Enjoying the Elemental Pleasures of Vietnam

Our little bungalow at the Hiep Hoa Resort.
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After the rather wet few days we had in Dalat it was such a pleasure to step off the bus into the balmy 27 degree-plus sunshine of Mui Ne.  I know we have said it before in previous blog entries but it is worth repeating for all future travellers - don't just accept the hotel at which the bus drops you!  See the seperate hotel review in this entry for further details!

Eva (who was still travelling with us), Denise and I decided that we needed a few days of pure relaxation before we tackled Saigon - and Mui Ne is the perfect place to relax.  It really is little more than a local fishing village and a strip about 8km long of beach resorts and bungalows ranging from ultra-luxurious to the real budget backpacker options.  The beaches are pristine, the water is really warm and inviting (and looks a great deal like the Durban coastline back in South Africa), and the options for adventure and exploration are varied.  In short, Mui Ne is yet another fantastic discovery in Vietnam - and yet another reason for us to further extend our (initially) unintentional visit to the country.

The Sights and Activities of the Mui Ne Area make for Some Great Memories

Miles of beach right in front of our door.
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It takes no exceptional powers of observation to quickly deduce that Mui Ne is a water-sports mecca.  Windsurfers, Kite-boards and jet-skis litter the beach like driftwood and you literally cannot walk 100m without finding a school or resort wanting to introduce you to their wares and services.  Sadly, after making a number of initial enquiries, we realised that kite-surfing would be out of our budget bracket - even a very basic 2 hour introductory session costs US$80 or more - with the 7 hour Beginners Course (which gets you a basic certification) coming in at a whopping US$250 - we decided to stick to swimming and body-surfing!

Exploring Mui Ne by bicycle is ideal.
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We did 'splash-out' a little and hire bikes on our first full day in town (US$2 per day) - a very pleasant way to explore the town and its surrounds.  It was this cycling exploration that helped us find a few good restaurant and bar options and also to get our bearings in relation to the other resorts (we strolled into a few of the really high-end ones - and back out just as quickly when we heard that US$70 per night was their cheapest room rates!).  Another impression that struck us on the ride was the sheer number of kids in town - more so than anywhere else in Vietnam (and we have seen a lot of kids in a lot of towns) Mui Ne felt like very 'fertile' ground - with ankle-biters out-numbering adults by at least two to one.

Taking a break from cycling...
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Apart from the biking and our regular early-morning swim each day, I decided on our second day in town to try my hand at windsurfing.  As some of you will know I have windsurfed since the age of about 7 but since leaving Durban about ten years ago have not had any chance to practice - so I thought it was time to get back on the horse (so to speak).  Sadly it was an affair more comical than successful!  The first time I tried they refused to believe that I was experienced and gave me a sail less than half the size I needed - which combined with winds well over 15 knots and swells of 1.5-2m meant I spent all my time in the water.  Next, armed with a marginally larger sail they sent me out with harness lines too short for me to reach - so I ran out of strength in less than 40 minutes.  The next morning, when I had to use the remaining time that I had paid for (US$20 per hour including equipment and insurance) there was no wind at all - so I posed for some pics, drifted backwards and then gave up.  It was nice to be back on a board - but the experience was not as fun as I remember sailing to be!

This little guy was on a mission with his oversized coconut.
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In addition to the beach and watersports Mui Ne has a few other must-see attractions - which we arranged to visit on the Tuesday.  Booking through a local restaurant we secured a private jeep and guide (sweet but very poor English) for an afternoon.  Our first stop was the "Fairy Stream" - a small babbling brook flowing down from the mountains to Mui Ne where it empties into the South China Sea - carrying with it massive amounts of dark red mud and clay carved from the surrounding river banks.  The combination of the colours (the red clay, the emerald palm trees and vegetation and the white limestone) with the fanciful shapes carved by the erosive forces of wind and water have created a true fairyland - worth every minute of our hour-long visit.

Rob did some windsurfing.
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Our second stop was at the local fishing village.  Mui Ne, it is said, can be smelt long before it comes into view - primarily as a result of the fish sauce for which it has become famous.  We really only stopped here long enough to snap a few pictures of the gently rocking fishing fleet but, in retrospect, wish we had stayed a little longer to explore the stalls and meet more of the locals.

Next was a much longer drive of about 50km North out of town along the coast.  En route we paused briefly to view and photograph the famous Red Canyon (a river canyon carved from the red soil of the area) - again it was probable that we could and should have stayed longer but our guide suggested that the views from the road were just as good as from within the gorge.

Lots of great restaurants to choose from - this one is called Forest.
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The main stop of the tour was at the "White Dunes" - massive sand mountains lining the coast north of town.  Here we spent a good 3 hours climbing the shifting slopes, 'sledding' down the hills (the locals rent out crude mats you can use) and getting some amazing shots.  All too soon it was time to head back to town - but the sights and activities of the Mui Ne area make for some great memories.