Windchimes, which is directly outside the property. 2,770,000 - 8,100,000 dong. (updated Mar 2016 | edit)
Cham Villas Boutique Luxury Resort, 32 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Has 6 villas with beach front view and 12 villas with garden view. Each villa has a king size bed, bathtub overlooking a small private garden, and a large private patio with comfortable club chairs and a day bed. edit
Grace Boutique Resort, 144A Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Has the look of a Mediterranean villa. There are only 14 rooms, all with sea views. Well-trained staff, a beautiful garden, and a charming pool. Rates include daily breakfasts. Discounts are offered during the low season and for long-term stays. It is advisable to book well ahead during the holidays. edit
4 Pandanus Resort, Block 5, Mui Ne (The average driving time from the center or airport in Ho Chi Minh City to the resort is approximately four hours. Can be reached in 20 mins by car via main road Vo Nguyen Giap from Phan Thiet city center (25 km). At the roundabout below the Red Sand Dunes turn right. The resort is the second on the left (ca. 150 m). Coming from Ham Tien and the Mui Ne fishing village take Huynh Tan Phat at the red light to another red light in from of Blue Shell Resort. Turn left, the resort will be on the right hand side after approx. 400 m.), ☏ +84 252 3849 849, ✉ pandanus@pandanusresort.com. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00 noon. 134 renovated rooms including 24 bungalows with outdoor bathtub in a relaxing beachside environment: 10 ha of lush tropical gardens within walking distance of the Red Sand Dunes. Phan Thiet's largest free-form swimming pool, 2 restaurants, 3 bars incl. lounge with live entertainment, two live bands, spa (indoor and outdoor). Weekly seafood BBQ buffets by the pool, All Inclusive package, weddings, special events, team building, tours and excursions, transfer service. Complimentary bicycle rental. Daily complimentary walking tour of Mui Ne fishing town, free shuttle service to Mui Ne, Fairy Stream and Ham Tien tourist strip. Jet Ski, surfboards, kiteboarding nearby. US$60-310 including Mui Ne's biggest breakfast buffet (based on room type and number of guests). Group discounts, All Inclusive package, honeymoon packages and special event rates available.. (updated Dec 2017 | edit)
5 The Sailing Bay Beach Resort, 107 Ho Xuan Huong St, ☏ +84 8 6282 4567, ✉ resorts@thesailingbay.com. 192 rooms with sea views, all-day restaurant, open-air beach club, a grand ballroom that accommodates 400 guests and a fully equipped board meeting room for 40 guests. On-site water sports facility with a professional international team managing board sailing, kite surfing and other activities. US$100-644 including breakfast (low-season). edit
Shades Resort, 98A Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Across from Joe's Cafe). Has 8 studios/apartments with kitchens, Jacuzzi or rainshower, preloaded computers, 42 inch flatscreen TVs and a lovely view. The site includes a swimming pool and a bar with Bon Cafe coffees made with fresh milk from Dalat. Rate includes daily breakfast, bottled water, and laundry service. US$45-200. edit
The Cliff Resort, 5, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan (Along the Nguyễn Thông road to Mũi Né), ☏ +84 252 3719 111 (HCMC), +84 24 3936 5065 (Hanoi), ✉ reservation@thecliffresort.com.vn. Check-out: 12:00. A resort complex that has many different room designs in different prices, the more big and beautiful they are, the more expensive they are. All guests can enjoy the big pool in the middle and can have access to the Mui Ne beach. The location is near Phan Thiet. US$100-500.
WIKI VOYAGE
Mũi Né is a coastal fishing town in the Bình Thuận Province of Vietnam. The town, with approximately 25,000 residents is a ward of the city of Phan Thiết. Mui Ne and the other wards of Phan Thiet that stretch along the coast for approximately 50 kilometers have been transformed into a resort destination since the mid 1990s, when many visited the area to view the solar eclipse of October 24, 1995. Most notably, tourism has developed in the area from the city center to Mũi Né, which has more than a hundred beach resorts, as well as restaurants, bars, shops and cafes.
Mũi Né ward has two beaches; Ganh Beach and Suoi Nuoc Beach, both with a number of resorts and a few shops and restaurants. But the most highly developed area is Rang Beach in Ham Tien ward, which extends west of Mui Ne. Strong sea breezes make all three beaches very popular for kitesurfing and windsurfing. The tourist season is from December to April The average temperature is 27 °C, and the climate is hot and dry much of the year.
____________________________________________
Mui Ne is a traditional fishing town in Binh Thuan Province that became a ward of the City of Phan Thiet in 1999. The name Mui Ne is often erroneously used as the general name for the main resort area in Phan Thiet along Mui Ne Bay, 220 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (South Vietnam).
Mui Ne is a coastal fishing community in Bình Thuận Province which is part of the South Central Coast of Vietnam. The town, with approximately 25,000 residents is a ward of the city of Phan Thiết. Mui Ne and the other wards of Phan Thiet that stretch along the coast for approximately 50 km have been transformed into a resort destination since the mid 1990s, when many discovered the area during the solar eclipse of October 24, 1995. Most notably, tourism has developed in the area from the city center of Phan Thiet to Mui Ne, including Phu Hai and Ham Tien wards along Phan Thiet Bay. The dense resort area along Phan Thiet Bay and beyond now boasts over two hundred beach resorts and hotels, as well as guest houses, backpacker hostels, restaurants, bars, shops and cafes.
In 2018 the Prime Minister approved the master plan to develop Mui Ne (Binh Thuan) as a National Tourist Site with a size of around 14,760 ha by 2025, with an orientation towards 2030.
An area of 1,000 ha has been defined as a core area for the establishment and development of functional areas for the tourism sector. Mui Ne National Tourism Site will be developed in an environmentally responsible way with a focus on protecting existing natural resources and environments, landscapes, and in particular the ecosystem in the Bau Trang tourist area (White Sand Dunes) as well as the sand dunes along the sea shore.
UNDERSTAND
Northeast of Phan Thiet the coastal road climbs over the slope of a Cham tower-topped hill and descends into the long, sandy crescent of Mui Ne Bay. The formerly little-inhabited beach southwest of the historic fishing village of Mui Ne proper has seen some serious development in the last 15 years. Now it is a 15 km long strip of resorts that line up like pearls on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, shaded by coconut palms. The main resort strip lies between the addresses of 2 and 98 Nguyen Dinh Chieu and is called Ham Tien. Like Mui Ne it is now a ward of the city of Phan Thiet which stretches over 50 km of coastline to the south and to the west of the original city center of Phan Thiet.
At the shoreline, nature moves the sand around, much to the dismay of some developers. Beach sand tends to migrate up and down the coast seasonally, leaving some (but not all) spots with just a concrete breakwater rather than sandy beach. There is always a good sandy beach somewhere along this 15 km beach. Accommodations at higher addresses tend to be smaller and less expensive, somewhat removed from the main tourist section and more mixed in with local life. If a sandy beach is important to you, some research is called for before booking in the area, especially after the tropical storm season. This research is important as without the beach there is little for non-kite-surfers to do in Mui Ne.
Quite a few bargain and "backpacker" hotels have popped up on the inland side of the road, across from the shoreline resorts. If you stay on the inland side, you will need to pass though one of the resorts to reach the beach, which might or might not result in some hassle from the guards. The resorts jealously guard their lounge chairs and palapas, though the beach itself is open to everyone.
Mui Ne Bay has become very popular with Russian tourists. Major Russian tour operators who bring busloads of tourists to Ham Tien and Mui Ne from the airports in Cam Ranh and Ho Chi Minh City have bought up several hotels along the main road and fill them year-round with Russian charter tour groups. English and Russian menus are common in most restaurants, and many stores and hotels are advertising and catering specifically to the Russian-speaking tourists, especially along the lowered numbered area of the strip on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street which some guidebooks have rebaptised "Little Moscow."
