Yesterday we woke up
at 3:30am, jumped into a jeep and headed out to watch the most amazing sunrise
on the famous white sand dunes of Mui Ne.
I'm not going to lie,
for the first hour after waking up we all looked at one another and asked 'why
are we doing this?'. Sat in a retro green jeep with no windows and the 4am wind
wafting through our hair and faces, we pretty much replicated zombies... But the
early start was completely worth it for what we saw over the next couple of
hours.
One of the best things
about travelling is the people you meet. Honestly, you become such good friends
in the space of 24 it's crazy. So when we got to the white sand dunes I decided
to test my fitness and climb up to the highest sand dune with Aaron, while the
girls stayed at a lower level and watched from there. It's safe to say I spent a
good 5 minutes catching my breath after reaching the top! But the view of the
sunrise was incredible over the coastline.
We sat and watched the
sunrise over the prettiest sand dunes, before deciding to have a bit of fun and
run down the drops and edges of the dunes.
The dunes went on for miles, and for 300,000 Dong each (about £7) you could hire quad bikes and race along the sand. We passed on this but it looked like so much fun!
We took photos... And
more photos... And more photos...
After racing up and down the dunes and tiring ourselves out, we headed back to the jeeps with the sunset still in sight. From there we drove to the 'red sand dunes' for a quick stop.
After
our stop at the red sand dunes we went onto a fishermans village where we got to
see the early morning market in full swing. It was so interesting to see the sea
lined with rows and rows and brightly coloured fishing boats and nets, as well
as so many varieties of seafood for sale on the beach as well as so many
smells.
Our final stop of this early morning trip was to Fairy River where we paddled along the orange coloured sands and shallow water, with the strange offer to ride Emu's in a paddock at the side of the bank. We of course gave this a miss but that's just Vietnam for you... There's always a surprise around the corner.
I have to say (and as
you can probably tell by the length of this post) that this has been one of my
favourite excursions so far. Despite the horribly early wake up call, it was
such a lovely morning being able to see the sunrise over miles and miles of
white sand dunes and see how to local fish is produced.
We paid around £10 for
the whole thing which is well worth it as it includes entry into everything and
transport, and it will definitely be something to remember. Just make sure you
get an early night beforehand!
♥
