In Mui Ne, our first big buffet breakfast was followed by hours spent by the pool reading, dozing and then eating fresh spring rolls (the non-fried ones) for our lunch. Having spent most of the day being thoroughly lazy, we decided to make ourselves go for a long walk, so we got a taxi along the main road towards the fishing village and then, when we thought he had gone far enough, we asked him to drop us off. The poor driver seemed a bit confused as he couldn’t work out where we wanted to go and I think he was a little worried that we didn’t know where we wanted to go. We hadn’t really noticed anything outstanding along the way; it was just kilometre after kilometre of hotels, shops, bars and restaurants, so we just wandered back and at 7pm chose the nearest restaurant to eat dinner. Back at the hotel, we thought we would go up to the roof to check out the bar, but it was closed, there were just a Swedish couple and a Swiss girl sitting on the loungers with their own bottle of wine. We stopped for a quick chat and then wandered downstairs for a second night in the same bed.
On Sunday morning, we were hard at work on the sun beds, this time on the beach. We watched the kite surfers and the ladies in their non la (conical hats), peddling t-shirts, or fruit, or coconut drinks along the beach. Round fishing boats passed us slowly and when we went for a swim, the sea was rough but with no rip and it was the perfect temperature – warm, but not so warm that it felt like someone else’s bath water. One man passed us on the beach dragging his bicycle, complete with sweetcorn cooker, through the deep soft sand; which looked like an impossible task. I decided a stick of corn-on-the-cob would be the perfect lunch for us, especially after another buffet breakfast and very little exercise. When I reached him, I noticed he was accompanied by a cute little old man of a monkey who was playing with the pedals on the bicycle. When the daily afternoon breezes got too strong and I realised I was getting a bit sunburnt, we went up to our room for showers. Then while Rodney went to change some money and book a tour and return bus to Saigon, I went down to the spa for a pedicure and another massage….mmmm, wonderful. We finished the day with an Indian meal and another shorter stroll when the sun had gone down.
We got up early on Monday and meandered along the beach to the headland before breakfast. Later while reading by the pool, the normally cheery pool-boy looked anxious. The gardeners had managed to cover the water with a dusty layer of gardening detritus; it didn’t look quite as inviting now. There were a few shouts between the man with the strimmer and the lady sweeping, but still more dust and clippings spread over the surface of the pool. There were a lot of long looks and furrowed brows, but not a lot of action. Finally, the security guard came up with a net and all four people, plus us, watched as he proceeded to skim the surface. What seems surprising to me is that this must happen fairly regularly and yet everyone involved looked vaguely clueless.
After showers and then searching out the monkey and corn seller to buy today’s lunch, we headed out on the day’s adventure. I wasn’t exactly anticipating this trip with a hey nonny nonny and a skip around the maypole, but reading the reports on Trip Advisor at least had us forewarned and forearmed for the adventure. The jeep was rough and ready, with not a few wires hanging out under the dashboard; I didn’t even bother looking for seat belts!!!
We bounced north along the main road and abruptly pulled up outside a café full of jeep drivers. We were pointed up a lane which we duly followed, past incredibly smelly fermenting pots of fish sauce and came to a brick red, muddy stream – Suoi Tien or Fairy Spring. Ignoring the local kids cries of “leave shoes here, only 5,000 dong”, we carried our flip flops upstream to a small waterfall (your shoes can apparently disappear along with your 5,000 dong). There were palm trees and tropical vegetation one side, in complete contrast to the other side where there were big sand dunes and eroded pinnacles in red and beige sand. It was hot and the breeze blew the loose sand all over you, but our feet were very comfortable in the water.
Our next jeep stop was by the side of the road as we were approaching the fishing village of Mui Ne. We were amazed at the enormous number of fishing boats almost filling the sheltered bay. There were large boats, smaller wooden boats and little round boats that looked a bit like an Irish coracle, some of which were made of plastic and others that were made of some type of wicker. It must be amazing to see them all returning early in the morning and unloading their catches for the market.
We then bounded along in the jeep with sunglasses on and hats jammed on our heads. After about 25kms we could see the White Dunes. They’re not quite white, but they’re dazzling in the heat of the afternoon. Ignoring the local kids cries of “you rent quad bikes?”, we walked up to the top of one of the enormous dunes. It is quite remarkable scenery only spoilt by the constant whining of the quad bikes crawling all over the huge mounds of sand.
