I will write more when I get the time. As it is, I have pending tasks piled up post-holiday.
Day 1. We checked in at Backpacker's Club Hostel in HCM. Dorm rates at 6 USD/head/night. Was supposed to go to Mui Ne at 8AM, but the buses have departed. No thanks to my awesome scheduling skills. Looking again at my schedule, buses depart from HCM to Mui Ne at 7AM. Haha! So, a little tweaking, and we took the 5PM trip to Mui Ne. We used Futa Travel, Phong Trang buses since it's the cheapest we could scout in the area. It's also just a minute walk from our accommodation! We also decided to book our bus trip back. So, instead of the planned return, we got seats for trips the day after.
Accommodation in HCM: Backpacking Club Hostel
269/19 De Tham St, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, 848, Vietnam
Bus to Mui Ne: Phong Trang (Futa Travel): 274-276 De Tham Street, District 1, HCMC. (135,000 VND one way)
Since we were suddenly available until 5PM, we decided to roam District 1. (Let's go to Panem! Heehee) In the original itinerary, we were supposed to roam on our last day; so I was not able to print/save maps (Google drive failed to sync my new documents from office laptop to online), and we had to look for internet. Good thing most restaurants offer free wifi, and it's pretty fast too! We had milk tea, surfed online for the maps, and started our quest - be touristy!
The War Remnants Museum
War Remnants Museum entrance fee: 15,000 VND
I am in no way belittling the Vietnam War, but I somehow got the impression that the stories here were one sided. Albeit, I felt prickling of tears at one part of the museum, where pictures of the war was shown, and how the country struggled during those times.
Lunch afterwards costed us around 400,000 VND. That may be a bit much, but for the food that we devoured, it was definitely worth it. Pictured below is a tuna - crusted with toasted sesame seeds topped with coriander sauce. It will make Jamie Oliver proud. *wide wide grin* I also liked their rice. *wider wider grin*
Afterwards, we took a cab from the War Remnants Museum to the Reunification Palace (18,000 VND). We got there around 12nn, and a local told us it was still closed. This same local, he was a vendor. And he was selling coconut juice. Before we could say no, he opened one, and forced us to pay 50,000 VND for it. Marketing. Tough. I'm just glad he spoke good English and was able to direct us to the Notre Dam cathedral.
We opted to walk a bit more to see the Notre Dame cathedral and the post office.
The Notre Dame
Then, tried the swing set at the back of the Reunification Palace.
Reunification Palace entrance fee: 20,000 VND
I tell you, this is more history learned than when I was in school. At 4 PM, we were spent and ready to hit the beds, but we still have a 5 hour trip at 5PM. We lounged at our hotel's lobby, played Candy Crush Saga, and waited for the bus which will take us to Mui Ne.
It was a longer trip than usual. We were dropped off by the bus at straight Mui Ne Backpackers' Hostel's doorsteep. Pretty neat.
Accommodation in Mui Ne: Mui Ne Backpackers Resort / Vietnam-Austria House
Email: info@muinebackpackers.com / 8462384704788 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Mui Ne, Mui Ne, N/A, Vietnam
Good thing the owner, John, is Australian; language was not a barrier, save for my weird Filipino accent, which I think John has trouble understanding. The place was also near Sunshine Resort, where we were booked for half a day's cooking lesson.
At 8AM we were ready. It turned out the venue was just a 5-minute walk away! At 9AM, we started the lesson with a trip to the market. And tried out local goodies. We tasted the rice flour (sounded so much like "white flower" to my uneducated ears) pancakes. Then had sugarcane juice. An instant hit to the taste buds.
Sugarcane juice
Went back to prepare for the meals. This was the email from the class:
Cooking class including the market tour (9 am - 12.30). This class costs $30USD per person.
Which you can also pay in Vietnamese dong (630.000vnd p.p) or in Euro's (€ 25 p.p.) once you arrive.
Please note not to eat too much breakfast as you will be eating throughout the course.
We would like to welcome you 5 minutes before the class starts ( 8.55 am ).
Menu
Location:
Mui Ne Cooking class
82 Nguyen dinh chieu
Located next to Hiep Hoa hotel.
Follow the cooking class signs to the beach/ garden.
How frightfully right they were. I had a hard time munching the last of the food items in the menu.
Pictured below is where we were billeted for the duration of our stay. It's a real value for money. Clean rooms, big individual beds, free wifi, lounge chairs by the beach, and near everything!
They also offer tours to the Sand Dunes (USD 7.50):
Fairy Spring
White Sand Dunes
ATV costs 400,000 VND for half an hour. There are smaller engines for 200,000 VDN for 20 minutes. At larger engines at 800,000 VND for 30 minutes.
There was also a local who was "helping" us drive the ATV. At the end of the thirty minutes, he asked for tip. We decided to give 50,000 VND. But he was adamant on getting 100k. That rubbed me in a very wrong way. *sigh* While rummaging for bills to complete the 100k he asked, I got confused and gave 2k instead of 20k. He got the 80k, and did not mind the 20k we supposedly owed him.
During our walk back, we saw other tourists, who rented at the same ATV station, leaving the shop with no local "helping", ergo, no extra charges.
