Mui Ne Beach, Vietnam
On Wednesday (14 February) morning I took the bus from cool, relaxing Dalat down to the sandy realms of Mui Ne Beach. The bus ride was okay but I really never seem to be able to get a seat by the window which kills me.
After avoiding a slight scam by the bus drivers on the outskirts of Mui Ne (they tried to dump all the passengers at a friend's resort on the outskirts of the city so they could get a commission), we finally arrived in Mui Ne around noon. I couldn't find any cheap accomodation in Mui Ne so I had to settle with a pretty decent hotel for $8/night. I simply couldn't find anything cheaper. That is the most I've paid in Vietnam, far more than I paid in Laos, more than I paid in northern Thailand, and equivalent to slightly more than what I paid in Bangkok! There is one road that runs through Mui Ne, parallel to the beach, that all the accomodation is on. The beach side is packed full with nice, new, expensive resorts. So packed in fact that if you didn't know better you'd never guess there was a beach a couple hundred feet away. Mui Ne was really uninspiring from the road.
After checking into my room I went to walk along the beach. First I stopped at a quaint little restaurant right on the beach and had lunch. It was here that I first noticed several kite surfers. Later in the afternoon as I was walking along the beach I would witness the sea absolutely packed to the brim with kite surfers. Literally dozens and dozens of them; a higher concentration than I have seen anywhere in the world. It simply wasn't safe to swim in the water there.
And as for the silky white sand described in the guidebooks... Well I guess it all washed away because the beach - while okay - was nothing compared to the beaches near Hoi An. Garbage litterred the shoreline, the sand away from the water was crusty (from the wind perhaps?), and near the water were lots of broken shells. So in my opinion Mui Ne beach was nothing more than a mediocre, overpriced beach for old people on package tours, couples, and kite surfing expats. Definitely no backpacker scene happening there. I can't for the life of me figure out what all the fuss is about and why Mui Ne is so hyped up by travel agencies and guidebooks.
I spent the afternoon walking up and down the beach watching the kite surfers. And only watching, as they were charging extortionate prices for lessons ($200 for a 5-hour lesson which may or may not have included the equipment rental). Yet there were plenty of rich tourists willing to fork over the dough to try it. And I'll admit it did look like brilliant fun. But I could take lessons back in the States for those prices.
After dinner I went out to a bar for a couple hours that evening and played some pool but went home early as it just wasn't fun there.
The next morning (Thursday, 15 February) I had intended to rent a bike to ride out to some unique landscapes near town, but got turned off by all the places charging absurd prices to rent bikes. Then I tried booking a bus to Saigon for the next day but because of the impending Tet (Chinese New Year) holiday the buses where either not running or the prices were going up. It was frustrating business. I decided I'd had enough of culturally depleted Mui Ne and just booked a bus out of there that afternoon! I couldn't imagine spending another 24 hours there. It was a boring place for a solo backpacker. So I spent a couple more hours on the beach in the shade before catching the bus down to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) around 2 PM.
After avoiding a slight scam by the bus drivers on the outskirts of Mui Ne (they tried to dump all the passengers at a friend's resort on the outskirts of the city so they could get a commission), we finally arrived in Mui Ne around noon. I couldn't find any cheap accomodation in Mui Ne so I had to settle with a pretty decent hotel for $8/night. I simply couldn't find anything cheaper. That is the most I've paid in Vietnam, far more than I paid in Laos, more than I paid in northern Thailand, and equivalent to slightly more than what I paid in Bangkok! There is one road that runs through Mui Ne, parallel to the beach, that all the accomodation is on. The beach side is packed full with nice, new, expensive resorts. So packed in fact that if you didn't know better you'd never guess there was a beach a couple hundred feet away. Mui Ne was really uninspiring from the road.
After checking into my room I went to walk along the beach. First I stopped at a quaint little restaurant right on the beach and had lunch. It was here that I first noticed several kite surfers. Later in the afternoon as I was walking along the beach I would witness the sea absolutely packed to the brim with kite surfers. Literally dozens and dozens of them; a higher concentration than I have seen anywhere in the world. It simply wasn't safe to swim in the water there.
And as for the silky white sand described in the guidebooks... Well I guess it all washed away because the beach - while okay - was nothing compared to the beaches near Hoi An. Garbage litterred the shoreline, the sand away from the water was crusty (from the wind perhaps?), and near the water were lots of broken shells. So in my opinion Mui Ne beach was nothing more than a mediocre, overpriced beach for old people on package tours, couples, and kite surfing expats. Definitely no backpacker scene happening there. I can't for the life of me figure out what all the fuss is about and why Mui Ne is so hyped up by travel agencies and guidebooks.
I spent the afternoon walking up and down the beach watching the kite surfers. And only watching, as they were charging extortionate prices for lessons ($200 for a 5-hour lesson which may or may not have included the equipment rental). Yet there were plenty of rich tourists willing to fork over the dough to try it. And I'll admit it did look like brilliant fun. But I could take lessons back in the States for those prices.
After dinner I went out to a bar for a couple hours that evening and played some pool but went home early as it just wasn't fun there.
The next morning (Thursday, 15 February) I had intended to rent a bike to ride out to some unique landscapes near town, but got turned off by all the places charging absurd prices to rent bikes. Then I tried booking a bus to Saigon for the next day but because of the impending Tet (Chinese New Year) holiday the buses where either not running or the prices were going up. It was frustrating business. I decided I'd had enough of culturally depleted Mui Ne and just booked a bus out of there that afternoon! I couldn't imagine spending another 24 hours there. It was a boring place for a solo backpacker. So I spent a couple more hours on the beach in the shade before catching the bus down to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) around 2 PM.
posted by Dustin at 11:27 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home