Beautiful Mui Ne

New years day, on the bus to Mui Ne. I can't think of a better way to start off the year than getting out of the city and exploring Vietnam's Southern coast.
We arrived late in the night, but had called a few hotels on our bus ride only to find out that everywhere was completely booked. As traveling will teach you, you have to be flexible.

We finally convinced one hotel owner to let us sleep on beach chairs on their property. They were kind enough to provide us with blankets and mosquito netting to hang from a thatch roofed umbrella and so we camped, in tropical style.
We woke up early as the sun was glaring and the heat was already creeping at 7am. The day called for lounging by the South China Sea, and breathing fresh, unpolluted air (what a relief!). The water in Mui Ne is silky and viscous, you can feel it's presence even on land. It is a pleasure to swim in the ocean, letting it engulf you with it's warm movement.

The following day I rented a motorbike to explore the sand dunes that are famous in Mui Ne's bizarre micro-climate (Mui Ne doesn't get rain during the rainy season when almost all other coastal towns are drenched). They have two different types of dunes, red and white. I found my way up the winding coastal road to the next town where fishing is the main livelihood. The colorful boats dot the coast, as if waiting their turn to be set free. I stopped to make a photo, and met a local girl named Nam. She is 12 years old and sells necklaces and other wares to tourists, like myself. She spoke English well and we enjoyed a brief conversation. She, like many other Vietnamese girls, was shocked to hear that at 24 I am still not married! "Why?!" she exclaims. "Because I live in Vietnam" is my usual answer.

Continuing up the road I finally find the fabled martian landscape. Red sand, marked and scared by the wind with black coal ash. It makes a beautiful pattern on the slopes. From the top of the dunes you can see the sea, gorgeous and serene, off in the distance. Sitting on the sizzling sand, I ponder the earth and it's magnitude, it's vast diversity and beauty. I give thanks for all that I have and all that I am blessed with. There is something about being in this environment that makes you turn inward. Special.

That night, Lacey and I went out for some seafood, being on the coast we felt it mandatory. Mui Ne has some of the best and most affordable sea food I have ever had. We ordered at a roadside restaurant, sitting on the infamous red plastic chairs that mark a good street food vendor. Mussels and clams cooked on an open BBQ, smothered in a delicious coconut and lime with pepper sauce, so good.

The next day, we decided to walk inland, explore the less touristed side of Mui Ne (meaning not walking on the one main road that goes through town). We climbed up the slopes of the hillside and walked past graves in fields (they seem to bury people anywhere they please, no cemetery needed). The day was warm and the air salty, a pleasant reminder that we were not in Saigon. However, the bus ride back that night was looming and reintegration into the city is always a rude awakening.