GET IN
BY BUS
Most overseas visitors reach Ham Tien and Mui Ne via "open tour" buses that run between Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. Most depart from Ho Chi Minh City between 07:30 and 09:00 (07:30 for Sinh Cafe's air conditioned bus) and arrive at Ham Tien and Mui Ne at about 13:00. In the opposite direction, buses typically depart from Mui Ne and Ham Tien around either 14:00 or 02:00 and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City approximately five hours later. Joe's Cafe is a good place to catch an outgoing night bus as it offers full service all night and you never know how late the bus will be. Outside Ho Chi Minh City, the coach will stop at a petrol station with a large shop and stalls selling snacks, drinks, and fruit.
The buses stop in the heart of the tourist strip in Ham Tien, so there is no need to take a taxi. The cost is about 105,000 dong each way, and tickets are sold all over the tourist districts of both Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. If you are traveling to Ho Chi Minh City from Mui Ne and Ham Tien, you will most likely be put on an already full bus traveling from Nha Trang. As you are not assigned a seat, you may not be able to sit with any traveling companions, and at some of the less scrupulous travel agents you may not even get a real seat. You might get a mat at the back of the bus with four other people.
Public buses from both destinations also travel to the Mui Ne area, though finding the departure stations and figuring out the schedule is difficult for visitors. It's not worth the trouble unless you have a strong need to depart at a different time of day other than when the open tour bus leaves. Travel agencies play dumb because they don't earn anything from helping you find a public bus. The main bus station in Phan Thiet is at Từ Văn Tư, Phú Trinh and a taxi from there to the tourist strip can cost more than your bus ticket from HCMC!
BY TRAIN
A train runs daily from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet, departing around 06:30 and arriving five hours later. The return trip leaves Phan Thiet around 13:30. The cost is quite modest at around 60,000 dong per person each way (similar to the bus). The train station in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon Railway Station) is in District 3, about 3 km from the centre. The railway station in Phan Thiet is about 5 km (80,000 dong taxi ride) from the beginning of the Ham Tien resort strip, and taxis are abundant to take you there. The railway also sometimes runs a mid-sized bus from the station to Mui Ne for 25,000 dong per person. Tickets are sold on the train, though the announcement might be made in Vietnamese only, and you need to watch carefully for the ticket sellers to pass by.
The train has regular carriages operated by the state railways, and sometimes other carriages booked and operated by private companies. The latter have somewhat larger seats for a higher price, but fall short of luxury. The regular carriages are a bit cramped for the Western-sized body. When the train is not full, railway staff usually packs everyone into one carriage, leaving another one empty, and then run a side business selling "upgrades" to the quiet, empty carriage. The entire train will be jammed on holidays.
Overall, the train is probably less comfortable and convenient than the open-tour bus, though it has some advantages. You get a better view of the countryside and avoid the endless honking of horns and lunatic driving of the bus drivers.
BY TAXI
You might consider coming to Mui Ne from Saigon by taxi, instead of open bus. The departure times of the open buses might not suit your schedule. They are also slow sometimes, because the driver makes stops at rather bad restaurants where he receives commission. The ride by taxi takes 4-5 hours, depending on road conditions, and will cost US$70-100, depending on your ability to bargain. Talk to taxi drivers in the airport to get best prices.
Fare from Tan Son Nhut Airport to Mui Ne by SATSCO is US$100/trip.
GET AROUND
You can't get lost in Mui Ne and Ham Tien, since the whole place consists of one long strip along a main street, Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Motorbike taxis are present everywhere and their drivers will bug you each time you leave the hotel or walk along the road. Along the tourist strip it is much cheaper to stop a xe om as long as you know how to bargain. It can be hard for Western tourists to get appropriate prices (10,000-15,000 dong is more than enough to pay for a ride from one place to another along the main strip). Taxis are also abundant, with fares slightly higher than Ho Chi Minh City, but still reasonable (starting at around 20,000 dong).
You can rent motorbikes and bicycles at many resorts and tour agencies. Since traffic is light, motorbikes or bicycles are a pleasant way to explore the surroundings. Motorbikes cost anywhere from 60,000-150,000 dong per day depending on how late in the day you start, how many hours you need, and age/type of motorbike (automatics can cost 230,000 dong). The locals say it's getting harder to rent because of bike thefts and police driving license enforcement. Your hotel might rent to you, which may be a bit more convenient since they already have your passport. Western tourists should avoid taking a rented motorbike to the White Sand Dunes if you are not in the possession of a Vietnamese driver's license. The Mui Ne police is known for stopping all motorbikes on the road leading to Bau Trang (White Lake) and collect at least 1 million dong from any foreigner not able to provide at least an international driver's license.
Be careful when riding a bike in Ham Tien and Mui Ne. Traffic is light, especially during the summer months, but nobody pays any attention to traffic rules. For example, it's common to see Vietnamese riders turning left from the right lane. Also, Vietnamese riders don't stop or even look when entering the main road from secondary one. The increase in big motor coaches shuttling Russain tourists in and out of Ham Tien and the uncontrolled jeeps used to bring hundreds of tourists to the White Sand Dunes every day contribute to increased risks for motorbikes and pedestrians along Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in particular. Traffic fatalities are not uncommon. Rumors are that up to 30 people die every month in accidents. If you plan to ride a bike here, investment in medical insurance, if you can get it, is a wise move.
Even-numbered addresses are on the sea side of the street, and odd numbers on the inland side. Even and odd addresses are not aligned, thus 39 on the odd side can be several hundred metres from 40 on the even side.
SEE
CHAM TOWER
The Poshanu Cham Tower in Phu Hai ward (Thap Po Sah Inu) is a derelict remainder of the ancient Cham culture that was built in the 8th century. It is still in use for religious and social gatherings by the local Cham population, especially during the annual Kate festival.
Fish Sauce Plants, where the famous nuoc mam (fish sauce) is produced. Big jars harbour the concoction that, after months in the blazing sun, is sold all over Vietnam to add some spice to the food.
The famous Red Sand Dunes (Doi Cat), on the main coastal road a short distance north of the fishing town at the north end of Mui Ne Bay, about 10 km from the main resort strip. The whole region is fairly sandy, with orange sand threatening to blow onto the coastal road in some spots. The dunes that visitors visit are about 50 ha (1/2 km²) of open sand on a hillside with ten-meter undulations, staffed by dusty children with plastic slides, who will offer instruction and assistance if you want to slide on the sand. Caution is recommended since a number of tourists have lost money, cameras or cell phones in the sand or through theft and pick-pocketing on the dunes. The sand dunes offer nice views of the sea coast to the north. On the opposite side of the road are a series of small cafes (illegally built but tolerated by the local police), where you can park your vehicle for a small fee if you ride there on your own. Most day tours sold by local tour operators include a stop at the dunes. The trip by taxi from the main resort strip in Ham Tien is about 170,000 dong each way, and less by xe om. It is reachable by bicycle in 30-45 minutes, passing the Fairy Stream on the way. From the resorts on Malibu Beach (Ganh Beach) it is just a short 5 to 10 minute walk to the bottom of the dunes.
Mui Ne Market (Chợ Mũi Né) and fishing harbor (Lang chai Mui Ne). If you are staying on the resort strip in Ham Tien or Phu Hai wards, don't miss out to visit this once quiet "fishing village" but nowadays bustling town, at the northeast end of Mui Ne Bay. The coastal road leads straight into the town (with a left turn required at the first red light to continue up the coast). If you arrive during the dry "winter" season, don't miss the harbor overlook at the entrance to Mui Ne with a splendid view of hundreds of colorful fishing boats moored in the bay. The boats move to the other side of the "Shelter Cape" (English translation of "Mui Ne") during the monsoon season from May through October, when the wind direction changes from mainly northeast to mainly southwest. Further along into town, just off the main road, there is a colorful local market. If you take your transport just down to the water, you will reach the fishing harbor, where you can purchase fresh seafood (if you have any means to cook it) or purchase steamed crabs, shellfish, etc. to eat on the spot from local vendors. Walking along the beach, you'll pass by fishermen sorting out their catch, ship-wharves and, at the southern end of town, a section where clams have been rid of their shells for many years, so the sand on the beach is by now substituted with littered shells. Be prepared to encounter piles and stretches of rubbish on the beach.
The Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien) is a little creek that winds its way through bamboo forests, boulders and the dunes behind the village, in parts resembling a miniature version of the Grand Canyon. Local children will want to accompany you to show you the way (and of course earn a dollar or so), but since you're just following the stream, there's little need. For the most part, the stream is about ankle-deep and no more than knee-deep even at its deepest. It is sandy with few stones and can be walked comfortably barefooted. You can climb up the red sand hills overlooking the river valley and even walk there parallel to the river, however, the sand may be hot on a sunny day, so bring some footwear. Walking upstream for about 20 minutes, you will reach a small waterfall into at most waist-deep water, great to take a refreshing bath before heading back. To reach the stream, head along the main road towards the east until you cross a small bridge. The stream is underneath, you will see a sign pointing towards a path to the left, go that way to reach an easy place to enter the stream. By bicycle it's about 15 minutes from the main resort strip and shouldn't be more than 20,000 dong by xe om. You can enter somewhere along the beach or at the bridge where you will be charged 10,000 dong for entry (although entrance is officially free) and 5,000 dong for motorcycle parking.
The White Sand Dunes are approximately 45 km away from the Ham Tien tourist strip to the northeast, and some 24 km from the Red Sand Dunes and nearby resorts on the east side of the Mui Ne peninsula (GPS 11.068254 108.428513). Trips are offered by any tourist agency along the resort stretch for 4x4 or quad drives, as well as by some resorts with their own vehicles. While too far away for a bicycle trip especially in summer, a motorbike trip can bring you there. Make sure to bring an international driver's licence if you do not own a Vietnamese one (driving without Vietnamese driver's license is illegal in Vietnam), the local police is well-known for stopping foreigners on motorbikes on their way to and from the White Sand Dunes and extort a fine (up to 1 million dong) or sometimes even confiscate the motorbike. Entrance is a 10,000 dong fee.
DO
KITE SURFING
Kitesurfing is offered by many outfitters and hotels. Kite surfing instruction is available, starting at US$60/hour, beginners package of 7 lessons start at US$350. From November till March you generally will have strong winds every day. The Winds in Mui Ne emerge by thermal movements, after the shores got warmed by the sun. You will have perfect wind everyday from 11:00 until the late evening. Gusty winds are seldom. With strong winds, the sometimes choppy waves can be as high as 4 m and more. The water is free of rocks, which makes it relatively safe to kite. However in the peak season there up to 300 kiters in the water at the same time. Beginners and Students, who mainly practice close to the beach front makes things a bit more dangerous. So watch out for other kitersurfers and swimmers and control the speed, in particularly because swimmers are difficult to see when waves are high. Accidents between kitesurfers or between kitesurfers and Swimmers happen from time to time and medical facilities are limited in terms of their equipment and abilities.
There are several kitesurfing schools along the beach, which all employ beach boys who will help you to start and launch the kite. It is widely common to tip the beach boys with US$1/day. If you bring your own equipment and don't want to carry it from and to your hotel every day, you can store it at one of the kitesurfing schools for US$20/week or US$60/month, including usage of their compressors and shower facilities.
If you are a beginner but already can practice independent without an instructor, you might avoid the area around Sunshine Beach Hotel/Sankara/Wax, because there are too many kite surfers and swimmers which may lead to accidents, particularly if you can not fully control the kite. Try the western part of beach front around the Kitesurfing School Windchimes. There are less kiters in this area and you can practice without bringing you and others into danger.
There is a place called "wave spot" or "Malibu beach" (10.92676, 108.29500). It is suitable only for intermediate/advanced kiters, but its much less crowded there.
OTHERS
All-terrain vehicle. You can ride one on white sand dunes.
Cooking classes, 400,000 dong/hr. If you want to learn to cook Vietnamese food, check cooking classes near C2SKY kitesurfing school (opposite Kim Shop). You will learn to cook pancakes, Pho Bo soup, shrimp salad and fresh spring rolls. All ingredients are ready, you'll just mix them under supervision of Vietnamese cook.
Day tours, US$10-13. Travel agents and restaurants abound with day tour offerings. The standard half day tour takes in the fishing village, fairy stream, and the red and while sand dunes. Tours normally start at either 17:00 or 14:30 so you can watch the sunrise/sunset over the sand dunes.
Balloon riding, ☏ +841208536828, ✉ booking@vietnamballoons.com. 05:00-08:00. Mui Ne is the only place in Vietnam where you can fly hot air balloons. A balloon company has European management, balloons, and pilots. Most flights take place over white sand dunes. When the winds in dunes are too strong, flights take place from Phan Thiet city centre. (updated Jan 2018 | edit)
Sailing, 108 Huynh Thuc Khang. Manta Sail Training Centre was newly founded in 2010 and water sport has been gaining popularity since then. Classes are available at US$50/hour for individuals with certified international and local instructors. The sailing area is safe, quiet, with no swimmers and only a few advanced kitesurfers. edit
Surfing. Sometimes you get good waves in mornings of windy season. Lessons, day trips and rentals are available, don't hesitate to ask around. While Mui Ne is not the best destination for surfing, it can be good place to give it a try.
Swimming. The sea is wonderfully warm, but it can be quite rough, with large waves and a strong rip tide. When the tide is in, there is not much of a beach to speak of. When wind is blowing it can be quite chilly to even think of swimming. The area between kilometre markers 11 and 13 has the largest stretch of enduring sandy beach. Since large waves normally emerge after 11:00 you might prefer to swim in the early morning hours, when the water is flat and free of Kitesurfers. Most mid-range and top-end resorts have swimming pools for their guests. Some are open for day users starting at 80,000 dong per day. But you can always behave as guest from this hotel and buy a few drinks for these 80,000 dong.
Water sports. Most outfitters offer a host of water sports including kayaking, paddle surfing, and jet ski rental.
Windsurfing. If you like to do some windsurfing, go to eastern part of Mui Ne. Starting from Hai Au resort, there are some hotels that are offering good place to water start, rent or store your gear.
BUY
Along the Mui Ne strip are several small nameless shops; all selling the same sundries and souvenirs. You can find packaged snacks (Oreos, cakes, biscuits, ice cream, etc.), liquor, clothing, and souvenirs.
Anything beyond very basic necessities should be brought with you. There is a small pharmacy, but it would be wise to bring your own first aid kit.
Standard souvenirs offered include wooden and lacquered bowls, wooden statues, snake whiskey, and pearl necklaces. Compared with Ho Chi Minh City, souvenirs are almost five times more expensive in Mui Ne. The same small wooden bowl selling for US$3 in HCMC is US$14 in Mui Ne.
Several travel agencies along the strip also double as used book stores. Most have a few shelves of English books, along with a small selection in German and French. Books cost 80,000-100,000 dong and most shops will give a 50% discount if you trade in a book.
Coop Mart, Phan Thiet (corner of Nguyen Tat Thanh and Tran Hung Dao), ☏ +84 62 3835440, +84 62 3835455. 08:00-21:30. A large, Western-style grocery store that also sells books, jewellery and necessities.
EAT
Every resort area in Ham Tien and Mui Ne is surrounded by restaurants specializing in seafood. The food is invariably fresh, well-prepared, and served in friendly and interesting surroundings. By all means get out of your hotel and try one of the local restaurants. The best restaurants are a motorbike ride away, found outside of the tourist/resort district on the ocean.
