Mui Ne: sunrise yoga, interesting sea creatures, a shell rainbow, fairy streams and sand dunes...

Mui Ne is a beach side fishing village in Vietnam, spread out along one main road that runs parallel to the shore. We hadn't booked our accommodation before arriving, and long story short, we ended up giving in to the moto taxis that were pestering us and showing us pictures of a resort, but it actually worked out! Our room was rather meh, but the resort itself was great, with a nice palm tree ringed pool, and beach front access. Not. Too. Shabby.

I woke up early in the mornings to head down to the beach to do some yoga. I haven't had much luck finding classes, so I've been trying to do my own thing as much as possible. And sunrise yoga on the beach? Awesome! I missed the actual sun rising on the first day, but on the second day, my goodness! Just as I was starting my sun salutations, there it was, a giant hot pink orb rising over the land. As I saluted the rising sun, fishermen were hauling in their nets, and sorting through the catch. Fish and other unidentifiable creatures flipping and flopping in the sand. One woman had made a separate little pool for a few choice creatures -- I'm not sure if these were headed back to sea or to market. The pile of picked-over discards was a little sad... so many jellyfish. I wish I knew the system; I would gladly have helped return the discards to the sea!

The morning's low tide is also a great time for shell searching, and I found a full rainbow. Black, purple, maroon, bubblegum pink, ochre, even chartreuse and green. Amazing!

The Fairy Stream is a shallow, sandy riverbed that you walk along barefoot, past incredible, natural sculptures of sand to a small waterfall. Lots of entrepreneurial children will "lead" you, expecting to be paid for their services of walking in front of you, so we told them that we're going to hike alone. We'll show you the way! they insist, but since the path is the river... I think we can manage.

We rented some old, creaky, terrible bicycles to ride out to the red sand dunes. But having generated a bit of a sweat getting there, I was breaded within minutes from the driving sand... but what a neat place! It's a mini desert! Hills and mountains of rich, red sand with gorgeous patterns on the wind-blown surfaces. A fun place to attempt a 'crazy carpet' run!

A bus ride

We’re on the move again. This time a short 4-hour bus ride (which ends up being 6, because we have the slowest driver in Vietnam) from Nha Trang to Mui Ne. From the bus I see the world passing by outside the window. A stark white egret flapping over lush green fields. Fields dotted with workers in nón lá (conical hats). A calf nestles it’s mother who’s tethered to a fence post by the roadside. Walls of smoke from garbage being burned in the ditches. Walls of smoke inside our bus from our driver who chain smokes. Barefoot children laugh and chase each other. A moto, it’s driver wearing a Hello Kitty helmet, has a large makeshift crate lashed to the back. The crate is full of live dogs. Our bus honks loudly, passing tanker trucks and squeezing back into our lane just as the oncoming traffic passes. Fronds of palm trees sway up high as people sit below, on tiny plastic chairs, at tiny plastic tables, eating and drinking. Cobs of golden corn lie in the sun, drying on bright blue tarps. Men, barefoot, pile bundles of sticks in the back of a truck. A picture of Beyonce on a sign for a salon. Birds sit on the backs of cows. Through it all our bus plows, honking the whole way, barely slowing down enough to let on an old man who flags down the bus. A Vietnamese bus is never full until people are sitting in the aisles.

I want to capture these images with words, because my camera has ceased to function. It was working, and then it wasn’t. No reason. I am sad, because it was my first DSLR. I’ve had it for eight years. We’ve traveled a lot of places, that camera and I, and I had hoped it would have been with me for the rest of this trip. And I am daunted at the prospect of having to spend hard-earned trip savings on a new camera. But luckily we will be in HCMC in a couple of days, and I’m hopeful I’ll be able to find something for the right price.

Two trees away from relaxation

We bought a hand-made hammock in Hoi An from a man selling them from his bicycle. And just like that, we are Hammock People. And now we look at trees not necessarily for their interesting bark patterns or gnarly tree roots, but their proximity to one another. We might say "ooh, those ones are perfectly spaced!" and shortly thereafter, you will find us, feet up, maxin' and relaxin'. It's that easy.

Now don't go thinking there aren't risks involved in the business of hammocking. Hammock People need to look out for loose coconuts... and... hmmm, ok, maybe there aren't many risks...

But we do get some pretty strange looks. We get nods of approval from foreigners, but looks of confusion from the Vietnamese. Probably because they don't find it hot enough to lounge about, or perhaps we're breaking some bylaw we're unaware of. 

We have also noticed that a hammock is best strung perpendicular to the view, not parallel to it; that way you don't even have to turn your head. Ergonomics, people! So many things to think about...

Mud puddles are awesome

We hadn't initially planned on spending any time in Nha Trang, and were only planning on using it as a connection point for Dalat, but plans are shifting, and we're going to spend a couple of days here, and then move on to Mui Ne on our way south towards Cambodia.