The jeep then took us back towards Mui Ne passing farmers in carts drawn by heavy looking oxen and also past fields full of a yam like plant which was being put through a shredder and then spread on huge plastic sheets to dry. The female workers walked, or should I say, shuffled through the layers turning them over with their bare feet. We couldn’t understand the name of the vegetable that the guide gave us, but whatever it is, the thought of all those feet trampling it, rather put me off…!
Our final stop for the day included a cold can of Liptons iced tea….aaah, and then another walk up a sand dune, a yellow one this time. Ignoring the local kids cries of “you rent plastic mat?”, I really couldn’t face sliding down a sand dune on a sliver of plastic; there was already more than enough sand in every orifice and crack in my body. By the end of the day’s trip I remarked that I felt rather like a cement wall, truly sandblasted. Despite two showers, I was still finding traces of sand behind my ears the next day. Anyway, back to the yellow sand dunes. We walked to the top of one that was a little away from the crowds and watched the sun turning red as it moved slowly down to set. And as it did, the dunes around us turned orange and our fellow sunset spotters turned to black silhouettes. It was beautiful.
When we got back to our hotel, it really was a treat to walk in to our huge shower and soak our sweaty sandy bodies before dinner and another good night’s sleep.
By the pool the next morning, Rodney finished his book and the only other one available, or not available, was mine, which I was still reading! Every time I started to read, I would fall asleep, which is somewhat annoying as “The Shipping Forecast” really is a brilliant book, I’d laugh out loud and have to share bits with Rodney, which was annoying him as he just wanted to read it for himself. I promised I would try and finish it that day, but I had a feeling that unconsciously I didn’t want it to end….?
Having loved the buttery, salty corn on the cob for lunch on the last two days, and knowing we wouldn’t be able to have it again after we left Mui Ne, we decided to have it again for the third day in a row. While the man prepared two sticks for us, he gave us each a handful of loose corn kernels and pointed to his monkey. As I put my hand forward the monkey held my little finger with one tiny paw and then he would pick up the kernels with the other paw. Interestingly fussy, he would suck the soft centre from the kernel and drop the outer layer on the sand. Even more interesting to me is that I can still feel his tiny fingers holding the little finger of my right hand.
After refreshing showers, we ambled down to the bank and it has to be the first bank I have ever been in, where a pot of tea and teacups are set out for customers on a coffee table, or should that be a tea table? We didn’t partake, we only needed to do a quick cash exchange. We then strolled over to The Forest Spa and had another very good massage, by now my fourth in only ten days; my body was now feeling so loose that I thought I might turn to jelly. The spa was a beautiful place made of wood with open sides and so relaxing. Apart that is, from the noise of a pig, somewhere out the back, that sounded like it was giving birth……about sixteen times !!! On the way back to the hotel we stocked up on more non-healthy snack food for the six-hour bus ride back to Saigon the next day. Then after our third cool shower of the day, we popped over the road for a local meal at ’The Sunny Restaurant’. In the morning, with the thought of the bumpy six-hour bus trip ahead of us, we decided to get up at 6am and walk along the beach for the last time. It’s amazing how much calmer the sea is in the morning and the lack of blustery winds made it a lovely calming stroll.
I hate to appear racist, but the one thing we won’t miss about Mui Ne is the Russians. There were so many grossly overweight and dour Russians holidaying there, it was quite a shock and certainly something we had not expected at all. Apparently it is a very popular place for them to take their holidays. There was never a cheery hello or a smile in the lift, in the breakfast room, by the pool and not even amongst themselves. I watched horrified as one woman shouted at a waiter in one of the restaurants. They seemed to be the most seriously miserable race of ‘holiday makers’ we have ever come across. What can they be like when they’re at work?!!!
The bus picked us up at 8:45am and we managed to get the last two seats on the non-sunny side. We passed endless fields of dragon fruit, an amazing looking fruit with a gorgeous pink hue, but the bush looks more like a cactus having a very bad hair day. Two stops and another lunatic driver who again managed to slickly avoid any bumper car shenanigans, and we somehow arrived safely back in Saigon.
We dumped our bags in Rick’s office and strolled around town a little to stretch our legs, before taking a taxi back to the Craik’s home for the last time. Our most enormous thanks are sent to Rick, Lan, Carmen and Miss Chin for making our stay with them so wonderful; their generosity and kindness has been huge.