1 Bo Ke Street (Go to the fishing village past the Tien Dat Hotel until you see many small cafes near seashore). This is a street full of local cafes that serve BBQ seafood. Prices are very cheap and choice is wide. Scallops with onion and garlic sauce are must-to-have here. If you're a fussy about hygiene, don't bother coming here. edit
Joe's (The Art Cafe), 86 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien (Across from Shades Resort), ☏ +84 62 374 3447. 24 hr daily. Joe's is the only place open 24/7 in Mui Ne. It's a cosy old farmhouse cafe offering Western fare. A Canadian developed the menu, and the pancakes with maple syrup (50,000 dong including coffee) are great. The sandwiches with home cut fries and salad (60,000 dong) are also recommended. Two movies are shown each evening in the pillow-filled loft. Free Wi-fi, exhibits and live performances. A great place to have your bus pick you up at 02:00 when you head out and great for a chill spot for after party breakfast or a romantic glass of wine. A 24-hr supermarket is part of the complex. Joe is on the strip, offering now even accommodation. Drinks 10,000 - 60,000 dong, meals 50,000 - 120,000 dong. edit
Lâm Tòng, 92 Nguyễn Đinh Chiêu (Right on the beach next to Jibes under some shady palms), ☏ +84 62 384 7598. You can even sit at tables in the sand. There's a little hut with hammocks strung. Try one of the pancakes (bánh xèo) with condensed milk (sữa đặc), the fried fish with lemon, and the chicken fried in fish sauce. edit
2 Pho Bo and sandwiches, Bo Ke St (Go past Bo Ke St in the direction of Pogo Bar, small pavilion on the right). The only place to have food at night (since Joe's doesn't serve food at night anymore). They serve nice sandwiches with chicken and scrambled eggs (30,000 dong). Also you can have pho bo here. edit
3 Santimatti Pizzeria, 83 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. Classic Italian cuisine. Place is nice looking, with a good atmosphere. Locals and long stayers enjoy a 10% discount with membership card. Owner is on-site, so expect good service. edit
4 Sindbad Kebap, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (opposite Pogo Bar). Good beef/chicken/veggie kebabs, shawarma and tsatsiki. edit
Smoky House, 125 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. Offers large, high-quality meals, and offers all customers free ice cream. edit
Snow Restaurant, Club and Sushi Bar, 109 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. 10:00-02:00. Famous for its cool air-conditioned hall that is unique in Mui Ne. European, Japanese, Russian and Vietnamese cuisines, including exotic dishes such as filet of crocodile. Lounge still open after 22:00, cinema-sessions in the evening. Free Wi-Fi, free pool, and free transfer by Taxi Mai Linh to the restaurant and back to hotel. edit
The Terrace Restaurant, 21 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St (in front of Anantara Resort), ☏ +84 62 3741293, ✉ admin@herbalhotelmuinevietnam.com. 08:00-23:00. The restaurant's first floor is fully air conditioned and the terrace on the upper floor is an open concept with a a nice view. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant specializes in sushi, fresh seafood and Vietnamese food and the bar serves beer, wine and cocktails. US$3-15. (updated Jul 2016
DRINK
Deja Vu Restaurant and Shisha Bar, 21 Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Opposite Anantara Resort), ☏ +84 62 374 1160, +84 913327232, ✉ dejavuvn@gmail.com. 11:00 - 24:00. Family restaurant focused on good food and entertainment for all the ages. Daily live music, cozy garden with kids area. Seafood, European food, Vietnamese food, kids menu, exotic food, cocktails, shisha- culture show "Folklore night" (show + dinner) every W 20:00. Exotic food show every F 19:00. edit
DJ Station (El Vagabundo), 120C Nguyen Dinh Chieu (300 m to the right when facing Sinh Cafe). 09:00-03:00. Ocean view terrace area, dining area and large dance floor. Happy hour 18:00-21:00 means selected cocktails are 30,000 dong, and regular priced cocktails are all buy-one-get-one-free. It's a popular backpacker place and usually very crowded weekends. edit
Pogo Bar, 138 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Popular place once, but you can still expect surfers and expats. Cocktails and buckets are cheap, but not tasty. edit
Mooney's Irish Bar, 121 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Phường Hàm Tiến, Thành phố Phan Thiết, Bình Thuận, Vietnam (almost opposite Joe's Cafe), ☏ +84 91 402 65 96. 18:00-02:00. A small establishment run by a genuine Irishman (which marks it out from many 'Irish' pubs in Asia), an affable chap form just outside Dublin. There's a pool table, but the best thing to do is order a beer and have a chat with Liam. (updated Jul 2018 | edit)
The Crown and Anchor, 117c Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Ham Tien Phan Thiet (about 2 minutes from Mooney's Irish Bar.). 16:00-23:45. A new establishment that promises a lot. Great design, long bar, games room with pool, darts and table football. Brian from the English Midlands and Adele from Kyrgyzstan are the friendly hosts. Live sports and Sunday Roasts are popular features. (updated Jul 2018 | edit)
Old Fashioned Bar, 151 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Phường Hàm Tiến, Thành phố Phan Thiết, Bình Thuận, ☏ +84 368 307 432. 08:00-03:00. Classic bar. Large territory: bar, hookah, restaurant area, cinema, air-conditioned room of a coffee shop, rooftop. European cuisine. Live music. The largest bar in Muine with the largest selection of coffee, tea, alcohol, cocktails and services. Located near the BOKE site.
SLEEP
Mui Ne and Ham Tien have over 200 accommodations to choose from, in every price category (US$5-200), along the main ocean strip of Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Huynh Thuc Khang ("HTK"). Small guest houses, family-run beach hotels and some big luxury resorts can also be found east of the town center of Mui Ne proper, along the road leading to the Red Sand Dunes, where Ganh Beach offers long sandy beaches and excellent kite-surfing on the east side of the Mui Ne peninsula.
Accommodations at higher addresses of Nguyen Dinh Chieu towards HTK and Mui Ne ward tend to be smaller and less expensive, somewhat removed from the main tourist section in Ham Tien and more mixed in more with local life. If a sandy beach is important to you, some research is called for before booking in that area. Many "beach side" resorts are actually against a sloping cement wall that leads into the sea. The sand itself migrates up and down the long coast seasonally leaving some areas with expansive beaches and others with little at any given time.
A few budget hotels have popped up on the inland side of the road, across from the beach side resorts. If you stay on the inland side, you will need to pass though one of the resorts to reach the beach, which might or might not result in some hassle from the guards. The resorts jealously guard their lounge chairs and palapas, though the beach itself is open to everyone. If all else fails, you can always access a nice sandy stretch of beach via the Wax Bar at 68 Nguyen Dinh Chieu.
Remember that during Tet (Vietnamese New Year), hotels and resorts are booked way in advance.
BUDGET
Go past the Pogo Bar in the direction of the fishing village to find the best budget hotels (as low as US$5 a day for adouble room with air-con).
