Sand Dunes, Ostrich and Vietnam's Best Seafood

The supposedly close by Mui Ne ended up being another 18 hour journey, not so painful though, my ability to sleep squashed up and bumped around was finally developing! I left the bus a stop too early and (in my stubborn "I don't need a moto" way) ended up doing a good 45 minute trudge, backpack heaving with Hoi-An goodies. Checking in to the dorm was sheer pleasure, it was possibly that best I'd been on the journey so far my jaw kept dropping as the lovely Aussie owner gave me a tour round the pool, air-con dorms and best of all sun-loungers on their own beach front decking. Heaven.

It was a pleasure to be so close to the sea again, especially after spending so long in land locked Laos. The whole beach had a very cool edgy feel to it and my "tan" started to look very poor in comparison to the beach bums who worked there! I arrived in the height of kite surfing/sailing season and just off-shore hundreds of kites cut through the sky, whilst colourful windsurfing sails scattered the sea. It seemed the laid back atmosphere was infectious, everyone I'd met had ended up staying longer than planned and had done little more than sunbathe, swim and be mesmerised by the talents of those at sea.

I met my new room mates that night and joined them for tea. It seemed the only viable option was seafood, it was the cheapest I'd seen and incredibly fresh! After a few beers and a walk along the seafront we settled in for an early night.

Whilst I'd planned to go on the infamous Mui Ne tour sand dune tour the next morning I found myself seduced in to a full day of beach lounging. It's rare that I enjoy spending so much time on the beach but here was perfect. In the evening we took in an interesting performance - a Filipino man with a cold singing Robbie Williams songs.


The next day I started off with similar activities but in the afternoon forced myself to do the obligatory tour and was delighted with all the little extras on offer! In the space of 4 hours I'd ridden an ostrich suffering from eczema, surfed the sand dunes and got some gorgeous pictures of a Lion King-esque sunset.


We went out for another seafood dinner that night, this time venturing a little further from the hostel down to a string of live sea food restaurants. For under £4 each a group of us shared a couple of squid, a mountain of mammoth tiger prawns and a huge snapper And to think five years ago I wasn't such a seafood fan. We finished off my last night with a trip to a Russian tourist favourite. A bar with house music and an ample selection of vodka. Neither were of interest to us but they had a pool table and two for one beers so we'd found our spot.

By the time my bus arrived the next day I'd had chance to soak up a final few rays, shake off a heavy head and prepare myself for another hectic city - Saigon, my last stop in Vietnam.