It is Monday night and I am home from my mini holiday in Mui Ne. I was so excited to get out of the city for a long week and spend some time on the beach! Mui Ne is a small beach town north of HCMC that takes about six hours to get to by bus. It was a gorgeous little town and I loved how quiet it was! A big group of us stayed at a small resort on the edge of town called Mai Am. It was pretty nice, especially considering we paid less then $40 each for two nights.
We arrived on Saturday afternoon around 1:00 and the first thing we did was jump into the ocean. It was a ton of fun to swim and play, and it was my first time in the Pacific Ocean! How exciting! We swam for a while and then rented bicycles for the day. To rent the bikes we paid two dollars picked out a bike and left. No paperwork or signing anything, no nothing. Just pick a bike and see ya tomorrow. So we headed down to eat lunch with some of the other teachers. While we were eating a nice little storm came and went. In fact each day we were there a storm passed through in the afternoon, but I suppose that is what you will find happens during rainy season. ;) Saturday night we rode our bikes to a place called Wax (bar or club? I can't recall). It was a fun bar where you could sit out on the beach and drink or eat. They also had a 'bone fire' at night... I think they were going for bonfire... We had a lot of fun hanging out on the beach and then dancing inside. We also limbo-ed which I found out I am pretty good at.. woop woop!
Sunday we rented motorbikes which was a lot like the bicycle process except you had to pay a whopping $8. Pretty steep for a whole day, I know! It was my first time riding a motorbike and it was so much fun! It was a bit intimidating at first because I have never driven a motorbike in my life, but I loved it. It was also really great practice for when I decide to get a back here in the city. I can't imagine getting one and riding it for the first time with so much traffic! Back to Sunday... after we got the bikes we drove out to see the white sand dunes which were about 45 minutes away. It was an easy drive until a dirt/sand rode. I manged to tip my bike on this rode, but luckily it was in sand and I jumped off first. It was a sight to see I'm sure. I don't think I will ever attempt driving a motorbike in sand again, it was terrible! The dunes however were really cool. It was like seeing a huge desert in the middle of all the greenery. We rented sleds and walked to the top. It was quite the hike in the hot sand, but very worth it. We tried a few times to 'sled' down the dune, however most of us simply sank down right away. Hannah was the only one who got to the bottom. She accomplished this by running and diving head first down the dune. By the time we were done we were completely coated in sand, it was such a windy day! When we got to the bottom of the dunes and as we were walking to our bikes I spotted a sign that had a picture of a girl riding an ostrich. It was the funniest looking thing, so we stopped and asked how much. Well it was only 40,000VDN which would be about $2, so we said why not?! It was so funny, but to be honest those of us who did it felt kind of bad after. The poor ostriches seemed pooped!
As we left we were going to find a waterfall, however when we stopped for lunch the daily storm rolled in and wasn't letting up. So after waiting a while we decided to head home in the rain. At this point I wasn't driving because I wanted a chance to look at the scenery we were driving past, I missed out driving there since I was pay such good attention to the road! This was my second time this weekend (Friday night too) riding on a motorbike in the rain with no poncho and I have decided it it not fun at all and way too cold! Right when we got home we once again jumped into the water. It was so nice to get all that sand off my body! I am still finding sand when I take stuff out of my bag and I am pretty sure it won't stop any time soon!
Sunday night we went to din din at a yummy Mexican restaurant (thought it was NO El Azteca.. not even close!). After we went to a bar called Joe's that had some live music. It was a fun little bar and we spent the end of the night drinking on the beach. It was much more relaxed then Friday night, there was no crazy dancing or limbo! This morning we went swimming a resort that a few of the other teachers were staying at. They had a super nice pool and it was fun to see some of the other people that we hadn't seen much.
I am still having a hard time remembering it is MONDAY night and not Sunday. I have no idea how I am going to teach everything I need to teach this week in only four days. And to be honest, I miss my kiddos! When I told them how much I would miss them I don't think they believed me. I'm a little nervous about how attached I am to them already, I can only imagine what it will be like saying goodbye for our week break in October!
I hope you all had a fabulous (or are still having a fabulous) Labor Day weekend back at home! Once again I will leave you with some pictures from my short vacation. These uploaded in the most random order but I am too lazy to rearrange them at 11:00 on a school night! Enjoy....
Riding on Krystal's bike.. note how the helmet is barely on my head. I can't find out that fits.. all too big. :(
View driving home on Sunday before the rain set in.
Ahhhhhhh!
Enjoying a yummy coconut after nearly dying on the sandy road to the dunes!
There were hammocks everywhere! I think I need one...
We had a LONG hike to the top!
My friend the ostrich and I
The beach at our hotel
Another view!
The view from our room... lovely!
Almost all the teachers from the trip at lunch.
Storm on the first day
Until next time,
Michelle
P.S. Please forgive all type-os... as I said before about editing pictures, it is too late to fix them. My students won't be happy if they come to school with a grumpy Ms. Michelle
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