The critical Frenchman

Muine beach

After five hours of bus to the first coastal place called Mui ne, we finally are dropped at the travel agent with our luggages. the first impression was quite funny because I would have expect tons of people waiting by the bus to propose us taxi service or hotels but against my odds nobody was there and the only thing around was a few big expensive resort. the few passengers that came out with me where also a bit confused. wondering and now what?
it seemed that from there the only option was put your bag on your back and start walking. but since the travel agent was open we all decided to ask for advice at their desk. surprisingly they were quite helpful and they were willing to call some hotels for us with no charge and drop us with their minibus at the hotel we choose. Great will all thought!
Of course there was a glitch. as soon as people started calling the best budget hotels the first answer was sorry we are full. some of us decided to go for the mid range and there they was places available but you had to go with the happy new year price, which was double the normal rate :O(
then one of the girls working at the desk told us that they have one place that is good and cheap with rooms available. uhmm of course it sounded like a trick and a lot of us were not sure about that. to our surprises they said we could go in the minibus check the hotel and if we don’t like it we could come back to the office. I asked how far was the hotel from here and they told: “me just about 6 kilometers.”
Indeed they were right, the Mui ne stretch is one big road were all the restaurant and hotels are spread out over an approx 9 kilometers long road. and trust me when arrive and it is 30 degrees celcius, you don’t feel like hiking for that long.
Most of us then decided then to go with the minibus and check that cheap hotel.
once again to our surprise the hotel ( Duy An) was quite ok with a reception, internet, a garden and the usual Vietnamese standards (clean room,double bed,air co, tv, and a decent bathroom) the room were cheap ( I paid 7 dollars for a single)and for all of us it was a good point to start from and look further if needed.

From that little hotel I was able to rent a motorbike (for 6 dollars a day) and I started to drive around to get my bearings. the first thing that stroke me was the layout of the beach.
the big road were all the hotels and restaurants are have been victims of erosion and now only the two extreme of the road have a beach left while the middle part do not.
a simple to look at it is as follow:
the road is clearly divided in three parts

1st section: the big expensive resorts (takes the first 3 kilometer)
2st section: the no beach land with few bars and restaurants (another 3km)
3rd section: the cheaper area with all the good value hotels and restaurants (another 3 km)

notes that on that road one side is toward the beach and the other toward the dunes. of course anything not toward the beach will be cheaper.

surprisingly the cheap area is seeing a rise in interest since the beach side is at his best and some touristic site are within easy reach. so if you arrive anywhere by bus and are on a budget, head straight toward the last section of the road. the actual border that really define the cheap side is passed the first small bridge maybe 500 meters before the fairy stream (stated on the map of most travel guides) from there you will actually be able to walk with your bag and check out the many hotels available.
if you come outside the new year season you will able to find good hotels going at 12 to 15 dollars us a night on the beach side. with nice bungalows, garden and private sun beds on the beach. the Lucy resort is one of the best value hotel when getting the double at 25 dollars us. it is one of the few cheap hotels that has good facilities, feels a little upmarket and also got a swimming pool :O)
of course as time pass you will see more and more hotels coming out of the ground since mui ne has got a lot of vacant space for building so it pays to shop around to find what suits you best.

what to do in Mui ne:

the following sites are available for visit from tons of local tour operators.

fairy stream/yellow sand dune/white sand dune with lotus lake/fishing village/fish sauce factory/dragon fruit garden/phan thiet city center market/the group of cham towers.

the only site that is far is the white sand dunes . it is best for picture at the sunrise time.in my experience the best sites are the white sand dunes and the fairy stream .

from right to left: fisherman village, fairy stream, white sand dune.

Handy tips “do it yourself” : the fairy stream is one of the best thing to see and it is located on any travel guides’ map in the middle of Mui ne. the entrance is on top of a small bridge (it’s a free entrance as well). for the rest, rent a motorbike and you’ll easily reach the fishing village and phan thiet.

if you stick to he tours it will cost you 10 dollars per person (min 2 pers) and the package will include usually 4 sites.

- for sport

Most of the places that rents kite surf and windsurf are toward the resort side of the road. the prices are very high. count around 50 dollars for an hour of kite or windsurf and you may have to take also an additional insurance for 20 dollars. private course are going for a staggering 200 dollars for 5 hours!!

For kite surfers: be aware that mui nee is very windy but has no waves at all, so you will be kiting on choppy water at all times but not jumping or surfing anything. from what I have seen mui ne is nothing special, except that it is one of the few places in vietnam where you can rent equipment and have a lot of wind. so if you think that it is a prime kite surf location you’ll be quite disappointed.

- sunbathing

there are two things you need to know if you go to the beach in Mui ne. the first one is that if your hotel is not toward the beach or do not have sun beds, you will be covered in sand in no time while lying down on your beach towel. trust me, it can really get annoying. the best thing to do in that case is to squat an empty sun bed at any beach front hotel or find some kind of protected area (but there are not many).

the second thing is the army of sand flies living on the beach. Unlike mosquitoes you don’t feel them bite you, but once you get bitten the itch is really bad and goes on for at least 4 days. the best way to avoid that is insect repellent or if you are lucky they won’t like your blood and they’ll go for your neighbor.

- for the night life

that’s not an easy one since the road is so stretch out. so you will need a way of transportation if you go out every night. at the time of writing (February 2008) the two bars that are quite popular are the pogo bar and the wax bar. most of the action seem to take place in wax with a dj, wifi access, and an accessible beach front. while the pogo has a free pool table, good music, less people and a more chill out atmosphere.

- shopping

Away from the occasional gift in the resort shops you won’t find much in term of shopping in Mui nee it self. Away from that, fish sauce is very popular around here but it might not be the ideal gift :O)

Multimedia and internet:

Internet is quite well spread in muine and wifi connection are common. no much in term of dvd writers. better rely on your own equipment if you can.

The critical frenchman

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 2:07 am and is filed under Travel, Vietnam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.