There's a lotus lake just beside the white sand dunes. It offered a breathtaking view of calm fresh water and some lush greens.
We took the jeep back and headed to red sand dunes to witness the sunset. Too bad it was cloudy.
The next day was spent beach bumming.
Roamed their streets. Found three crocodiles grilling.
The next day, we were back at HCM. John told us the Phong Trang buses do not do calls, and that we had to go back around 3km to go to their station. But the bus left when there were even five to seven passengers. And aboard the trip heading back to HCM, the bus stopped regularly to pick other guests. So, I gather they must've asked and arranged the pick ups. Saved them 89,000 VND for the cab drive to the station.
His penchant for KFC
Night market near Cho Benh Tanh.
This one is for the books. :)
♫♪ Better days and get aways
'Cause every day is a holiday with you ♫♫♪
♥
Lunch afterwards costed us around 400,000 VND. That may be a bit much, but for the food that we devoured, it was definitely worth it. Pictured below is a tuna - crusted with toasted sesame seeds topped with coriander sauce. It will make Jamie Oliver proud. *wide wide grin* I also liked their rice. *wider wider grin*
Afterwards, we took a cab from the War Remnants Museum to the Reunification Palace (18,000 VND). We got there around 12nn, and a local told us it was still closed. This same local, he was a vendor. And he was selling coconut juice. Before we could say no, he opened one, and forced us to pay 50,000 VND for it. Marketing. Tough. I'm just glad he spoke good English and was able to direct us to the Notre Dam cathedral.
We opted to walk a bit more to see the Notre Dame cathedral and the post office.
Then, tried the swing set at the back of the Reunification Palace.
Reunification Palace entrance fee: 20,000 VND
I tell you, this is more history learned than when I was in school. At 4 PM, we were spent and ready to hit the beds, but we still have a 5 hour trip at 5PM. We lounged at our hotel's lobby, played Candy Crush Saga, and waited for the bus which will take us to Mui Ne.
It was a longer trip than usual. We were dropped off by the bus at straight Mui Ne Backpackers' Hostel's doorsteep. Pretty neat.
Accommodation in Mui Ne: Mui Ne Backpackers Resort / Vietnam-Austria House
Email: info@muinebackpackers.com / 8462384704788 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Mui Ne, Mui Ne, N/A, Vietnam
Good thing the owner, John, is Australian; language was not a barrier, save for my weird Filipino accent, which I think John has trouble understanding. The place was also near Sunshine Resort, where we were booked for half a day's cooking lesson.
At 8AM we were ready. It turned out the venue was just a 5-minute walk away! At 9AM, we started the lesson with a trip to the market. And tried out local goodies. We tasted the rice flour (sounded so much like "white flower" to my uneducated ears) pancakes. Then had sugarcane juice. An instant hit to the taste buds.
Sugarcane juice
Went back to prepare for the meals. This was the email from the class:
Cooking class including the market tour (9 am - 12.30). This class costs $30USD per person.
Which you can also pay in Vietnamese dong (630.000vnd p.p) or in Euro's (€ 25 p.p.) once you arrive.
Please note not to eat too much breakfast as you will be eating throughout the course.
We would like to welcome you 5 minutes before the class starts ( 8.55 am ).
Menu
Location:
Mui Ne Cooking class
82 Nguyen dinh chieu
Located next to Hiep Hoa hotel.
Follow the cooking class signs to the beach/ garden.
How frightfully right they were. I had a hard time munching the last of the food items in the menu.
Pictured below is where we were billeted for the duration of our stay. It's a real value for money. Clean rooms, big individual beds, free wifi, lounge chairs by the beach, and near everything!
They also offer tours to the Sand Dunes (USD 7.50):
Fairy Spring
White Sand Dunes
ATV costs 400,000 VND for half an hour. There are smaller engines for 200,000 VDN for 20 minutes. At larger engines at 800,000 VND for 30 minutes.
There was also a local who was "helping" us drive the ATV. At the end of the thirty minutes, he asked for tip. We decided to give 50,000 VND. But he was adamant on getting 100k. That rubbed me in a very wrong way. *sigh* While rummaging for bills to complete the 100k he asked, I got confused and gave 2k instead of 20k. He got the 80k, and did not mind the 20k we supposedly owed him.
During our walk back, we saw other tourists, who rented at the same ATV station, leaving the shop with no local "helping", ergo, no extra charges.
There's a lotus lake just beside the white sand dunes. It offered a breathtaking view of calm fresh water and some lush greens.
We took the jeep back and headed to red sand dunes to witness the sunset. Too bad it was cloudy.
The next day was spent beach bumming.
Roamed their streets. Found three crocodiles grilling.
The next day, we were back at HCM. John told us the Phong Trang buses do not do calls, and that we had to go back around 3km to go to their station. But the bus left when there were even five to seven passengers. And aboard the trip heading back to HCM, the bus stopped regularly to pick other guests. So, I gather they must've asked and arranged the pick ups. Saved them 89,000 VND for the cab drive to the station.
Night market near Cho Benh Tanh.
This one is for the books. :)
♫♪ Better days and get aways
'Cause every day is a holiday with you ♫♫♪
♥
Are you a couple already? Haha..
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