Blogs from Mui Ne, Binh Thuan, South Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia - page 2

On a Thursday night we lie, shivering under the covers desperate for the heater to kick on, the only pair of socks I'd packed working to thaw my feet up in the central highlands, surrounded by coniferous trees and nay a coconut in sight; Friday afternoon scorched in the middle of desert sands that may well take the skin clean off your feet, thick dusty air giving way only on occasion to a merciful breeze from the bay - a rolling sea of brick-red sand dunes as far as the eye can see.... welcome to Vietnam. Over thousands of years ethnicity, political allegiance, cultural practice and foreign meddle have found their culmination in a country with one of the world's most fascinating contours - a snake-like head gazing north toward China, the serpentine body wrapping itself ... read more

Having in mind that we would be arriving in Mui Ne around midnight and searching for a place to sleep at this hour simply didn’t seem too appealing, just in case we had booked a night in one of the guesthouses online a day before. We mentioned to the bus driver where we were staying but weren’t sure whether the nodding meant that he understood what we were saying or whether he was just trying to get rid of us. The latter one seemed more probable to be honest… We arrived in Mui Ne a bit later than planned as it was getting close to 1.30 when we reached the town. Driving through empty streets, we were looking on both sides making sure we haven’t passed our guesthouse yet but we were driving so fast that ... read more

On arrival in Mui Be it is a good idea to have some idea where your hotel is so you can ask your bus driver to drop you off in an appropriate place. Naturally we didn't do this and therefore we got a good look at the main tourist strip watching everyone else get off. Finally we were the only ones left and it turned out that the bus didn't go past our place. At least a taxi driver knew where we were going. It was miles out of the way! Our initial disappointment turned to delight as we had an almost deserted beach and an incredible beach front bungalow. Except for needing to get taxis going to and from the strip, it was perfect. We highly recommend the White Sands Resort. We did plan on ... read more

Geo: 17.0849, 107.111I feel a sense of space and contentment. Warm breezes, a beach side hut, swimming in big waves, and delicious food everywhere we eat. Pho is the national soup, eaten at breakfast and other times of the day. The stock is the key. I've tried pho many times and had the best pho stock at a local, sand-floored restaurant here. It was absolutely amazingly delicious! Food in Vietnam is the best....We share laughter daily with the Vietnamese people - from our favourite corn vendor to the very friendly guy who works at the clothing store next door to us. Mui Ne is becoming the kite-surfing center in the world and we were mesmerized by the activity.Exhilaration.Above - colourful half moons dancing in the windBelow - speed, rooster tails of ocean sprayA graceful collection of ... read more

The bus journey from Da Lat seemed straight forward enough and we were just outside of Mui Ne when the driver lost control of the bus as he was texting, clipping the kerb hard which sent the left wheels of the bus over the central reservation, so just the right side wheels were on the road. Everything on the left side of the bus (including above the seats) came hurtling over to the right side (including people), luggage which had been stacked up at the back came flying forward hitting people while we all ducked and held on tightly, we thought the bus was going to topple over but it swerved and spun until it finally braked to a sharp stop in the middle of the road. The engine was smoking and everyone was a bit ... read more