24 hours in Mui Ne – What did I do?

After spending a lot and lot of time in Ho Chi Minh City I went to Mui Ne. A little bit of background – I have already been in Ho Chi Minh City (also called Saigon) for more than two months making a few days trip to Mekong Delta for visiting the floating markets of Cai Rang near Can Tho. It was the last day in HCMC and my friend hosted a party for me at his home in District 2 and the same day at night I treat him with a lot of Indian food at the Alibaba Indian Restaurant near Nguyen Hue Street.

Food made by a friend during farewell party

How to reach Mui Ne?

Mui Ne is just about 220 km from HCMC and takes roughly about 5 hours. I booked a bus with a tourist bus company and the cost is about VND 120,000 (approximately USD 6). But if you haggle around you can get cheaper deals. Remember that public buses serve only until Phan Thiet and they do not go to Mui Ne. The distance between Mui Ne and Phan Thiet is 30 km and there are not many transport options between them. It is advisable to board a tourist bus from HCMC.

Where to stay in Mui Ne?

Mui Ne has accommodations for all ranges of budget. Most of the accommodations are along the beach. To my unfortunate luck I decided to stay at Bien Dua Resort which was a terrible experience. The only thing that I liked about this resort is the amazing views of the sunset.

Sunset view from Bien Dua Resort

What to see in and around Mui Ne?

If you do not have your own motor bike I would suggest you take day trip with a tour company in Mui Ne. There are so many tour companies along the Nguyen Dinh Chieu street. The main attractions in Mui Ne are the white and red sand dunes. I choose to take a day trip with a tour company which cost USD 15 and would include trip to White Sand Dunes, Red Sand Dunes, Mui Ne fishing village and Fairy Stream. The trip would start early in the morning at 5 AM the next day. The tour company would pick you up in a jeep at your hotel. There where other three Chinese girls with whom I had to take a day trip. 😛

Jeep in which I traveled

White Sand Dunes are massive spectacular stretches of sand. The best time to visit the sand dunes is during the early morning at sunrise. The sunrise over these remarkable sand dunes is astonishing and a with few cactus tress and a lake makes it much more appealing. Other things you can do at these sand dunes are surfing on the sand with a plastic board with is becoming increasingly popular with backpackers and if you don’t mind spending some bucks you can rent a quad bike and hit the sand for VND 100,000 an hour.

Sunrise over the sand dunes

The red sand dunes are very much similar to the white sand dunes, but the sand here is much more coarse and colored.

From here I went to the Mui Ne fishing village and then to the fairy stream. The Fairy Stream is beautiful stream with flowing water over the sand which on course of time formed the sand and rocks into interesting formations. This is a great place to walk listening to the sounds of nature and the soothing sound of flowing water. On your way to the far end of stream you can see an ostrich farm, which is bizarrely famous for ostrich riding.

Fairy Stream

It took me half day to visit these places and at around 2 PM in the afternoon I was back to my hotel. The evening I spent of wandering hear and there without any aim and talking to the people whom I met.

Where to eat in Mui Ne?

The best place to eat in Mui Ne to ear are the street restaurants on Nguyen Dinh Chieu street that serve all kinds of  sea food. Some of the best fish is found here and you will never regret. You can select a fish from the huge collection of fishes and other sea food yourself and the restaurant would be happy to cook that fish for you. The cost of the fish is dependent on the weight. The most weird food that I ever saw in the world was at Mui Ne where a crocodile was being barbecue on a grill for consumption. However delicious it might be, I would never try this.

Barbecue Crocodile in Mui Ne

Where did I go from here? Nha Trang

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