Saigon to Mui Ne (aka The Sun)

I am not sure what day we are on - so from here on out I will just share with you some highlights from where we are and where we have been.  Lucky for you I dedicate this post to one of my most favourite places not only in Vietnam but in the world - Mui Ne.   

Steve and I got on an early morning tour bus @7:30 in Pham Ngu Lao.  Normally this is a god-awful hour for the two of us but apparently we are early birds and have been waking up before the sunrises.  Apparently we don't want to waste anytime of the day.  Anyhow this bus was headed to Mui Ne however four hours later it seemed to take us directly to the sun.  We were both quickly reminded of why we both love Mui Ne.  The sky is always blue and the weather is always hot, almost too hot but I am not complaining.  


We spent two nights at the Sailing Club Resort.  Now this might be the best place I have ever stayed.  It's difficult to put the awesomeness of it into words so I will just show you here.

(The Pool)

 (The Room)

(The Beach)

 

(The Love)

(The Breakfast)

There are also countless reasons why we (I think I can speak for Steve here) love the town of Mui Ne - below are just a few.

 (The Scenery)

(The Motorbike Rides)

 

  (kind of)

Each time we go to Mui Ne it just gets better and better so you can believe it that I am anxiously awaiting my next visit.  Steve mentioned a hotel that hosts weddings - hmm?  This time I believe I spent most of it either in the pool, laying near the pool, laying in front of the beach, eating, or sleeping.  Sounds like a pretty rough time I am sure.  I feel like I have caught up on four years of very needed sleep.  We sadly left Mui Ne yesterday (Friday) afternoon for a long train ride to Hoi An (an interesting story I will share with you later) our current location.

Steve is currently napping and I am thinking about doing the same since the town of Hoi An is celebrating Earth Hour tonight - click here to see pictures from last year.  Apparently they light the streets with lanterns and then afterward there is some sort of parade?  We saw some floats in town today getting ready - I am pretty excited. Tomorrow night there are fireworks scheduled in Da Nang (a nearby city) so we intend to see those as well.  I believe it's to celebrate the 35th year of Da Nang's Liberation Day. 

Busy - but on vacation.  Best ever.

Day 2 | Saigon Vietnam

Jet lag caught up with me yesterday as I woke up at midnight and was wide awake.  This made for a very long day - but I insisted on fighting it.  It's nothing a cup of Vietnamese coffee can't fix.  Speaking of Vietnamese coffee - if you haven't tried it before you really should.  It's good black or with milk, hot or cold.  I preferably like it cold, on ice, with condensed milk.  In Vietnam it's referred to as Caphe Sua Da - but to me it's simply heaven.  I can drink multiple glasses a day - not that I don't do that at home.  We stopped at a local Trung Nguyen near the Diamond Plaza (where I used to work out in a fairly posh gym with Korean housewives) for a quick morning pick me up.  I briefly mentioned before that Vietnam is riddled with cafes - Saigon especially.  The cafe culture here is infectious.  It makes me contemplate why we don't enjoy hanging out as much in Canada- time seems to stand still here while enjoying an amazing beverage while mulling over a magazine.  I never get that feeling back home when walking in a Starbucks or a local coffee shop - it's usually in and out and I will most probably enjoy my beverage at my desk.  Toronto if you are reading this please work on that.  Or maybe I need to work on that?  

After a relaxing morning coffee we were off to one of our most favourite places in the city.  The Lan Anh Club which boasts a pretty great swimming pool and lounging atmosphere.  On many occasions we would wake up and spend a great amount of our mornings here - how else do you think we got those rockin' tans.  However the Vietnamese sun has not been too kind to us.  Our white pasty Canadian skin has taken a beating - but I don't care.  It will turn into a tan eventually.  No pain no gain - right?  We spent a good chunk of the morning here swimming, lounging, drinking buckets of Tra Da (iced green tea), and more swimming.  It was a pretty great way to spend the later part of the morning.

From swimming we found ourselves in a local Pho 24 on Dong Khoi Street - just a few blocks from our hotel.  I was quickly reminded that the Pho in Toronto has got nothing on the real thing.  Needless to say my bowl was emptied quickly and washed down with delicious guava juice. 

Later in the day we had dinner with two people at the Indochine Restaurant who set up our itinerary for us - I am sure Steve will touch more on that so I wont.  


Can't wait to see what today brings us - time for breakfast.