Day 67-69: Mui Ne, Vietnam

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Friday, April 3rd

We had a really long jog on the beach this morning. We pushed it a little. After breakfast we took a nap. For some reason we were exhausted. Maybe it was the long run?

We packed up, checked out and moved to a really nice mini-resort. For the first time since coming to Mui Ne we felt at home. We unpacked, ordered a beer-shandy and sat reading in the cool breeze on our porch with the sound of the waves crashing in the background. Ahhh... Sweet bliss!

Before lunch Talita finished her big red book. It was her biggest one yet and a big accomplishment. Lunch was followed by a spot of sun-bathing after which we read and napped the afternoon away. Dinner was at Jibes where we enjoyed Mojito's followed by beer shandy's on the beach.

We spent the rest of the evening chatting on the porch. At one point a gecko made a miscalculation and fell from the roof. Luckily for him Ferdi was sitting underneath him to break his fall. Later we spotted a big lizzard snoozing on a branch in the tree by our porch. He was fast asleep with his claws dangling. He didn't even move when the camera flashed him. Very cute.

Today's highlights:
1. Moving to our new and awesome bungalow.
2. Mojito's with dinner.
3. Beer shandy's on the beach.

Thought for the day:
In reality, success and prosperity are far less interesting than failure and destitution... The secret of happiness in life is to be satisfied with what one has, to stop climbing and find one's inner peace.
-from "The Bomber" by Liza Marklund-

Saturday, April 4th

This morning, like a lot of mornings, Ferdi laid in bed looking at Talita, seeing her heart beat in the pulsing of an artery in her neck. As always, he was astounded that such a small movement could signify such big things - life and love, pain and pleasure, joy and adventure, and all that he hoped for in the future. Life is a strange miracle. It's sad that we seldom stop to realize it.

We spent the morning reading on the beach and later on our porch. After lunch we booked our bus to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and also arranged for a scooter the next day. The afternoon was spent reading and napping. It's great to just do nothing but nap and read. Ferdi had finished his other book and started with the big red book; Stephen King's "Duma Key". Only after reading other authors does one truly appreciate the genius that is Stephen King! He's awesome!

We're not really looking forward to Saigon because it has five times the amount of people than Hanoi. You can just imagine the chaos!

For dinner we decided to go to a different spot cause Jibes had an "eat as much as you can" buffet and that doesn't help us much. We can never eat enough to get our money's worth. We went to a Vietnamese place and Ferdi decided to try two huge barbequed Tiger Prawns while Talita had a fantastic veggie curry. Yummy!

Today's highlights:
1. Reading and relaxing.
2. Tiger prawns for Ferdi and curry for Talita.

Sunday, April 5th

We had arranged to get a scooter today to go visit the red and white sand dunes and the canyon outside of town. We got up early but when we got to the place where we had to pick up the scooter it was still closed. A little annoyed, we went back to our resort and had breakfast.

Later we tried to get the scooter again but the guy said there were too many cops around so he wouldn’t rent it to us cause he would be fined if the cops stop us. It’s technically illegal for foreigners to buy or rent scooters, but as a rule, through the rest of Vietnam at least, the cops ignore this. Not so in Mui Ne.

We decided that the whole thing was much-a-do-about-nothing and we were probably not supposed to be on a scooter anyway. We went and swam a bit then read on the beach. We had a wonderfully relaxing day, false start and all. We’re getting better at “rolling with the punches”.

As per usual, we read and napped the day away. Dinner was at a new place where Talita had great mac-n-cheese and Ferdi had a whole Red Snapper (that’s a fish). Since we couldn’t get a scooter, we booked a jeep to take us to the sand dunes the next morning. We felt we’d miss out if we didn’t go.

Today’s highlights:
1. Another lazy day in paradise.

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