Be Wary of the $1.25 Rhum

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Mui Ne turned out to be a wonderful relief from HCMC. It's a pretty small town that only has one road that follows the 22km beach front. The group consisted of Mark (28, NZ born but living in Sydney) & Miika (30 Finnish environmental engineer living in Helsinki). We stayed in a first place we saw which was a 2bed/2bath bungalow right on the beach for $50.

We spent two nights here doing a lot of nothing. We took a 1/2 day tour to some sand dunes, fishing village and other local attractions. We went sand boarding and I ended up with half the dunes in my eyes which I can still feel after 4 days. At every sight these kind little children would play the role as guide and show us the sight and chat with us. On the way back they'd ask for money and when we didn't give them enough they turned nasty. Their personalities changed 180 degrees and they often ditched us to walk back alone.

We ate every meal at a bar next door to our bungalow where a single rum & coke cost $1 or the whole bottle with a can of coke cost $1.50...easy choice. It turned ugly around 1am and the next day. During dinner on both nights there was pretty strong rains that caused flooding up to 18" in the streets. It was my first time seeing actual flooding but it dissipated after a few hours.

After a few relaxing days, Mark & I were heading up the coast to Hoi An in order to meet up with the group one more time before saying a final farewell. We'd be very surprised by the "11 hour" train ride the travel agent told us about.

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