After a painful evening bus from HCMC up the coast, we finally arrived at 1am in MuiNe- a fairly relaxed beach/fishing town on the South West cost of Vietnam!
For the record- the bus ride itself wasn't sooo bad- the painful part was having to listen to a bunch of drunken American college students who apparently were participating in some ridiculous "semester On the Seas" where I gather they "attend school" on a crise ship. From the sounds of it, all they really manage to do is get cheap liquor in international ports and sleep with their "mates".
Mui Ne turned out to be georgous! We woke up super early and went for a beach walk- the water was incredibly calm and warm. I think the town has only recently started to develop (as far as tourism is concerned) and so the beach was fairly empty!
Or hostel was an amazing deal- it was fairly priced, but we had a little bamboo bungalo right on the beach with our own lounge chairs! In the evenings- the sea breeze blew right into our room because we could sleep withe windows open all night as the beads had those pretty white bug screen! At high tide the water came right up to the steps of our place!
We spent day one swimming (I'm a water baby!) suntanning, reading, drinking amazing fruit shakes and watching the local fishermen go about their business!
The fishing boats used on the ocean resemble those we saw on the Mekong, but perhaps a bit more cresent-moon shaped. They also have the eyes on front! What I thought was really cool was the little boats they use to get to and from their fishing boats- they are perfectly circlar and look like cocunut shells halved and hollowed out! At one point I was sitting on the step and a fishing boat came around the corner pulling a little round boat with a fisherman in it, then I realized, another was attached, and another...and so on! It turned out to be a whole train!
We met a really cool couple named Eric (Tran) and Ngoc! Eric was half Vietnamese and half Chinese living in America and had come over to visit Ngoc- we learned they were getting married the following summer!
We also met a local guy named Li(probably spelt wrong)who Tara taught to play sequense and a pretty intense tournment followed!
During the course of the tournament, we agreed to meet Li (and a friend - TBD)the following morning at 5am to visit via motorbike the sanddunes and a few other site that Mui Ne is famous for! Apparently it's best to see them in the morning durning sunrise- cooler too!
That eveing Tara and I were supposed to go out for dinner with Eric and Ngoc, but after showering had a few beer and decided to walk down the beach acting a bit silly! We had some excellent Mohitos (sp?)and partied at the beach bar next door- Pogo. It was opened by a German lady and there was crazy Eurpoean music playing. It was set up with bean bag chairs and hammocks (sp?). We met a cool German guy named Ian (bit of a stoner), the awesome Vietnamese bartender named Bo, Lili the dog (who lived at the bar)and Li, a kite surfing instructor! Bo let me go behind the bar for a bit!
Bad move!
Upon returing to our beach house- I realized that despite my best effort- I had managed to sunburn my self pretty badly- particularly my right foot! The idiotic part is I'm always the one telling everyone not to forget to put sunscreen on your feet (Mum's great advice!)!
Anyway, it proceded to swell into pretty amazing proportions and turn all shades of pink and purple, but I'm happy to say that we were able to save it! At one point I thought amputation may have been a good option!
Needless to say it made for a pretty painful sleep! And moring came early!
We got up at 4:30 am to meet our motorcycle guide...and we waited. It was really quiet and then at about 5am, weird Vietnamese music started playing from loud speakers in the street! There wasn't a soul around so a had a bit of trouble determining who the intended audience was for the music. As our trip progressed, however, I realized that this is quite commonplace in Vietnam.
Finally a motor cycle pulled up...instant relief...instant confusion- it wasn't Li. Turned out to be his brother- Li was running late. He showed up shortly after and we set out for the White sanddunes- me with Li and Tara with his brother. I have to say that initially, I was a bit nervous about riding on the bike, but as we continued along the beach roads, I relaxed and really enjoyed the trip! Motorcycle is really the only way to travel here!
One concern I had, however, is that once the bike started going, I noticed the distinck stench of booze coming from Li- I think he and his brother had been out partying the night before...which would explain the later arrival. They later confirmed my hunch. Tara said her driver had the same scent.
We arrived at the White Sand Dunes after about 25mins just as the sun was rising- WOW- what a site! We walked out together and laughed about our drivers and explored- it really seemd like we were in the Sahara of something- not Vietnam! On the way back Tara filled me in on the antics of her driver- apparently he was quite taken with her...it didn't improve as the day continued.
Next we stopped at the Red Canyon- very cool. Looks like a mini grand canton except with bright red earth and rock- just like PEI! We hiked around a bit and then skipped down the road a bit to visit the Red Sand Dunes which were similar to the white...except, you guessed it...Red! They were also more commercialized as they were closer to Town. There were tons of kids there taking people sand sledding. The kids were hilarious and a lot of fun...until they wanted payments! I've never been up against such shameless business people! I'm a sucker on the best of days, but these kids took me for a ride! we ended up paying the kids almost as much as we paid the drivers! Oh well- live and learn!
Our last stop was at the fishing village in Mui Ne- it was very interesting to see all the boats and the ladies cleaning out the fish! It was a really tiny little town with a strong fishy smell and we were the only non-locals there! It was very cool to see all the people going about their daily work.
At that point lack of sleep caught up with us, so we headded home, paid our drunken, perverted drivers, declined their invitations for dinner and drinks that night and went back to our little bungalo.
Tara sun bathed all day, I slept indoors- my burn was bothering me quite a bit.
That evening we rented a bike and had our make-up dinner with Eric and Ngoc- they drove us down the road and paid for our dinner- they really spoiled us. Then they introduced us to lovely Vietnamese iced coffe with condensed milk- it would soon become an addiction. We agreed to meet them in a few days in Na Trang where they had a hotel booked- we were stopping in Dalat first.
We went home to bed and caught the early "Open Bus" to Dalat.
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