Mui Ne, Vietnam: Sun, Sands and Seafood

Whoever said life is better with a little sand in your toes, should also probably go to Southern Vietnam and discover its beautiful sand dunes. During the short time I get to spend in Ho Chi Minh, I’m beginning to discover some amazing destinations outside the city, one of which is Mui Ne.

We booked thru the first travel agency we saw in front of the busy central bus station, a night sleeper bus bound for Mui Ne. Travel time took five hours. We arrived at 1 am, missed our bus stop (dahil nakalimutan ng conductor na ibaba kami where we were supposed to get off) and walked back like almost 20 minutes to find our hostel.

A 12-km. stretch coastal town populated with luxury resorts and spas, Mui Ne is slowly becoming the playground of the rich in Vietnam who wants R&R by the beach. Pero dahil hindi naman kami rich, dun lang kami sa fishing village at sand dunes napadpad. We rented a car for whole day to see the top spots of Mui Ne. There’s actually a sunrise tour for those who want to see sunrise in the sand dunes but we passed that up dahil maka over-fatigue na kami sa ilang araw na kakagala from sun-up to sun-down. 

Mui Ne is synonymous to its enormous and picturesque white and red sand dunes. The White Sand Dunes or Bao Trang (White Lake) which is farther, looks more impressive with its Saharesque formations. 

The Red Sand Dunes on the other hand, is more accessible to the public and overlooking the deep blue sea.

We also visited the Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien), a knee deep stream with crystal clear water flowing on a reddish soil. Though we didn’t see any fairies, the place looks magical with its enchanting rock and soil formations.

We also hopped to the neighboring Bình Thuận Province to climb the Ta Cu Mountain. We rode a cable car to see the pagoda and the reclining statue of White Buddha, believed to be the biggest in Vietnam.

Finally, we chose to end the day sunset watching while eating fresh seafood – lobsters, crabs, shrimps at the Fishing Village. Oh could life get any better than this?

So this is the last chapter of our backpacking trip across Cambodia and Vietnam. I really should thank Carla and Francis for preparing all the itineraries and online booking of our hostels. Tomorrow when I board the plane back to Manila, I’ll be thinking of the paper works that have probably piled up on my desk. Sometimes, life could be unfair. But my Mui Ne memories, they are forever.