For those who love travelling, especially love the sea and the desert, the road from Mui Ne - Bau Trang to Phan Ri Cua is perfect choice. This is where a lot of backpackers put on their bucket list as well as the list of must-go in Vietnam.
Just one day is enough if you do not have time for more leisurely exploring the places. It is essential that your motorcycle must be well prepared and taken care. Different from Phan Rang – Vinh Hy - Cam Ranh road with mountains on one side and the sea on the other side, this road from Mui Ne has the sea and desert on both sides. The roads are mostly straight as endless, sometimes slightly winding, embracing the white sand dunes. There are beautiful sceneries which look like in a movie scene.
A shortage of this road is the sea is not as clear blue as Vinh Hy’s but in return, the white sand dunes make themselves the special featured beauty of the section Bau Trang - Phan Ri Cua.
Bau Trang is a freshwater lake but still blue as the sea. Here, the "bau" means "lake". The area includes two lakes which are called Bau Ong and Bau Ba. A lake is call Bau Sen (Lotus Lake) thanks to lots of lotus inside. This location is also a well-known place for wedding photography in Mui Ne, in addition to sea and sand dunes.
Due to the feature of terrain with desert and sand dunes, dry season will be the best time to go to this place. Guests need to be well prepared for the sunny and hot weather in the desert area.
In this time, this place has just walked through the wettest months of the year (Jul, Aug) so the weather is more mild and comfortable. However, you are likely to catch some rains because the rainy season is not over, desert dotted with green grass. On both sides of the desert road, in Hoa Thang, sometimes there are few dead trees which can be a great image to take photo.
If you are in Mui Ne with motorcycle, you can drive straight on the road DT706 / DT716. Phan Ri Cua is the final place of the journey which is about 60 km long in total. From Ho Chi Minh City, you can go to Phan Thiet by many means of transportation such as bus, train, or even motorcycle. If travelling by train or bus, you can rent a motorbike in Phan Thiet and then drive to Mui Ne.
Along the beach there are many hotels and resorts at various prices from budget to luxury. And you can also take time to enjoy some local specialties such as banh can, pancakes, rice paper with shrimp sauce, chicken rice ... If you don’t want to go into the city center of Phan Thiet, you can go straight to Mui Ne. Most of buses can drop its guests in Mui Ne. If you take a train, in Muong Man station there’re shuttle buses to the resorts in Mui Ne.
If you have two days, at night, you should choose to stay at Mui Ne, then in the next morning you can enjoy the sunrise and have a relaxing swim before heading back to Ho Chi Minh City. Resorts’ price in Mui Ne are varied, depending on the budget, you can choose suitable accommodation. Camping on the beach is also not a bad idea. At night you can listen to the waves may be located, and in the morning when you wake up, you can enjoy the sunrise immediately when unveiling the tent's door.
