A week at the beach in Vietnam - Mui Ne

Posted by Helen and Ingrid:

Here we are - relaxing again. Oh, the joys of life upon retirement!!

220 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, a small slice of heaven, or more accurately, a long slice of soft sand and a large expanse of warm water on the China Sea. The town of Mui Ne was transformed into a resort destination after the total solar eclipse of October 24, 1995 and has not been the same since. It has become a popular destination for Russian tourists and many of the restaurants and resort are Russian-owned. Going along the main strip you see more signs in Russian than Vietnamese. Not exactly a typical Vietnamese experience, but great nevertheless.

Our abode for the week: a small thatched-roof bungalow on the water. The porch became my favorite resting spot while Helen found her comfort directly on the beach. Coco Beach Resort is a fabourite with German vacationers and I had ample opportunity to brush up on my mother tongue. The cook must have been German as well, the breakfasts were spectacular.

The view from the porch, turning left

And another view turning right



Helen, hard at work

One morning the sea was unusually flat, but by the afternoon we had winds so strong the ocean waves had white caps as far as the eye could see and the sand stung our legs walking along the shore. That brought out the professional kitesurfers by the dozen. Boy are they ever fast..........

Where did the hair go? The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind......

Until I developed another cold (the third in 8 weeks) I swam every day and was encouraging Helen to do the same.We walked the beach every morning and night and as usual, found a favourite restaurant which we frequented regularly - still working hard to get rid of the extra pounds I added over the Xmas holidays!

Today we will be returning to Saigon by train in order to fly to Danang the next day. A car will pick us up from there for the 45 minute drive to Hoi An and the start of our next adventure................