Discover the river and red sand cliffs of Mui Ne's Fairy Stream

Almost every place of natural beauty in Viet Nam has a stream called the Fairy Stream, which seems to offer the best views of nature.

Photo by Jean-Marie Hullot

In Mui Ne (in the central Binh Thuan Province) too, there's a small stream in the middle of the sunny sand dunes of Rom Island, which is called the Fairy Stream. Unfortunately, this stream used to be forgotten in the tours organised to visit Mui Ne. Even tourists who had visited Mui Ne several times did not know about the existence of this unique stream.

"At dawn, a pure mist lingers on tiny wild yellow flowers, when violet hyacinth stems are hesitating to bloom. With birds chirping overhead, I saw the showy plumage of a kingfisher and wondered whether he was lost in the fairyland," Daniel Coyle, a 32-year-old American tourist, said.

Indeed, unlike other streams in the country, the Fairy Stream has a red-orange colour due to its sand.

It may be called a stream, but it is actually a small water fissure next to Rom Island, hidden behind a sand hill. Not many people know about it. To find it, you have to come to Huynh Thuc Khang Street (in Mui Ne Ward, Phan Thiet City) and then ask the way to the stream.

The Fairy Stream does not have a strong flow, but has a gentle drift, with a depth that does not reach above your knees. Therefore, tourists often take off their shoes, and walk barefoot in the stream's bed that has an orange glitter, to feel the cool water under the intense sun. The underwater powdery white sand, coupled with the gentle and cool lapping water, gives a unique feeling in the ‘desert' landscape.

After the first 300m, the scene is like a fairyland. There are sand pillars created by the water – masterpieces of Mother Nature – that have strange forms or huge reliefs, which change with the flow. Thus, even if you have visited the Fairy Stream before, every future visit will still feel like it is the first.

After wading through the glittering orange stream for a few hundred metres, many people will be stunned to see a natural masterpiece shaped by blocks of sand on the banks of the stream. It looks like an ancient Roman temple or a gigantic mushroom, with tall columns of sand standing in silence to welcome visitors from afar. Visitors feel as if they are discovering temples and palaces forgotten for centuries.

The sand here is very unique, looking sometimes white and sometimes yellow, and then turning red with the water flow. More tourists come to the stream at sunrise.

"You will be amazed when you see interesting sand shapes as you move further. I discovered that the water flows into the cliffs and erodes sand blocks to create strange shapes that constantly change," Jennifer Howard, an Australian tourist, said.

You can climb up the sand dunes to enjoy the view of the magnificent sand castle from above, against the background of the orange-coloured land and green coconut trees. Rain and wind erode the sand to create various shapes that look like sparkling castles. Visitors take hundreds of photos from all angles without being bored. Children carry shovels and plastic buckets to build sand castles in the middle of the stream's bed, as the sand here is as soft as the beach sand in Mui Ne.

The white clouds seem to expand the blue sky and cool the intense sunlight as we stroll along the cool stream on bare feet. A large number of visitors from the US, Australia, South Korea and Japan, as well as China enjoy exploring this beautiful and dreamy stream.

Near the end of the stream is a large garden with green trees where visitors can enjoy the sweet coconut milk of Mui Ne, while swinging in hammocks to admire the birds or enjoying a fish foot massage. Deep inside a passage that is about 1.5m or 1.8m long are coconut trees bending across the stream, creating a spectacular view. At the end of the stream, there is a small waterfall. You can also exit from the way you entered, but that place looks rather unfamiliar.

Blessed by Mother Nature, the Fairy Stream attracts visitors throughout the year. They can immerse themselves in the pure unspoiled beauty as people's footprints are swept away by the flow. While it takes only about an hour to explore the stream, many visitors spend their whole day here. After wading through the stream and admiring the view, you can visit the farm near the stream to enjoy ostrich rides.

With the Fairy Stream, Phan Thiet seems like a brand new destination that intrigues both foreign and local visitors.