Bao Trang, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Turn right when exiting from Sinh Cafe). Small bungalows with a beach frontage. From US$10. edit
Guest House 20, 20 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 374 1440, ✉ guesthouse20@yahoo.com.vn. Very nice guest house on main strip without beach access. Also organise tours and transport for you. Very friendly staff, family-owned and operated. From US$15. (updated Mar 2015 | edit)
Hon Di Bungalows, 70 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 847 014, ✉ hdhongdi@yahoo.com. Has simple but nice bungalows with fan and attached bath. There is a shady courtyard strung with hammocks, and four of the bungalows are directly facing the beachfront. A small restaurant and Internet access cater to your needs. US$10-12. edit
Keng Guesthouse, 185 Nguyen Dinh Chieu (About 100 m east of Phuoc Thien Pagoda), ☏ +84 62 374 3312, ✉ yongkeng999@yahoo.com. Simple, clean guest house with all the usual facilities on the quiet end of the main strip. About 15 min walk to the bar and restaurant area. Friendly English speaking owner. Dorm 100,000 dong, rooms from 160,000 dong. edit
Lan Anh, Huynh Tân Phát (Coming from Phan Thiet, turn left when entering the village, in the corner where there's a business called Nhà Tho). Local guesthouse in the village, a couple of kilometres from the resorts and beaches, but close to shops, market and street food stalls. Perfect for experiencing local life. Owner family can barely understand English but are nice. Room with 2 double beds, fan, fridge, toilet, and TV. Free Wi-Fi. 150,000 dong. edit
Mai Am Guesthouse, 148 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Beachfront bungalows with air-con, working shower, mosquito net, and nothing more. Clean pool. Beach seating with chairs and mats, although some of furniture is falling apart. Can hear next door bar till 03:00 nightly which may bother some. Also, they have monkey cages in the courtyard for some reason. US$10-15. edit
Thien Son, 102 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 384 7187, +84 91 861 0727. Guest house just down the road from Joe's cafe with clean, large rooms. Can get breakfast for about US$1. Very friendly people, though English is limited. Also organises tours to sand dunes (depends on size of group, but from US$4-9) as well as buses to Saigon and Nha Trang. From US$12. edit
1 Nam Chau Boutique Resort - Mui Ne Passion ((Formerly Nam Chau Resort)), Khu phố 5, Mũi Né (Coming from the Red Sand Dunes go down the hill towards the town of Mui Ne, the resort lies right after the Pandanus Resort on the left hand side of the road (ca. 600 m from the dunes). Coming from the town center of Mui Ne (Mui ne market or Fishing Village) turn left at the red light (in front of Blue Shell Resort), continue for about 200 m (entrance after Malibu Resort on the right hand side).), ☏ +84 252 3849 323, ✉ sales@namchauresort.com. Rustic beach resort with 48 rooms offering free WiFi, refrigerators, and TVs with cable channels in a 3-ha tropical garden on the beach in Mui Ne. Inexpensive restaurant, beach bar organising disco parties on weekends. Swimming pool, ongoing activities including kite-boarding and SUP. From US$11 for shared accommodations. Dormitories in cottages, private bungalows available.
MID-RANGE
Ngoc Suong Marina Hotel, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Across the road from TM Brothers Cafe, beside Tien Dat Resort). On the beach, with an excellent swimming pool. Rooms have mosquito nets, air-con, satellite TV, and en suite bath. US$40 including breakfast. edit
Novela Muine Resort & Spa, 96A Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Hàm Tiến, Phan Thiết (In the center of Muine Resort), ☏ +84623743456, ✉ sales@novelaresort.com. US$50 including breakfast.
SPLURGE
2 Anantara Mui Ne Resort, Mui Ne Beach, KM10 Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, ☏ +84 62 374 1888, ✉ muine@anantara.com. The resort includes 89 rooms, suites and pool villas designed according to Vietnamese tradition. US$105. (updated Jan 2017)
3 Blue Ocean Resort, 54 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 3847 322. Has various rooms and bungalows. Only metres from many of the kite surfing schools, particularly Windchimes, which is directly outside the property. 2,770,000 - 8,100,000 dong. (updated Mar 2016 | edit)
Cham Villas Boutique Luxury Resort, 32 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Has 6 villas with beach front view and 12 villas with garden view. Each villa has a king size bed, bathtub overlooking a small private garden, and a large private patio with comfortable club chairs and a day bed. edit
Grace Boutique Resort, 144A Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Has the look of a Mediterranean villa. There are only 14 rooms, all with sea views. Well-trained staff, a beautiful garden, and a charming pool. Rates include daily breakfasts. Discounts are offered during the low season and for long-term stays. It is advisable to book well ahead during the holidays. edit
4 Pandanus Resort, Block 5, Mui Ne (The average driving time from the center or airport in Ho Chi Minh City to the resort is approximately four hours. Can be reached in 20 mins by car via main road Vo Nguyen Giap from Phan Thiet city center (25 km). At the roundabout below the Red Sand Dunes turn right. The resort is the second on the left (ca. 150 m). Coming from Ham Tien and the Mui Ne fishing village take Huynh Tan Phat at the red light to another red light in from of Blue Shell Resort. Turn left, the resort will be on the right hand side after approx. 400 m.), ☏ +84 252 3849 849, ✉ pandanus@pandanusresort.com. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00 noon. 134 renovated rooms including 24 bungalows with outdoor bathtub in a relaxing beachside environment: 10 ha of lush tropical gardens within walking distance of the Red Sand Dunes. Phan Thiet's largest free-form swimming pool, 2 restaurants, 3 bars incl. lounge with live entertainment, two live bands, spa (indoor and outdoor). Weekly seafood BBQ buffets by the pool, All Inclusive package, weddings, special events, team building, tours and excursions, transfer service. Complimentary bicycle rental. Daily complimentary walking tour of Mui Ne fishing town, free shuttle service to Mui Ne, Fairy Stream and Ham Tien tourist strip. Jet Ski, surfboards, kiteboarding nearby. US$60-310 including Mui Ne's biggest breakfast buffet (based on room type and number of guests). Group discounts, All Inclusive package, honeymoon packages and special event rates available.. (updated Dec 2017 | edit)
5 The Sailing Bay Beach Resort, 107 Ho Xuan Huong St, ☏ +84 8 6282 4567, ✉ resorts@thesailingbay.com. 192 rooms with sea views, all-day restaurant, open-air beach club, a grand ballroom that accommodates 400 guests and a fully equipped board meeting room for 40 guests. On-site water sports facility with a professional international team managing board sailing, kite surfing and other activities. US$100-644 including breakfast (low-season). edit
Shades Resort, 98A Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Across from Joe's Cafe). Has 8 studios/apartments with kitchens, Jacuzzi or rainshower, preloaded computers, 42 inch flatscreen TVs and a lovely view. The site includes a swimming pool and a bar with Bon Cafe coffees made with fresh milk from Dalat. Rate includes daily breakfast, bottled water, and laundry service. US$45-200. edit
The Cliff Resort, 5, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan (Along the Nguyễn Thông road to Mũi Né), ☏ +84 252 3719 111 (HCMC), +84 24 3936 5065 (Hanoi), ✉ reservation@thecliffresort.com.vn. Check-out: 12:00. A resort complex that has many different room designs in different prices, the more big and beautiful they are, the more expensive they are. All guests can enjoy the big pool in the middle and can have access to the Mui Ne beach. The location is near Phan Thiet. US$100-500.
WIKI VOYAGE
Goal: Branding for an upcoming series on Romans 8 on the trans-formative work of Jesus . Will be used on sunday mornings on our screens, in small group booklets, and website
Audience: general church (college, young adults, lots of married couples, empty nesters...)
Direction: i'm going for something simple, clean, that clearly communicates the message of the series
Project: Transformed sermon series
Other important info: This series will also mark a lot of changes in our ministry structure, sort of a shift to more disciple based programs. My main concern with this idea is that I want something simple and clean, not plain and boring. Many times i feel that there is a thin line between the two if I am not careful.
Transform your February into a candy-coated confection with next month's winning theme... SweetHearts!
Description:
Wishing you a sweet Valentine's Day that's filled with love and sugar! ♥
● Do you have an idea for a theme you'd like to see at Collabor88? We'd love to see it!
● If your theme is voted the winner, you'll also receive a day of early access shopping to the event!
Prince George-area MLAs joined with the community to celebrate the launch of Foundry Prince George, a new integrated youth-service centre.
Foundry will bring existing services under one roof so families and young people can access a one-stop shop for primary-care, mental-health, substance-use, and social services. The centre, for youth between the ages of 12 and 24 years, is hosted by the YMCA of Northern BC and anticipates being fully operational and accepting clients by spring 2017.
Learn more: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017HLTH0005-000064
Funeral de José Órdenes en Cementerio El Prado, tras misa en Iglesia Divina Providencia. 8 de septiembre, 2013.
Más info: www.movilh.cl/gran-perdida-fallece-brillante-transformist...
SEM Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé est arrivé ce 09 mai à Kigali, pour prendre part comme invité d’honneur à la troisième édition du sommet Transform Africa qui se tient au Rwanda du 10 au 12 mai 2017.
Transform Africa est un cadre global de réflexion dédié à la promotion de nouvelles manières de concevoir, d'accélérer et de soutenir l’évolution numérique et la mettre au service des communautés en Afrique. L’évènement est organisé sous l’égide de l’alliance Smart Africa.
