Our complacent attitude to organising the next leg of or journey meant that by the time we tried to book a bus from Nha trang to Mui Ne, all the buses were full. Alternative transport was required and the next best option was to travel by train. We get up at 6AM to be ready for when breakfast starts being served at 6:30AM. We need to eat early so that we can get to the station in time. It took what seemed like ages for them to take our order and then to cook it, but we get down to the lobby for 7:15AM to catch a taxi. The train leaves at 7:42AM and we don't know how long it takes to get to the station, so I'm a little worried. We haven't traveled by train on our own in Asia yet.
We arrive 10 minutes early, and just like in Thailand, it seems that trains here are never on time. We leave at 8AM and the train is spacious. A DVD plays on television screens that come down from the ceiling, but apart from one, boring film, they were all in Vietnamese. The journey took around 5 hours, but when we arrived, we weren't in Mui Ne. Our tickets didn't say Mui Ne on them, so we presumed it was a train station very close to it. Mui Ne is supposedly a small place after all. It turns out that it was the closest train station, but it wasn't close. It was about 40km away and the station seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. No sign of a bus station. The usual taxis and men on mopeds wanted to take us, and after trying to find out if a bus could be an option, and discovering taxis would cost too much, we agree to jump on the back of a moped each. It's about a 40 minute drive to Mui Ne. I realised that we've used almost all the main forms of transport in Southeast Asia - boat, Tuk-Tuk, train, bus, sleeper bus, taxi, moped, and all that really remains is a sleeper train. I wonder if we will use a sleeper train.
We arrive at a guest house that I had tried to email in order to book a room. However, they never replied. Our fingers were crosses in hope that they had space and our luck pulled through for once. The accommodation has television, air conditioning, swimming pool and it sits right on the beach. First we eat, then we hang around the pool for a few hours.
At 5PM we decide to explore Mui Ne. It's one big stretch of beach with one road that goes parallel to it behind all the hotels and resorts. Along the road are massage parlors, bars, restaurants and kite-surfing shops. Mui Ne is apparently good for kite-surfing, but it's not the season for it now. In one of the shops I find some Speedo-type-shorts (tight boxer short swimwear) and yes, I bought a pair. My baggy swim shorts were covering too much of my legs and I wanted my tan to cover more than my knees. Plus, Rachelle encouraged me to buy them. I'll admit there is fear over how I will look. Tomorrow I try them out in the pool.
After my spontaneous purchase, we walked around looking for a place to eat. It took a long time, but we decided on a nice Italian restaurant for pizza. Rachelle had been going on about Rome and Italy all day and I think she brainwashed me and herself by accident. On the way back to the hotel we went for drinks at a bar with live music.
We arrive 10 minutes early, and just like in Thailand, it seems that trains here are never on time. We leave at 8AM and the train is spacious. A DVD plays on television screens that come down from the ceiling, but apart from one, boring film, they were all in Vietnamese. The journey took around 5 hours, but when we arrived, we weren't in Mui Ne. Our tickets didn't say Mui Ne on them, so we presumed it was a train station very close to it. Mui Ne is supposedly a small place after all. It turns out that it was the closest train station, but it wasn't close. It was about 40km away and the station seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. No sign of a bus station. The usual taxis and men on mopeds wanted to take us, and after trying to find out if a bus could be an option, and discovering taxis would cost too much, we agree to jump on the back of a moped each. It's about a 40 minute drive to Mui Ne. I realised that we've used almost all the main forms of transport in Southeast Asia - boat, Tuk-Tuk, train, bus, sleeper bus, taxi, moped, and all that really remains is a sleeper train. I wonder if we will use a sleeper train.
We arrive at a guest house that I had tried to email in order to book a room. However, they never replied. Our fingers were crosses in hope that they had space and our luck pulled through for once. The accommodation has television, air conditioning, swimming pool and it sits right on the beach. First we eat, then we hang around the pool for a few hours.
At 5PM we decide to explore Mui Ne. It's one big stretch of beach with one road that goes parallel to it behind all the hotels and resorts. Along the road are massage parlors, bars, restaurants and kite-surfing shops. Mui Ne is apparently good for kite-surfing, but it's not the season for it now. In one of the shops I find some Speedo-type-shorts (tight boxer short swimwear) and yes, I bought a pair. My baggy swim shorts were covering too much of my legs and I wanted my tan to cover more than my knees. Plus, Rachelle encouraged me to buy them. I'll admit there is fear over how I will look. Tomorrow I try them out in the pool.
After my spontaneous purchase, we walked around looking for a place to eat. It took a long time, but we decided on a nice Italian restaurant for pizza. Rachelle had been going on about Rome and Italy all day and I think she brainwashed me and herself by accident. On the way back to the hotel we went for drinks at a bar with live music.
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