Mui Ne - Phan Thiet

Mui Ne holds a great deal of memories for me as it is the ideal break from Saigon when the activity and the clamor all gets an excessive amount of - if it was simply a smidgen closer! 

A wonderful shoreline with an always becoming piece of resorts covering the coast, Mui Ne strikes a decent harmony between having sufficient stimulations to support a long weekend and being stuffed. The lodgings lie between the ocean and the street, with numerous restaurants lining the inverse side of the street. 

Luckily most of the resorts are low climb and overall secured by a lot of rich green foilage - most have made a decent attempt to make alluring arrangements around their cottages, and the result is that from the shoreline there is not without a doubt confirmation of the blasting development in inns - regardless it figures out how to look disengaged and quiet, without a cement obstruct in sight. 

Mui Ne - Phan Thiet

It has an extensive variety of restaurants, with the neighborhood shacks giving a percentage of the freshest, least expensive and tastiest fish you will discover in Vietnam, and a lot of people high-class restaurants offering first rate Italian, European, Indian and Thai cooking styles. 

There's a lot of bars as well, and hot rivalry implies you can regularly discover two mixed drinks for $2 around dusk - an immaculate approach to end a dazzling day. Some, in the same way as Jibes and Wax bar, are decently associated with the watersports group and regularly run huge shoreline parties on Saturday nights. The nature of music being played is by all accounts on the up as well and it is one of the few spots I have seen expats disregard their cool and have a decent move. 

There are watersports abundantly as Mui Ne has reliably great winds, and it has turned into the kite surfing capital of Vietnam. There's a lot of windsurfing as well, and for the less courageous of us it implies a lot of visual amusement as you watch individuals flying 20-30 ft into the air while tasting a cool mixed drink and appreciating the breeze. 

No excursion to Mui Ne is finished without an outing to the sanddunes, where adolescent youngsters with remarkable English abilities sway you to slide down the hills at incredible speed on plastic mats - its extraordinary fun however bear in mind to tip the children - the angling town of Mui Ne is extremely denied. 

There's likewise a sandstone "ravine" at the once again of the rises to investigate, a 'pixie stream' to find and some wild, confined shorelines in the event that you drive up past Mui Ne to the headland, where you can see the angler conquering the waves in their corracles.

Related link: Travel Vietnam

Climbing The Atlas Mountains

The TImes Online posted a story a few days back about trekking the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and more specifically a winter climb up Mount Toubkal, a 4167m (13,671 feet) peak that is the tallest in Northern Africa.

The story opens by saying that most climbers going to Africa head to Kilimanjaro to claim the highest peak on the continent, but there are other mountains that are more technically demanding, and far less crowded. Enter Toubkal, a mountain that offers spectacular views of the Atlas Range, the Sahara Desert, and even the Atlantic Ocean. During the winter months, Toubkal requires the use of crampons and ice axes, although once acquainted with those tools, an experienced and conditioned trekker should be able to challenge the summit. All told, the winter climb takes about four days, depending on conditions on the mountain.

The Atlas Mountains have gained an excellent reputation for themselves as a great place for hikers of various skill levels. There are guided treks that pass through villages and offer up some great scenery, and there are more serious ones like this climb that focus on reaching the summit of a peak or two. For anyone interested in going to Morocco, these treks offer the opportunity to explore the remote countryside while still mixing in some cultural experiences.

The article gives good information on when the best time to go is, as well as a link to the guide service they used on their climb. Looks like I have another trip to add to my list!

7 days - Discover South Vietnam

The Southern Part of Vietnam is a very surprising part of Vietnam. Given an alternate intriguing chance to encounter the liberal society which is demonstrated apparently through the idealistic way of life, vacationers will completely find numerous agreeable unique focuses.

The excursion from the airplane terminal to your inn will take pretty nearly thirty minutes and is a diverting background brimming with riotous movement and a huge number of motorbikes. Weighing in your lodging and revel in your extra time in the most energizing city in Vietnam

Related post: Vietnam travel

On entry you will be guided through the renowned shafts utilized by the comrade guerrillas amid the Vietnam War. The shaft system extends in excess of 250km and reaches out to three levels underground giving you a surprising knowledge into the hardships, strength, determination and dread of a guerrilla war. You will come back to your lodging at roughly 6.00pm.

The Mekong Delta is viewed as the rice dish of Viet Nam, creating frequently three yields of rice a year and a plenitude of new tropical tree grown foods, for example, longan, jackfruit, sapodilla and pineapple. The Mekong begin in Tibet and trips through seven nations before arriving at Viet Nam where it parts into nine tributaries and exhausts into the South China Sea.

Today, you will go by watercraft investigating the forceful Mekong, watching stream life and examining numerous neighborhood luxuries, including the elephant ear fish, for lunch. Go on wide and restricted tributaries, visit plantations and neighborhood produce ranches. After an unwinding and liberal day come back to Saigon around 4:30pm.

After breakfast, your auto will lift you up and exchange to Mui Ne inside a couple of hours. Weighing in your lodging and revel in your extra time here.

You can invest your time alongside the shoreline to delight in the sun-ocean sand and stunning views in Mui Ne.

