Finding The Beach

We started the day with swimming pool lounging again. It's so hot that sitting in a sun lounger and not moving can still make you sweat. We stayed at the pool until the early afternoon, using it to cool down during the hottest part of the day. Refreshments consisted of ice cream and a Larue beer. I was wearing my small swimming shorts and my white upper legs turned red today - not with intention. I even applied lots of sun cream and it still burned!

The afternoon had us searching for the beach. Just behind the pool are steps leading down to sand and sea, but there's only about 4 meters of sand at best, and none if the tide is in. Looking along the shoreline to the right, and in the far distance, we can see much more beach. That's where we want to go.

It's a very long way to the desired beach spot, and we figure walking in the sand would take too long. Instead, we hire bicycles and ride down the road, thinking we will find a way down to the beach when we come to it. However, we ride the entire stretch of Mui Ne, finding no way to get to the beach, because hotels and resorts block the way. You'd think there would be obvious public access to it, but it seems not. We rode up and down for a long time, and finally, we found a way to get there. We lock up our bikes and walk along the shore to find a good spot. There's plenty of choice with so few people here.

I paddled in the sea a bit before reading The Beach to Rachelle on the beach. After a couple of hours, we wanted drinks and made our way back to the bikes. Rachelle's bike lock malfunctioned and we had to get a local to help us with his tool kit. He spoke no English, but he helped us anyway. He had a cute puppy that ran circles around us. Then we went for cocktails before going for an Indian meal.

It's our last night in Mui Ne, so we fancied a drink in a bar instead of simply retiring to the room. We went to a bar called Pogo near our accommodation. We ordered a rum and coke bucket to share and sat in the outside area on a beanbag chair, overlooking the sea and lights on the horizon. Bats swooped around our heads and we could see a thunderstorm out at sea. Flashes of lightning made silhouettes out of the distant storm clouds. The power kept going off in the bar, presumably due to the distant storm, but it meant we could see the stars more clearly. It was a good ending.