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Published: December 9th 2012
Not night over Egypt
But night over Mui Ne. The first night when we came in, there was a beautiful full moon over usWe were very glad we had been to Phan Rang, and had been nearly alone on the beach, and we were grateful for the great feeling of calm that comes from not being just one more of a huge crowd of loud, often disrespectful, tourists.
Mui Ne is overdeveloped, though the beach was never full, nor were any of the hotels (th eoffer clearly exceeds the demand), and its saving grace is a stream of local tourists, lightening the contrast between "them" and "us" that often proves so tiring. If you find a place to hang out and stay away from the craziness, it can be as good a place as any to relax by the beach... Though by now you know our feelings about touristy places...
We spent one day working on our tans, taking pictures of the beautiful sunset, eating burgers and running on the beach, and the next day exploring. Our reason to stay an extra day was to get to see the sand dunes, and managed to book a trip through our hotel which would leave out other sights such as the "fairy stream" and the fishing village, both of which were equal parts touristy,
Mui Ne fishing village
The boats of Mui Ne waiting for the night shift to start as night falls depressing and unimpressive (especially after everything we'd seen on our own).
What everybody neglects to tell you, of course, is that the jeep that picks you up at the hotel has no intention of driving on either of the dunes. Instead, they'll drive you to the white sand dunes, where you can rent and ATV for 30 minutes, or sit and drink coffee, or walk on the blistering hot sand. Up to you. We opted for the first option, of course (and cursed touristy places in Vietnam again).
Once again, Øyvind proved to be the king-of-f***ing-everything-motorized and outdrove everybody, getting us up and down impossible slopes. After that we had some delicious coffee and watched all the drivers play dominoes. We then drove to the "Red Canyon", which was, as one tourist from Singapore remarked, "Grand Canyon, Vietnam style" - a tiny little canyon in the red clay landscape, covered, of course, with cyrillic characters.
And finally, we went to the red dunes to watch the sunset. This involved getting past a small army of kids trying to rent us linoleum slides for the dunes. To be fair, we must say we have encountered far less of
Desert Princess 1
Sadie could easily fit into any dessert movie, no doubt this type of situation than we feared on this trip. But it is always equally heartbreaking. Give them money and you are encouraging them to continue, as well as giving whoever is behind it a reason to recruit more kids. And you know, deep down, that they don't get to keep the money (or much of it). Don't give them anything, and, well, you have to live with yourself. Up to you. We usually take the second approach, and rather try to give more money to family businesses (especially mothers- you know it's going right into their kids' mouths). Anyway, the sunset was beautiful and we were glad we did the trip.
The next day, Sadie went for a 5 am run, and we managed to get on the road by 9. But just as we were getting closer to Phan Tiet, I (Sadie) just couldn't do it. It all just seemd too much. I felt exhausted, and unable to concentrate (which became terrifying in the heavy traffic). I honked Øyvind over, and we went back to Mui Ne. Neither of us liked it that much the first time around, but after we found a room (
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1009804-d1973897-Reviews-Paris_Mui_Ne_Plage-Mui_Ne_Phan_Thiet_Binh_Thuan_Province.html), the luxury
Our friendly neighbor
The Geckos are all over in Vietnam, and thats a good thing as the are eating some of the bugs that are bothering Sadie and quiet was just what I needed. No, it was not malaria (of course I would expect it to be) it was just tiredness and overheating...
We stayed for two nights, and had the grounds (including our seafront terraces, seaside loungers and beautiful swimming pool) pretty much to ourselves the whole time.
Travelling sounds a lot like vacation, but much of the time it is a lot of work (planning, driving, bargaining, and the huge amount of energy it takes to smile all the time in order to put people at ease). and it's nice to have a real break...
Best breakfast in Mui Ne: Pogo
Most unreliable service/food quality (but awesome if it's right): Joe's
Number of Russians/menus in Russian/signs in Russian/times we've been adressed in Russian: infinite
Average age of Vietnamese service people in Mui Ne: 16? ok, maybe 17....
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mom
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malaria!!!!!????? no way!
how are you little desert princess? refreshed again? it's good to know when to stop and take a break! a lot of good writing and attention to detail øyvind!