Vietnam Part 5 : Mui Ne!

Posted: July 10th, 2009 | Author: faddy | Filed under: Photography, Travel | 8 Comments »

I confess. I totally forgot about my remaining Vietnam entries and if it weren’t because of a couple of readers e-mailing to inquire about them, these two coming entries will for sure not see the light of day :P

For those who have not read the past entries, or need a recap, kindly see Part 1 (Saigon), Part 2 (Cu Chi), Part 3 (Mekong Delta) and Part 4 (Nha Thrang). So without further ado, Vietnam Part 5 : Mui Ne :)

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We boarded the Sinh Cafe bus to Mui Ne at the lobby of our hotel at Nha Thrang (they fetched all passengers one by one) early in the morning at 7am, and we pretty much dozed off all the way on our seats for the next 5 hours or so (in between vainly attempting to tune in to 89.7 fm for The OShow haha!).

Once the bus rolled into Sinh Cafe’s own resort at Mui Ne, all of us clambered off for a much needed breather and proceeded to the restaurant for some chow. In between gulping down DELICIOUS (not exaggerating) dishes and ogling at the table of hotties next to our table (mixture of British, American, French and Japanese guys – ALL CUTE!), we cohesively decided that since Mui Ne is our last real stop at Vietnam, we would splurge the remnants of our cash here (little did we know we would be spending all of it).

Heading to the Sinh Cafe counter just in front of their resort entrance, we booked a private tour around Mui Ne at USD 15 per head (there’s a cheaper option of going on a group tour, of course) and specifically requested to have a jeep.

Yes, jeep. WEEEEEE!!!!

Super exciting right? Kekeke. As soon as we were introduced to the driver, we clambered into the jeep which was full of sand (a sign of things to come woohoo!) and 100% full adrenaline :P

The first stop was Fairy Point, which is basically a trek along / in a river between mountains of trees and sand + rock formations. I have no idea why, but our guide asked us to go ahead alone so we thought the trek was well used by tourists, with signboards etc etc.

However as we walked into the area, we were blocked by a gushing river of water with which the depth cannot be seen due to its brown discoloration. So for the next 10 minutes, we walked around the area looking for people or our guide to ask if we were at the wrong location. As we were searching for branches (bright idea : We use a branch and see if the water’s deep!), an American couple walked to the river, took off their sandals and walked right in *slaps forehead*

Chicken, buat malu je… It was only ankle deep. HAHAHHA.

So we tailed the American couple from behind (”can we follow you? we’re kinda lost ahha!”) until suddenly we lost them again -.-||| But no matter, because just as we were about to give up, a drop dead gorgeous French guy and his Welsh friend saved us by allowing us to tail them instead. And when the four of us again got lost, we were saved by our guide who was wondering why the hell we took so long HAHA.

Up and down sand hills and grassy areas we went, until we finally reached the river and started trekking upwards. As it was raining, our guide informed us that the water level ahead will reach up to chest level and that we shorties might not make it. So we bode goodbye to Handsome guy and friend and went back to our Jeep. So if any of you are heading to Fairy Point, please tell me if my guide lied, or if the handsome guy and friend made it out kekeke.

Equipped with high spirits, we boarded the jeep again for a long ride out to the next stop : The White Sand Dunes. Forgive the interruption but I forgot to mention that the attractions for Mui Ne are basically the Sand Dunes (the beach pretty much sucks). So if you don’t intend to marvel at piles of sand (and tumble down them), I would suggest you strike Mui Ne of your list of places to go in Vietnam.

Where were we? Oh yeah our second stop, the white sand dunes. Again when we reached the location, the guide left us to sit at the makeshift coffee stall at the ‘entrance’ and told us to go ahead without him. As we were walking, we were greeted with a marvelous view of a lake right in the middle of the dunes. Seriously, it was so breath taking that if they had told us that that was it, we would have believed it and just retreat back to the jeep.

But a Vietnamese boy, carrying two makeshift sand sleds beckoned us to follow him. Seeing no one else around, and the possibility of getting to slide down a dune or two dangling over our noses, we made no second thoughts and followed him deeper into the desert.