Pour les 18 États membres de Smart Africa, dont le Togo, l’enjeu est de bâtir, par une approche intégrée, une économie connectée, concurrentielle et innovante pour faire de l’Afrique un cadre prospère pour ses filles et ses fils et également un pôle compétitif vis-à-vis des autres parties du monde.
Pour la cérémonie d’ouverture qui s’est déroulée au Kigali Conference Center, les chefs d’Etat rwandais et togolais étaient notamment entourés de la Directrice générale de l’Unesco et de la Présidente d’Onufem.
transforming my roommate-23
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Notice : Release every 3 days
Jamie”s right, that shirt feels very familiar to me for some reason.
Jamie”s waist may not be as narrow as Mariah”s, and Jamie”s girls certainly aren”t as a big, but she still looks very hot in that top
Barbara”s positive
Roadies - Series
"Roadies! - No, not that kind..."
My love of street photography has transformed my daily drives into a world where anything is possible. All of these photos are taken while driving in a style of street photography that I've created as a method of challenging myself to produce artwork in spite of not giving myself the time to walk around in an urban setting to take photos in a classical sense of the style. This has left me with the task of overcoming many challenges that make this body of work unique. Freezing time and motion while traveling anywhere from 10 to 90 MPH in a vehicle, reliance on manually zone focusing with various cameras and lenses for where I believe the subject of my photos will appear, various depth of different lenses when stopped down to a particular aperture, high ISO for images taken at minimally lit hours around dawn and dusk, high levels of cropping and straightening images to best compose a shot that falls short, the reflections present when shooting through the vehicle's windows, color anomalies when using polarizer filters, and a wealth of other things with metering, available light, and more.
This series is special to me for all these challenges and more.
transforming my roommate-21
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Barbara continues to help her friend by convincing her that she can”t go through life as a woman in boxers. Jamie resists as always, but finally agrees to try some panties
Barbara hates to see Jamie struggle so much with her transition into womanhood, so she
Here's how a fan transformed their garage with Gladiator! See more photos in the Gladiator Transformed My Garage Group.
I had a dream that I was in a store where they were selling Blacksuits but in the dream they were morphing into different shapes or textures or changing from orange and black to yellow, blue and white. These images created with prompts using recraftai get close to how the figurines looked in the dream.
An attractive village and a delight to visit.
It lies in a delightful small valley in South Oxfordshire.
The name derives from Ae-whylme, meaning 'waters whelming' and refers to a spring which forms the Kings pool (reputedly a place where Henry VIII bathed when staying at Ewelme Palace). This spring is the source off the fast flowing Ewelme Brook.
The Ewelme Brook was at one time used extensively for the cultivation of watercress. However, during the last quarter of the 1900s, regulations prevented the sale of watercress from Ewelme and this, together with greater competition from other areas and countries, led to the industry's demise. Production ceased in 1988.
Although watercress is no longer grown commercially the beds still extend through the entire length of the village as a reminder of times when the local industry thrived. The 6.5 acre site is now owned and conserved by The Chiltern Society.
In the 15th Century Alice Chaucer, grand-daughter of poet Geoffrey Chaucer, devoted her life to transforming Ewelme into the perfect village. Married to William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, Alice built the church and adjacent cloistered almshouses. In 1437 she built a school, which is now believed to be Britain's oldest school building still in use as a local authority school.
Both Alice and her Father are buried in St Mary's Church.
Jerome K. Jerome, the author of Three Men In A Boat, is also buried in St. Mary's churchyard..
President Kagame meets with Miroslav Lajčák, United Nations General Assembly President on the sidelines of Transform Africa Summit 2018.
BT ArtBox project celebrating 25 years of Childline
ArtBox Title: Leake St Hot Lips
Artist: Mr Shiz in collaboration with The Old Vic Tunnels
Location: Baker Street
Open-air art exhibition across London - Summer 2012
• BT marked 25th anniversary of ChildLine with launch of open-air art exhibition in London
• BT ArtBox project saw leading artists, designers and creatives transform full-size replicas of iconic Gilbert Scott–designed red telephone box into stunning artworks
• Throughout June and July 2012, BT ArtBoxes were on display in high-profile locations across the capital
• The National Portrait Gallery hosted a gala auction on July 18 where the ArtBoxes were auctioned to raise money for ChildLine
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChildLine, BT announced the launch of the BT ArtBox project – a new public art exhibition set to take over the capital Summer 2012.
Leading artists, designers and creatives from around the world were invited to apply their individual talents to re-style that much-loved icon of British design, the traditional red telephone box.
Each artist or designer took delivery of a full-size, fibre-glass replica of the Sir Giles Gilbert Scott-designed original K6 telephone kiosk, which was introduced in 1936 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of the coronation of King George V.
Participating artists included 2002 Turner prize winner Keith Tyson, Romero Britto and Royal Academician Professor of Sculpture David Mach, along with fashion designers Giles Deacon and Zandra Rhodes.
The BT ArtBoxes were on display in high-profile locations around the capital between June 18 and July 16 before being auctioned off at a VIP Gala Auction at the National Portrait Gallery on July 18 to raise funds for BT’s long-time partner ChildLine.
Esther Rantzen OBE, founder of ChildLine and patron of the BT ArtBox project, said: “I’m thrilled that ChildLine’s 25th birthday is to be celebrated by such a unique and inspiring project as BT Artbox.
“The red phone box is a much loved symbol of British culture and I’m keen to see how the artists involved will create new masterpieces from such an iconic canvas. It’s fantastic that the proceeds from the sale of the boxes will raise vital funds to support the work of ChildLine, enabling us to help many more children and young people to get comfort, advice and protection when they need it most.”
Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery and patron of the BT ArtBox project, said: “The Gilbert Scott telephone box is a truly iconic British design, and I’m looking forwards to seeing how artists and designers transform the replica boxes into works of art on London’s streets.”
David Mach, said: “It’s great to be involved with the ArtBox Exhibition. I get to kill more than two birds with one stone...work with a great charity (hopefully make money for it) and a classic British design. I love all things Gilbert Scott. Anything that encourages us to get his design back on our streets does it for me”.
Suzi Williams, director of BT Group Marketing and Brand, said: “BT has a history of supporting British cultural initiatives and 2012 is no exception. What better way to celebrate ChildLine's 25th anniversary than transforming replicas of the classic red phone box into a public art exhibition that can be enjoyed by all in the build-up to the Games this summer."
Martine Ainsworth-Wells, London & Partners, Marketing and Communications director, said:
“London & Partners is excited to support BT ArtBox in the run up to London 2012. BT ArtBox will bring some of the UK’s finest artistic talents to London’s streets, adding a new creative dimension to the capital at such an important time in its history.”
Artists and creatives who were interested in designing an ArtBox visited btartbox.com for more information about how to get involved.
The BT ArtBox project was supported by the Mayor of London, Professor Malcolm Garrett RDI, London & Partners, The May Fair Hotel, Harvey Nichols, The Times and The Sunday Times and borough councils across the capital.
Images of Malcolm Garrett, Interaction Designer, Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, David Mach RA, Sculptor, Esther Rantzen, founder of ChildLine and Lauren O'Farrell, Artist at the launch of the BT ArtBox project at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, central London today are available at:
imagelibrary.btplc.com/assetbank-btplc/action/browseItems...
Top 10 facts about the K6 red phone box
1. Kiosk number 6 or “Jubilee Kiosk” commemorates the Silver Jubilee of the coronation of King George V.
2. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott also designed Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, Battersea Power Station and Bankside Power Station now Tate Modern.
3. More than 1,600 decommissioned red phone boxes, mostly K6s, have been sold to local communities for just a £1 under BT’s Adopt a Kiosk scheme. Uses include being fitted with lifesaving defibrillation machines, turned into art galleries and public libraries.
4. The K6 was the first kiosk installed nationwide and the standard kiosk across the UK until the introduction of the K8 in 1968.
5. The K6 kiosk is made from cast iron with a teak door. It is 8’3” tall (2.4 metres) and weighs three quarters of a ton (762 kilograms).
