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Published: December 16th 2006
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On top!
After a 5km incline we finally reached the top - the view was well worth it! Where to start? Maybe with the fact that I can barely sit down right now thanks to a sore butt from 7 hours on a bike....!
Anyway, I'm writing from Mui Ne, a lovely beach town on the South-eastern coast of Vietnam. It is a 19km stretch of beach with just one road all the way along it - and hundreds of various bungalows and resorts right on the beach. Somehow we managed to score a room for 4 for $10US on our first night - a cheap 2.50 each!
Having spent one night in Delat - the strawberry capital of Vietnam (or so it seemed!) we awoke on Thursday morning to board a bus for a short trip to Dihn Linh where our bike ride started. With awesome mountain bikes we began our 80km journey, starting with a lovely 5km ascent on a windy mountain road. Thank god the views at the top were awesome because it took a fair bit of sweat and guts to get there! The next stretch was a little hilly but not too bad, and then the best bit started - 10km of flat out down hill with only brakes to save us!
We
Here I come!
Flying down the mountain....thank god the road was quiet! were accompanied by a Vietnamese guide who rode with us the whole way - and was skilful enough to capture some amazing shots of us flying down the hill! He commented at lunch time that we were the craziest girls he has ever ridden with on the tour - and had to tell us to slow down at times - I think he thought we were sure to take ourselves out!
After a massive lunch we resumed riding - now in 35 degree heat and on an open tar road...a great recipe for hideous sock, glove and t-shirt tans! The ride after lunch was 35km of riding through rice paddies into a lovely coastal head wind - the drafting behind each other was our only saviour! Well and truely exhausted and dehydrated (and sunburnt...) the last 5km were the longest I've travelled in a long time. But despite the sore butt and the exhausted bodies it definately rated right up there with one of the highlights of our travels through Vietnam - and it certainly beats a windy bus ride!
We arrived in Mui Ne at about 4.30 to be greeted with beautiful warm ocean and deck chairs
On the downhill
This shot courtesy of our skilful guide who could take a hand off the bars whilst flying down the hill! on the beach - the perfect wind down after a long day. We took motorbikes into the main part of town for dinner at the Sailing Club - run by the same dude as the restaurant in Nha Trang. Whilst I throughly enjoyed my dinner and Mui Ne Splice cocktail, poor Ali and Ange sampled some bad seafood and consequently paid for it during the night - lucky for them it wasnt as bad a dose of gastro as I had experienced!
This morning we took a sunrise trip to the Mui Ne sand dunes - for which Mui Ne is famous for (along with its reputation for awesome kite and wind surfing). Another early rise (4.30am), but well worth it to capture the sunrise and avoid the harsh heat (its about 34 degrees now and only 10am!).
Our jeep took us to the white dunes first - where we hiked to the top and sand-boarded down numerous times - the only limit to the number of rides was how much energy you had to get you to the top. We took advantage of the movie settings on our cameras and captured some brilliant stacks - I've never eaten
Crossing the finish line
Made it! Hot and bothered but satisfied having made the distance! as much sand in my life as when I catapolted head first into the sand when I lost control at the bottom!
The remainder of the morning included a trip to some red sand dunes, a fishing village and finally the 'fairy creek' - a bizzare yet cool little creek which is very shallow but not clear - so it appears as though you are walking on water. Claire and I couldnt resist the temptation to swim under the waterfall - I slightly regretted the decision not to wear shorts over my bathers when I struggled to hold them up against the force of the water!
And now we're back at our bungalows- ready to hit the beach for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we leave for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and hopefully the Mekong Delta for a couple of days. Hope you are all well and getting excited about Christmas - no doubt many of you will be working your butts off in the Christmas craziness! Bye for now xoxo
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