Nha Trang is a big, beautiful city on the sandy coast of the South China Sea, with a beautiful waterfront boulevard and palm-tree lined paths. We spent our first afternoon watching the waves roll in, still drowsy from the night train from Hoi An. We found a movie theatre that night, on the fifth floor of a busy mall, and watched The Hobbit. If not for the Vietnamese subtitles, it almost felt like we were at home.

The next day we rented some bicycles and rode out to the Thapba mud baths to luxuriate in some mud, stopping en route at the Ponagar tower. The VIP mud treatments were too expensive, so we opted for the cheapest route, the communal mud bath, but we arrived at the tail end of a bus tour, and got a bath all to ourselves. It was awesome! After the soupy, creamy mud bath, you had to shower off, then go through a series of jets like a car wash, then a warm tub, then the cold pool. A not too shabby way to spend an afternoon.

Vinpearl, the amusement park island.

At the movies! We're going to see The Hobbit in 3D!

Ponagar tower.

The muddening begins.

For the first time in his life, Mark experiences floating.

The "carwash"

Hoi An

The ancient city of Hoi An is a UNESCO world heritage site, nestled along the Thu Bon river. Quaint and picturesque, its streets are lined with tailors, shoemakers, and cafes. Behind the main tourist streets are narrow laneways and hidden courtyards and bustling markets. It is a lovely town to wander, though the touts are persistent and plentiful! As you walk past vendors and restaurants and tailors selling mangosteens, tailored coats, hammocks, lanterns, trinkets, peanuts, and tiger balm, you will be called to and entreated with the common refrain ‘looking! Looking, buy something from me.’ I was unwittingly captured by a woman offering $1 manicures, and while she did her work she had me read her ‘testimonials’ book, which actually was filled with warnings to future patrons to be weary of her upsells and extras – I didn’t have the courage to tell her that the testimonials weren’t all that flattering, and managed to avoid her forceful offers to thread my brows and legs, and escaped with my unruly eyebrow hairs intact (and my fingernails looking pretty much the way they did when I walked in). 

We bought one of these awesome bamboo root carvings from this man,
who bears a remarkable resemblance to the one in the photo above...

Having a cheese moment. No Laughing Cow, we're talking real, raw milk cheeses.

Three of our five days here were overcast and rainy, but after lots of café sitting and cheese eating (real cheese!!!), we were itching to get moving again, so we rented some bicycles and rode out to the sea. Just a short 4 km bike ride brings you to a long stretch of beach on the South China Sea. Massive waves pound the sand that extends for miles in each direction. There’s something I adore about a wildly crashing sea with moody clouds overhead…

We met some puppies on the way to the beach!

Coracles!

Turns out I actually really do like long walks on the beach.

This giant beetle was flailing helplessly on his back. I righted him,
but he was headed straight for the crashing surf, so I moved him inland...

Beard is coming along nicely.  :)

Incognito. In very, very effective cognito.

On our last day, the rain held off and we rented a motorbike and drove out to the Marble Mountains, between Hoi An and Da Nang. The Marble Mountains are a set of three startling protrusions of rock rising up dramatically from the otherwise flat valley floor. Once mined intensively, there now seems to be some protection measures in place from further excavation, and presumably the myriad marble carvers at the base of the mountain are using imported marble (though they won’t tell you that).

As we were riding there, a woman rode up alongside us and guessed correctly where we were going, and told us to follow her. This has happened before, and normally they’re luring you somewhere where they get a commission. There is always a catch. This catch was that she’d give us free parking in exchange for taking a look at her store instead of all the others, just in case we happen to be in the market for a pair of massive marble lions to flank our driveway. (In the end, we got away with only buying a small, laughing Buddha. A lucky Buddha, said she, though not so lucky as to prevent the minor ignition troubles we had when we were leaving…)

But what an amazing place! The largest of the three mountains has a series of caves and pagodas tucked all over the mountain, with a labyrinth of stairs and pathways between them. Walking into Huyon Khong Cave was an experience I’ll never forget. Through the arched gateway along the path into the mouth of the cave is a statue of lady Buddha, and off to the left you see a dim light beyond the darkness where the cave continues, and you follow this around a corner where you can see through the dimness to another cavern whose diffuse light and distant people hint at it’s size. Above you, bats are squeaking in the darkness and you hear various tips and taps from droplets falling from stalactites you can’t see. You begin to walk to walk down the dark steps that lead into the massive cavern and you see a giant Buddha statue across the way, perfectly framed by the rock, and at the bottom of the cave is an entire, free-standing temple. Though light is pouring in from openings high above, it’s still dim in the cave, which lends the space an entirely magical and mystical feel. Just awesome.

The entrance to Huyan Khong Cave.

Huyen Khong Cave, Marble Mountains.

Giant marble statue, anyone?

Typical Vietnamese eatery.