6. The K6 design was approved by the Post Office and the Royal Fine Arts Commission, which endorsed “Post Office red” as the standard colour.
7. Although Scott agreed to the use of “Post Office red” he was never a supporter of the colour and initially suggested the outside of the kiosk be painted silver and the inside greenish-blue. He strongly urged rural kiosks be painted dove-grey.
8. Two K6 kiosks were installed in France during 1995, for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
9. Several red K6’s have been transformed into combined payphones and cash machines.
10.There are 11,000 red phone boxes in use in the UK.
About ChildLine
ChildLine on 0800 1111 and www.childline.org.uk is the UK’s only free, 24-hour helpline for children in danger or distress. Trained volunteer counsellors comfort, advice and protect children and young people. ChildLine is a service within the NSPCC. In Scotland it is delivered by CHILDREN 1ST on behalf of the NSPCC. Calls to ChildLine on 0800 1111 are confidential, but if a child is in immediate danger the counsellor will let the caller know if they have to break confidentially and contact the emergency services to save the child’s life.
Every £20 raised could help ChildLine answer another five calls from children who dial our helpline. If you are worried about a child or would like to make a donation, please visit the NSPCC website www.nspcc.org.uk
Traffic flowed on 1st Ave.
Sunday, June 10 2018 – 12pm to 8pm
Italian Day on The Drive is a vibrant cultural street festival celebrating Italian culture, heritage and community with over 120 street participants, comprised of partners, merchants, vendors and community organizations – and an estimated 200,000+ attendees of all ages and cultures. Commercial Drive (The Drive), home to Little Italy, is the designated location for the annual festival where the street is transformed into a lively 14 block fiesta.
For my video; youtu.be/QJS12mcEMfQ
A railroad sleeper near Jinja, Unganda, September 2010.
U.S. Army photos by John Hanson
Railways, the technology that transformed Europe and America in the 19th century, may yet play a significant role in the future economic development of Uganda.
Two U.S. Army logisticians, John Hanson from U.S. Army Africa’s G-4 Programs and Policy Branch, and Lloyd Coakley, from the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command’s Transportation Engineering Agency, conducted a four-day assessment of Ugandan railway infrastructure Sept. 13-17 at the request of the Uganda People’s Defense Force’s Engineer Brigade.
The mission was to determine the current operational status of the Uganda railway system and its rolling stock, to assess the capability of UPDF personnel to rehabilitate the network, and to identify potential sites for training and repair operations. USARAF and SDDC were invited to contribute their expertise by Brig. Gen. Timothy Sabiiti, commander of the Uganda People’s Defense Force’s Engineer Brigade, Hanson said.
“He’s been charged with assisting in the rehabilitation of the railways. It would have a very positive economic impact, including natural resource development. It’s a five-year plan, a complete rehabilitation of the railroad. That’s why they’re doing it. It’s all civil development, but the railroad would be used by the military, too. It would enhance their mobility,” Hanson said.
Ugandan assessment team members included Engineer Murungi Daudi, Brig. Gen. George Etyang, Nakaliika Rahmat, Lt. Col. Luke Arikosi, and Engineer Kyamugambi Kasingye. Hanson, Coakley, and their Ugandan hosts, accompanied by a representative of the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, assessed the railroad stations and infrastructure in Jinja, Tororo, Mbale, Kumi, Soroti, Lira and Gulu. They also toured the Nalukolongo Railway Repair Facility in Kampala, he said.
“It’s a significant percentage of the railroad, the majority of the rail lines. We saw almost the entire rail line that has not been completely abandoned,” Hanson said.
The assessment team found the condition of the Ugandan system to vary greatly by region. The railway is still fully functional and operating in the Jinja-Tororo area, Hanson said. Tororo is the easternmost link on the line before it crosses into Kenya, heading for the coast at Mombasa.
As the team progressed north, however, damaged rails were common place, and track along the western section, from Gulu to Pakwach, is in general disrepair, a result of the area being for years under control of the Lord’s Resistance Army.
“It’s been pretty much abandoned since then,” Hanson said.
Nonetheless, the Ugandan-American team could clearly see the potential for future reconstruction.
“The Ugandan government and the UPDF are committed to returning their railway system to a fully operational status. SDDC and USARAF can assist in this effort to help build capacity, not only in Uganda, but eventually throughout the region,” Coakley said.
“It was great to partner with another Army Service Component Command on the continent,” said Hanson. “The engineers from SDDC have a lot of experience and expertise that can assist USARAF in finding solutions to the transportation and mobility issues we face throughout most of Africa.”
The railroads came to East Africa just before the turn of the 20th century, in the hey-day of European colonial expansion, and England and Germany in particular were in competition to build systems to extract the natural resources of what are today Kenya and Uganda. Beginning in the 1890s, both countries undertook mammoth engineering projects to build railroads from the Indian Ocean coast to Lake Victoria in the interior.
The development had profound economic and demographic impacts on the entire region. The influx of workers from British India to build the railways resulted in thriving Indian diaspora communities in both present day Uganda and Kenya; the growth of rail construction centers and nodes stimulated the establishment of such urban centers as Kisumu (then called Port Florence) and Nairobi, both in Kenya.
The Ugandan rail line finally reached Kampala in 1931. The northern branch, beginning in Tororo, was extended to Soroti by 1929 and reached Pakwach only in 1964.
The presently serviceable rolling stock consists of approximately 1,000 wagons and 35 diesel hydraulic locomotives, said Hanson, and though activity has been dormant in some areas for decades, and clearly in need of rehabilitation, the Ugandan system holds great promise for the future.
“SDDC has produced numerous studies on African seaports and infrastructure in the past. USARAF needs to synchronize our efforts with SDDC as they identify future locations to conduct their analyses,” Hanson said.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
This Vic Viper can transform in to a robot. The only pieces taken off during the transformation are the guns, which are then placed into the robot's hands when it has finished its transformation. Pictures of it in robot form will come soon, I just need to get this in, in time for Novvember ;).
CONJUNTO CABANYAL-CANYAMELAR
C/ Mediterraneo, c/ Barraca, c/ Reina
El Conjunto Histórico Protegido del Cabanyal-Canyamelar es ese tejido filoso de calles paralelas al mar de parcelación menuda que se distingue claramente en cualquier foto aérea de Valencia, a unos tres kilómetros al este del casco antiguo de la ciudad. En 1563 Antoon van den Wijngaerde, en una vista de la ciudad de Valencia, dibuja barracas sobre la barra arenosa que separa el mar de los terrenos pantanosos del interior, transformados en huerta productiva gracias al drenaje de las acequias: primero el Canyamelar entre las acequias de Riuet y En Gas (sobre la que se traza la actual avenida del Mediterráneo), luego el Cabanyal hasta la de los Ángeles (bajo la actual calle del Pintor Ferrandis) y, finalmente, el Cap de França hasta la de Cadena. A partir de esta fecha, se van agrupando hasta formar lo que el barón de Bourgoing describe en 1793 como “un poblado habitado sólo por pescadores y formado por modestas barracas”. Sobre este poblado se asienta hoy el núcleo originario del Conjunto Histórico.
Entre 1837 y 1897, la población fue municipio independiente, con el nombre de Poble Nou del Mar. El desplazamiento de la línea de costa hacia el este (debido a la acumulación de arena que provocó la construcción del muelle de Levante del puerto a finales del s. XVIII) permite la ampliación del nuevo municipio mediante oleadas de barracas en alineaciones paralelas al mar, hasta alcanzar las playas de vías del ferrocarril de las canteras del Puig y las del popular trenet, presentes desde mediados del s. XIX. En 1875 una normativa municipal impidió la reconstrucción de las barracas por el peligro de incendios que entrañaba su techumbre de paja, y obligaba a su paulatina sustitución por casas que reinterpretaron en sus fachadas los estilos cultos de la época de manera popular: el historicismo ecléctico, el modernismo y, a partir de 1930, el racionalismo. Además de fachadas enlucidas o pintadas, algunas se construyen en ladrillo visto de buena factura y, sobre todo, fachadas revestidas de azulejos cerámicos al gusto de cada época y cada propietario, cuya implicación en la construcción de sus casas otorga una calidad a los acabados impensable en otras circunstancias.