Viviana Peretti | Happy Pride

Photo © Viviana Peretti-All Rights Reserved

I was out of town so this was the second time in a row that I've missed photographing the annual New York City's Gay Pride parade. The neighborhood I live in witnesses the end of the parade, and the cornucopia of characters who participate in it, as well as those who come to watch it, provide incredible images to those photographers who prefer to shun the parade itself, and congregate in the West Village for more close and personal street photography...as I did in 2012.

That said, I'm glad to have seen Viviana Peretti's Happy Pride iPhone photographs of the event, which are much more personal than those I've seen so far of the event.

For those who don't know, June was chosen as LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall Inn riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969. As a result, many pride events are held during this month to recognize the impact LGBT people have had in the world. The Stonewall is a gay bar at 43 Christopher Street in New York City, and is traditionally where the parade comes to its end.

Viviana Peretti is an Italian freelance photographer based in New York where in 2010 she graduated in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism from the International Center of Photography (ICP).

In 2000, after graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Anthropology from the University of Rome, she moved to Colombia where she specialized in photojournalism and spent nine years working as a freelance photographer.

Viviana has received fellowships and awards from the International Center of Photography, the Joannie M. Chen Fund in New York, CNN, the Fondation Bruni-Sarkozy in France, FotoVisura, the University of Salamanca, the Spanish Embassy in Colombia, the Photo Museum in Bogota, and the Colombian Ministry of Culture. In 2010 she has been selected for the Eddie Adams Workshop, Barnstorm XXIII. In 2013-2014 Viviana has been an Artist-in-Residence at L’École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (ENSP) in Arles, France.

Her work has been published in a number of international media outlets including The New York Times, Newsweek, BBC, CNN, L'Oeil de la Photographie, New York Magazine, Le Journal de la Photographie, and L'Espresso.

Primal Quest News: 2008 DVD now available and Twitter Feed!

A few tidbits on Primal Quest to mention while I'm still working on catching up this week. First, the Primal Quest 2008 DVD is now available to order on the PQ website. The DVD contains 4 episodes, each 26 minutes in length, covering the entire race as it went down last summer in Big Sky Country. The film crew that covered the race is amongst the best in the world at covering adventure sports, and they've worked on projects such as the Eco-Challenge, Survivor, The Deadliest Catch, and more. The DVD can be ordered from the PQ Store by clicking here. I got my copy last night, but haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but may go for a Primal Quest watch party with friends this weekend.

Yesterday we also posted a story that was put together by the folks out in South Dakota that re-affirms that adventure racing, and Primal Quest, are not just for men. Fans of the sport already know that some of the best racers are women, but the article does a great job of highlighting that for new fans of the sport as well.

Finally, PQ has had a Twitter feed for some time, but it has mostly gone quiet in recent months, but I'm going to change that, and start using it as a tool. If you're interested, you can follow the feed by clicking here. And my friends who knew about my reluctance to use Twitter can now continue to laugh at me once again.

NG Adventure Blog Interviews Ed Viesturs

The National Geographic Adventure blog has posted an excellent interview with Ed Viesturs, who recently announced his return to Everest, officially coming out of his retirement from climbing 8000m peaks.

Ed was lured out of retirement by Eddie Bauer, who is launching a new line of outdoor gear called First Ascent, a move back to the company's roots, which were once entrenched in outdoor adventures.

In the interview, Viesturs talks about emphasizing teamwork in mountaineering, and beyond, his thoughts on the current economic recession, and assessing risk, both on the mountain and in business. He doesn't talk much about the specifics of his expedition to Everest, which will mark his 11th time on the mountain, where he'll be going for his 7th summit.

Ed will be climbing with an exceptional team this time around. He'll be joined by Dave Hahn, who has ten successful trips up the Big Hill, giving him the most summits of any non-Sherpa mountaineer. Peter Whittaker, the son of the famous climber Lou Whittaker, and owner of Rainier Mountain Guide, will also be on the expedition, along with Melissa Arnot, Seth Waterfall, and Chad Peele, making this an all-star affair.

Obviously this expedition is going to get a lot of media attention. Afterall, Viesturs is probably the highest profile American mountaineer. He's the only American to top out on all 14 of the 8000m peaks, and he's done so without oxygen. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about this one in the press, and from Eddie Bauer in the weeks ahead. Ed and the team will head to Kathmandu on March 25th.

Paddler Circumnavigates The Falkland Islands

Kayaker Marcus Demuth of New York City, became the first person to completely circumnavigate the Falkland Islands, finishing up the 615 mile paddle in 22-days on the open water.

According to Paddling Life, before Damuth's successful attempt, three other similar attempts failed. Two British special forces teams and an American team all tried to the journey, but each of those teams failed in no small part thanks to the crazy, unpredictable weather in the region. The Falklands sit less than 600 miles north of Antarctica, and 300 miles east of Cape Horn, which means cold, powerful, sustained winds buffet the islands.

The unpredictable weather in the Southern Ocean isn't the only thing that Damuth had to contend with on his journey. He also had to navigate through mine fields. Some of the waters surrounding the Falklands still have left over mines from the Falklands War back in the early 80's, and Marcus was forced to navigate using two maps at times. One of those maps was a nautical chart showing the way, and the other was a map of the location of the mines provided by one of the British teams that had previously made the attempt.

You can read more about the Falklands Circumnavigation at Demuth's website, where he has more stories from his days out on the water and plenty of photos too. Great story, and very cool expedition. Congratulations to Marcus for his successful journey.