Sunday, November 30, 2008

Leaving Mui Ne?

It has been about 2 weeks since we came to Mui Ne, Vietnam. Twice we have have booked bus tickets to leave and twice we have canceled them because... why leave? It is beautiful here, the people are friendly, and the food is cheap and great, especially at "The Popular Restaurant".
There are two main businesses in this town: fish sauce and surfing sports.

The windsurfing is SO GOOD here that this man came all the way from Holland just to enjoy windsurfing in this spot while his friends back home endure the freezing rain and snow.

OH, and a special note for the Japanese readers: Wilco (pictured above) has NEVER heard of CASTELLA! Tara and I were shocked! Castella, the famous Dutch sponge cake of Nagasaki, in fact seems to be a JAPANESE sponge cake. We were SO surprised by this that we had to find other people from the Netherlands and ask them about castella, but in fact NONE OF THEM have EVER heard of castella cake!

The other big attraction in Mui Ne is this emerging desert. One day we hired a jeep and driver to take us to these sand dunes. They made for some fun pictures!

Tara decided to use the wide open spaces to practice ballet.

Of course I prefer soccer to ballet. This little boy was happy to have somebody to play with!

The coast stretches for many kilometres of beautiful beach. It's not very crowded, and as you can see here, windsurfing is very popular.

Or you can sit back and take a nap.


Tara on the balcony of one of the hotels we've stayed at in Mui Ne. The beach is right there behind the palm trees. This hotel is also conveniently located next to our favourite restaurant where a whole grilled fish is 50 000 Vietnamese Dong, or around $3 US. Mmmmm...
At this restaurant you may not always get exactly what you ordered, but the food is so good and cheap that we never care. One night we ordered lemon rum drinks, and thought that they tasted very different than usual. When we asked for the bill:
"4 rum and cokes... 80 000"
"Oh, but we ordered lemon rum... that should be 60 000."
"Yes, but we made rum and coke! 80 000."
I laughed and paid for the rum and cokes.


So, in summary, Mui Ne has been so enjoyable that we've kind of lost track of time. Tara and I have both taken some windsurfing lessons, wee have met a lot of nice people here, and we've been relaxing, enjoying great food, and mostly sunny weather. However, for the past few days the wind has died down, and the sun has been hiding, so it may be time to move on and see what fun the next town holds for us.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

No use hunting for fun and sun, when you have it where you are.Great to see more pictures, and you both look healthy and happy! It's probably far from your mind but there's a cold snowy roadhockey game just waiting for ya! Uncle Al

Anonymous said...

Hi Guys,

Been a long time since I checked out your blog. Looks like you are enjoying life like it should be enjoyed (from time to time, of course)! So happy for you!

All zeee best,
Arlene

Janet said...

Wow! So very beautiful! Just how you described it. Can't wait to see pictures of Angor Wat. Sorry I missed your call. MomE

Anonymous said...

Ian, guess who is the student teacher teaching at our school. He's someone to say hi to you...
Hi Ian its Eric Chung... crazy, just found out i was student teaching in your mom's class... Love the pictures... stay safe and have fun in Asia... if you get a chance check out Korea too!! haha just heard that you went there... take care!!!

your friends in Japan said...

Hi Uncle Al, believe it or not that roadhockey game sounds great! From the sounds of it there's plenty of snow to last in London right now, so I may even be back in time to help you guys shovel a bit.

Hi Arlene, thanks for checking in. I haven't left even a speck of food on any plate that's been put in front of me! ;)

Hi Mom, Angkor Wat was incredible. I'm sure you would have loved it. We'll hopefully be able to share the pictures soon though.

Hey Eric, anyang hasseyo! Small world eh? I hope my mom's not working you too hard. I know she has some Korean kids in her class so she's probably happy to have you there.


~ IAN ~