Cuando en 1897 el municipio fue anexionado por Valencia, tenía totalmente consolidada su trama urbana y construidas las casas que sobre ella se asientan. Mientras, la metrópoli apenas había comenzado la construcción del primer ensanche, tras el derribo de las murallas que la encorsetaron hasta 1865. Desde 1950, algunas de estas casas, principalmente en el Canyamelar, fueron derribadas y sustituidas por bloques en altura que desdibujan el paisaje del barrio. Pero estas agresiones no han podido con la potencia de la trama urbana ni con el predominio de las casas bajas directamente relacionadas con las calles, que se mantiene casi en su integridad en el Cabanyal y el Cap de França.En el núcleo originario del Conjunto Histórico Protegido, las primitivas e irregulares agrupaciones de barracas, definen calles quebradas que ensartan un sistema de plazas relacionadas con las iglesias del Rosario y de los Ángeles, con una instalación civil como fue el mercado en la plaza del Dr. Lorenzo de la Flor, o como simples ensanchamientos de las calles: plazas de Calabuig, Cruz del Cañamelar, Virgen Vallivana. El jardín de la Remonta, que proviene de la desamortización de una infraestructura militar, también pertenece a este sistema de espacios libres. Un paseo transversal desde el Canyamelar al Cap de França, desde la calle del Rosario hasta las de Tramoyeres y Nicolau de Monsoriu, pasando por las de los Ángeles y San Pedro en el Cabanyal, nos permitirá apreciar las posibilidades de este espacio público, bordeado de interesantes muestras de arquitectura popular y, además, visitar los edificios más monumentales del Conjunto Histórico. La Iglesia del Rosario, edificada a partir de 1882 según proyecto de Joaquín Mª Calvo y Tomás sobre una antigua ermita. En 1907, el arquitecto Vicente Ferrer Pérez proyecta la Capilla de la Comunión que se construye el año siguiente. Todo el conjunto fue remodelado en 1942 por Carlos Soria y Mauro Lleó, que reformaron la fachada y ampliaron la capacidad del templo mediante la construcción de una girola, previa sustitución del muro testero del presbiterio por una ordenación de pilares y arcos de gran transparencia. El centro cultural El Musical, al lado mismo de la iglesia del Rosario, una intervención terminada en 2003 sobre las preexistencias del antiguo Ateneo Musical del Puerto firmada por Eduardo de Miguel. El edificio, premio COACV 2003-2004, mantiene su única fachada para preservar el carácter de uno de los espacios urbanos más emblemáticos del Conjunto Histórico y reconstruye todo el interior utilizando un inteligente mecanismo para introducir la luz natural. La Iglesia de los Ángeles, una de cuyas torres fue el faro que guió a a los antiguos habitantes de las barracas: los pescadores.
Por su parte, la trama urbana de la ampliación del s. XIX, sobre los terrenos ganados al mar, y la edificación que sobre ella se asienta (entre las calles Escalante al oeste y Dr Lluch al este) es Bien Interés Cultural, por Decreto 57/1993 de 3 de mayo, del Gobierno valenciano, que destaca la “peculiar trama en retícula derivada de las alineaciones de las antiguas barracas, en las que se desarrolla una arquitectura popular de clara raigambre eclecticista”. Caminando por estas calles apreciaremos el porqué de este destacado. No podremos dejar de fijarnos en las torres miramar que rematan alguna de estas casas y también en algunos edificios significativos: el Casinet construido en 1909 por Juan Bautista Gosalvez Navarro (del que hablaremos luego como autor de la Lonja de Pescadores), la casa de la Reina, etc.Por último, en la franja cercana al mar (al este de Dr Lluch) se aprecia la fuerte huella de las playas de vías de los ferrocarriles, que detuvo el crecimiento natural de Pueble Nuevo hacia el mar, hasta que, a principios del s. XX, aprovechando nuevas acumulaciones de arena por las continuas obras de ampliación del puerto, se traza la calle Eugenia Viñes y la edificación que la acompaña. Precisamente en esta calle, entre las travesías de Pescadores y Columbretes, encontraremos uno de los edificios más apreciados por los cabanyaleros: la Lonja de los Pescadores, inaugurada en 1909 según proyecto del maestro de obras Juan Bautista Gosalvez Navarro. Estaba concebida para ser lonja y almacén de efectos relacionados con la industria de la pesca. En sus 100x25 m. de planta, se desarrollan dos cuerpos longitudinales de dos crujías que albergaban cuarenta almacenes de dos plantas cada uno, más sendos locales más amplios situados en el centro que estaban destinados a oficinas de la Marina Auxiliante, promotora del edificio. Entre los dos cuerpos edificados, se extiende un espacio interior grandioso, destinado a las tareas comerciales de la Lonja, comunicado con el exterior por los testeros y cubierto por una tejavana a dos aguas que parece flotar sobre los muros que apoyan ligeras cerchas de pares de madera y tirantes metálicos (coincidentes con las medianeras de cada almacén) alternadas con otras aún más ligeras provistas de un tirante formado por un redondo metálico, que dividen la luz del vano por la mitad. El edificio, de muros de ladrillo sobre un basamento de piedra de Godella, se caracteriza por su racionalidad constructiva, su sobriedad y el escaso protagonismo de la ornamentación que se concentra en los testeros que dan acceso al magnífico espacio central y en las fachadas de los locales centrales destinados a oficinas, sobre todo la que recae a la plaza de los Hombres de la Mar, realzada por un remate dèco de ladrillo enfoscado que albergaba un reloj que aún se conserva desmontado. Después de funcionar unos años para el fin previsto, el edificio fue hospital para los heridos de la guerra de Marruecos, y después de la Guerra Civil los almacenes se reconvirtieron en viviendas, uso que se conserva en la actualidad. Muy cerca de la Lonja, al otro lado de la calle Pescadores, se conserva la Casa dels Bous, donde se guardaban los animales que ayudaban en la tradicional arte de pesca.
Texto extraido de la "Guia de Arquitectura de Valencia" CTAV 2007.
The owner transformed this mobile home into a barber shop and hair salon. The build-out allowed him to move his shop out of his garage. Business is good, but it still hasn't reached pre-Katrina levels.
Elf Fantasy Fair Haarzuilen 2012 saturday 21 april 2012
Every year in April since 2001, the substantial number of 25,000 people from all over Europe come to the largest Fantasy event on the European continent: the Elf Fantasy Fair.
Two-third of the visitors have transformed into orcs, magicians, dragons, knights, vampires, elves, unicorns, gothic lolita, manga comic hero or a combination of these. Every year the costumes are getting more resourceful and more artistic. In the midst of the budding nature of the Castle park which belongs to the largest castle of the Netherlands – Kasteel de Haar fantasy lovers indulge themselves in all that is offered and coveted: medieval music, dancing, lectures, theatre plays, and parades.
Sinds 2001 komen elk jaar in april een groeiend aantal mensen uit heel Europa op de Elf Fantasy Fair editie Haarzuilens naar het grootste fantasy evenement dat op het Europese continent georganiseerd wordt: de Elf Fantasy Fair.
Tweederde van deze bezoekers hebben zichzelf omgetoverd tot orc, tovenaar, draak, ridder, vampier, elf, eenhoorn, gothic lolita, manga stripheld of een combinatie daarvan. De kostuums worden elk jaar steeds vindingrijker en kunstzinniger. Temidden van de opbloeiende natuur van het kasteelpark, dat behoort tot het grootste kasteel van Nederland, Kasteel de Haar, dompelen de fantasy liefhebbers zich onder in een aangenaam bad van middeleeuwse muziek, dans, lezingen, theatervoorstellingen en optochten.
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