Advertisement
Published: November 1st 2008
Wednesday 29th October - Our bus picked us up at 8am and we would arrive in Mui Ne at 2pm. It was so much better travelling during the day. It was so much more comfortable, and there was some great scenery to look out for. As with most of the routes in Vietnam, we spent a lot of time either weaving through hills or mountains or passing alongside the coast. For the first time in a week we had clear skies aswell. Mui Ne is just a small strip of hotels and bars that runs along 11km of beach. There are beach bungalows you can rent, some with private beaches. When we got off of the bus we were enticed into the nearest hotel which wasn't on the beach side. However, it was newly opened and was huge. We managed to get a room for 2 for only $7 each a night. Our room was massive aswell, i think the bathroom alone is bigger than some of the places we've stayed in so far. However, there were soon problems. The owners didn't speak hardly any english. Just enough really to book us in. Anything you asked was returned with a 'yes'.
I'd ask, 'what room number are my friends booked into?' 'Yes', would be the reply. There was never anybody behind reception either so you could just go behind the desk and pick out your own key, or anyone elses key for that matter. For that reason we decided that the next day we would check out. We found a beach bungalow across the road. It meant we would have to share one room but for $25 between us for a night it's really cheap. We'll also be right alongside the beach aswell.
You can't really explore the surroundings here, you either walk left or right, both ways are just the same mix of bars and hotels. All of them are empty and desperate for you to come in though. That evening we went to a couple of bars but i've been a bit ill so went to bed early. I've decided it's either the really undercooked burger i ate on arrival, or just the malaria tablets, which although i haven't mentioned so far are really causing problems. Thankfully, we only have about a week left of taking them. Before i left the others for the night, we were in
On the way to Mui Ne
Notice how it is sunny at last!a bar along the beach, where every now and then a Vietnamese guy would perform some tricks with flames. At one point he accidently set fire to his shorts, which looked rather painful, but it amused me.
Thursday 30th October - Was really ill during the night and couldn't sleep. I stayed up to watch the mighty Spurs take on Arsenal but missed it as i forgot that the clocks have gone back in the UK and just assumed that they wern't showing it! Shame, it sounded like the game of the season. We were planning on hiring motorbikes today but as i was still feeling under the weather and Paul and Nancy were extremely hungover, we opted for a more quiet day at the beach. I decided i needed to try and eat something so went to the restaurant down the road for breakfast. Beans, egg and bacon it said on the menu. It DID NOT say runner beans. Who eats runner beans for breakfast? After that disappointment and knowing full well that what i'd just eaten wouldn't stay in me for long i went back to the hotel as quickly as possible. By now everyone else was
ready so we checked out (avoided paying for most of the stuff we took from the mini bar by putting the empties back in the fridge) and crossed the road to our new home for the next two nights. We are in a bungalow less than 100m from the beach. I hope they don't get tsunami's here! Once we'd settled again i spent the day relaxing in the heat, doing the occasional bit of swimming, digging holes, and all the usual beach related activites. I also burnt myself quite a bit. That evening we went for dinner which was uneventful except for the constant blackouts that occured. The locals didn't seem phased, so i guess it's the norm around here. Early night as tomorrow i am going to attempt to see a sunrise again.
Friday 31st October - Got up at 5am to see the sunrise over the beach... it rained again! Another early morning rise for no reason. Still, it meant another night of going to bed twice which is always good as i slept until almost midday. Eventually went for breakfast. This time i found on the menu 'baked beans and cheese in a toasted sandwich'. I
got runner beans and cheese in warm floppy bread. Paul got the same yet somehow we were charged different amounts. Jacqueline, who has been with us since Hanoi has decided to go on ahead so left us today. I was feeling a bit better so the rest of us (Lin included, as she is back once again!) hired motorbikes and headed off in search of the white sand dunes. We were told they were 25km away but despite there being only one clear route to take we couldn't find them. So we headed back to Mui Ne and came across the red sand dunes. Here, we had the chance to go 'dune surfing'. Even before we had time to get off our bikes we were surrounded by loads of young kids trying to persuade us to use their 'boards' for the dunes. We were told 30,000VND (about 1 pound) for a go. Not only are they trying to get you to have a go but they are also competing between themselves. And some of these kids are only 10 years old. I had a couple of slides and it's all good fun, you get sand everywhere though of course! All
was lighthearted until we went to leave and were told it's 100,000VND that we each owe. This isn't the worst of it but i owed two different kids some money, so i pay them and tell them to split it as i have no change. One kid grabs the note and runs off, so the other kid decides this is my fault and that i should pay her again. Of course i refuse, so as we walk away we are left with a torrent of abuse and shouting.. 'fuck you' and 'go to hell'. It's hard to know how to react when a 10 year old is shouting this. You can't really fight back, so we just stood by the road for a bit and told all westerners we saw to not stop. That's the biggest problem i have with Vietnam, everyone acts too desperate and deceiptful. After a while it starts to get to you. You can't walk more than a few metres from where you are staying without being offered... 'a motorbike sir? Sir, sir motorbike'... 'banana for you, sir sir banana'? Saying no just seems to make the locals think that you might mean yes, so they
ask again and again. At one point i was swimming in the sea at least 100m from shore and a woman was on the beach waving at me to see if i wanted any sunglasses. I just waved back and told her to come to me. And i haven't seen a price tag in weeks, you have to haggle for everything you buy.
Before leaving Mui Ne, just to complete the relaxing feeling of the place i went for an hour long massage which would have been great were i not sunburnt and covered in mosquito bites!
Saturday 1st November - 2 months away!!! Got up early today but even at 7am it was so hot, so ended up back in the room under the shelter of air con. I attempted to teach Lin to swim but again the language barrier and the frustration of not believing or understanding why a fully grown person keep sinking was beyond me so we soon gave in. At 2pm we leave for Saigon. It's our last stop in Vietnam and we should be there by 6pm. We only plan to stay there for as long as it takes to get a
Cambodian visa sorted and then we must move on. We are very low on malaria tablets so need to get through to Bangkok as quickly as possible.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.26s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 7; qc: 46; dbt: 0.1828s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
