Mui Ne

A big part of coming to Vietnam was to eventually get to this little beach town and do some windsurfing. It is known as one of the best places in the world for the sport. We have been here for two weeks and have found it to be a pretty unique place outside of the water sports.

One of the the first nights in town we went out to dinner to one of many little street side family restaurants that had tanks full of live seafood. There were shrimps, sharks, crabs, lobsters, fish I can't name, scallops, mussels, various clams, and other snails I can't name all alive in the tanks. We ordered the seafood buffet and were amazed at the variety. The bill was 180,000 dong or $9 for everything you see. It was so good we went back another night.

We can't explain how this happend but there were two huge sand dunes in Mui Ne. One was called the red sands and the other the white sands although they were very similar. It was fun walking around them and going sledding on the plastic sheets.

It was really bizarre to see these dunes

If you haven't guessed we really like walking through the fish markets. Being a huge fishng town we had to see the offerings here in Mui Ne one morning. The bay has hundreds of boats in it each day as they fish mostly at night for squid.

The market was on the beach of course

People bought buckets full of seafood and loaded it right on the beach

Sorting squid by size and weighing a basket

Scallop shucking

We rented from a place called Jibes that proved to be a great deal. They only charged us for each half hour we were actually out sailing not for the day.

Our last day there wasn't enough wind for us so we took out the tandem windsurf board called the Gemini. After a rough start we worked together to get a few good runs in to end our stay here in Mui Ne.

 

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Josh's Birthday

Before the trip we set a daily budget of $30/day excluding some extras like diving and windsurfing. While there are days we find ourselves over budget, typically because of transportation or steep entrance fees to tourist attractions, accomodation is something I am proud to say we have figured out. We generally arrive in new town tired and hungry after a very long bus ride. We then hit the streets with our backpacks going in and out of guesthouses to find the best deal/fit. Over the last two months we have averaged $8/night and only shared a bathroom twice! Many even have had a/c and mini fridges. During our search, we have come across very nice hotels for under $75 and it has been difficult not to be tempted. Our answer: October 20th. The day where we could stay in a fancy hotel and order that glass of wine that cost twice as much as our usual dinner bill because we would be celebrating Josh's birthday.

The hotel staff were able to get a surprise cake made in town

Josh wanted to try crocodile and frog for his birthday dinner.

 

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Hoi An

A great little town where we would have spent much more time if it wasn't relatively expensive compared to everywhere else we had been. Five days was enough to experience the town culture and heritage but given a higher budget a few more days on the beach and eating in the fancy restaurants would have been a treat.

The town was a significant trading port in the South China Sea and amassed huge numbers of wealthy traders and merchants from the 16th century forward. The wealth was largely due to its geographically central location for the trading routes and it's local success in farming mulberry (plant that silk worms eat) to help produce silk to be sold. It also had a productive fishing fleet and a protected river to port the fishing boats during storms.

Today they are still known for producing silk but have developed into a finished goods trade as well offering high end tailoring to tourists. Anything can be designed, made, and fitted overnight from wedding dresses and full men's suits to beach dresses and cargo shorts.

The fishing boats all have an "eye" painted on their bows. It is said to be always looking out for bad weather.

Only walking and bikes are allowed in the ancient part of the port city

Our favorite beach we took our bikes to each day

 

These boats are built from weaving cane and palm together and they are rowed with ONE oar from the front as it is moving forward. Amazingly they cut right through the water and waves. We will have to get a video to really understand how this is possible but it works.

 

 

The fishermen seine net any and everything from these boat tubs.

We were told to try the fried clams. Although not the same preparation as Two Lights they were very good. We went back to the same place twice.

We took our bikes on this little boat to another island called Cam Kim for the day

They call these Monkey Bridges

Not exactly passable while riding the bike

Amazing ingenuity. Talk about waiting for the water to boil

 

 

The fish market opens in the morning, as in when the sun starts to come up. It is right on the docks and is all done before 9am, probably to save on ice! The market is entirely run by the fisherman's wives as the fishermen are all home sleeping after fishing all night.

 

Can't buy fish without a few herbs and veggies

 

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