The three of us spend the next thirty minutes or so whee-ing down the dunes, getting sand into our eyes, hair, mouth and anywhere else remotely possible. In fact the only reason why we stopped was because we got too tired climbing back UP the slopes. The price of such a short thrill? 200 000 dong per person, definitely a rip-off I know, but he was the only person around and we wanted really bad to slide down hills :(

So after we got tired, our guide proceeded to ask for our camera to take pictures of us in states of nirvana (his term : photocopy). After a couple of snap happy shots, and the awesome service we got from him, we were pretty much impressed with this fellow, as you can see from the picture above.

So it was a totally jaw dropping moment when he brought us to a small pond in the middle of the desert, and proceeded to enter, clothes and all, and pluck lotus flowers for us. His small shivering frame darted in and out of the deep waters, oblivious to our gushing and shouts for him to stop doing what he’s doing as we were ok with just one lotus.

Stripping off his dripping wet shirt, he ignored us and continued for the next 10 minutes, in out in out, until he managed to collect enough lotus flowers for all of us. With the dexterity only a skilled florist could have, he wrung the flowers dry and wrapped them into bouquets using the leaves in the pond. With a smile, he handed one to each of us (by this time, we have all totally melted and felt like THIS is what HUMANKIND should BE) with a smile.

After he directed some shots for us “Smile everyone!”, “Hold up the flowers!”, he suddenly closed up on us…. and asked us for US$10 for each bouquet. Pardon my language, but the only thought that collectively ran in all our minds was…

FUCCCCKKEERRRRR.

With helpless faces (stuck in the middle of desert with no one around, remember?), we insisted that none of us had any money, and the ass actually got us to OPEN OUR BLOODY WALLETS in front of him, to which he actually fished out all of our cash – “No, no that’s not USD notes! That’s SG notes, useless!”. Before he got to my wallet, I managed to hide one of my last two 100 000 dong notes, to which he took the remaining note.

Satisfied that he has squeezed us all dry, he finally led us back to the jeep…. Can I just say it one more time? For the satisfaction of it? Cuz it makes me just so angry?

FUCCCCKKEERRRRR.

Nah, let you see his face again. Avoid him like you avoid me when i cough / sneeze in the train.

When we clambered back into the jeep, it was not surprising that we were all still in a dazed state. Confused, flabbergasted, disgusted, angry, disappointed and whatever other negative emotions all rolled into one. Sad to say, on our second last day at Vietnam, we finally got our first experienced of being conned. Not at infamous Saigon that the guidebooks all warned us about, but at old peaceful Mui Ne.

The next two stops we went to were the Red Sand Dunes which were not much different from the white dunes albeit the color (thus the name) and a view of the fishing village. Because we were still reeling in disbelieve, I… cannot really remember much of these two places hahaha.

Back at the Mui Ne resort, all sticky, exhausted and broke and without any room to rest whilst we wait for our bus back to Saigon at 1am, we proceeded to the pool area. Testing waters, we first sat along the edges, and when we could take no longer, jumped right in, clothes and all. I guess the bar man pitied us, and turned on the pool lights for us. The security guard even laughed at us, and turned on the jacuzzi for us. So YAY for Sinh Cafe’s Mui Ne Resort!

The night went by with us using the resort’s lobby toilet to wash up, changing more currencies at the counter and having the same delicious food we had for lunch, and finally we hung around at the lobby sleeping or surfing the net. Amidst all the rushing around we did for our trip so that we could squeeze as much geographical distances into six short days, that four hours of us doing practically nothing was a godsend :)

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Next up, back at Saigon, and where the superb friendly nature of the Luan Vu guesthouse reveal their true colors to three stranded ladies :)

Related posts:

1. Vietnam Part 1 : Ho Chin Minh (Saigon)
2. Vietnam Part 3 : Mekong Delta!
3. Vietnam Part 6 : Back at Saigon!
4. Vietnam Part 2 : Caodai Temples and Cu Chi Tunnels!
5. Vietnam Part 4 : Nha Thrang!

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