After a good breakfast at the Lam Tong we checked out of our little place and moved over to Mellow. Luckily our room was ready so we dumped the bags got into our swim wear and headed to the beach, pretty much running in and enjoying the nice temperature. We played in the sea for a while swimming, trying to body surf and Helen got washed up. It made a refreshing change from earlier this month walking in our winter gear every day.

We did some research with J&J into our ideas for a Mekong tour, we were all quite convinced that a biking tour would be up our street so we looked into a few options and then hired a moto for the rest of the afternoon. We took ourselves up to the next village passing by markets, fishing boats and Pagodas. Children chased us around asking to look after our bike, we were teased into a temple and then asked for money which we didn’t have so made a sharp exit.

It was quite cloudy on our way back and so stopped for the stormy looking sky with the sun breaking through. Back in Mui Ne we ate at the restaurant where we had stayed the night before and enjoyed some lovely fish kebabs, the only downside was Jules was looking forward to a nice jacket potato but along came 2 very small potatoes wrapped up in foil turning out like hard boiled ones.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After an early morning run up and down the beach followed by a swim we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at Long Time before deciding on a route to go out on the scooter. After about 10 minutes of heading south of Mui Ne we were pulled over by the Police, we had no idea why they pulled us to start with; both of us were in helmets which is now the law in Vietnam, we weren’t speeding and we had driver’s licence…however we soon came to realise that they weren’t going to be pulling us over for any rational reason. They asked to see our licence or permit from the bike owner and took the bike from us placing it into a compound full of other bikes they’d already taken in that day. Dave had to pay for a moto-taxi back and forth to Mellow to pick up our details, and when we showed them to the Police they weren’t interested and insisted that we needed a Vietnamese licence. We knew this wasn’t the case and tried to argue our point even pointing to the Lonely Planet section on hiring bikes, but they weren’t interested and told us to leave.

So back to Mellow it was where we arranged to meet up with the owner and see what was going to happen, we knew there could be some kind of bribery involved and it was communicated that if the bike owner was to get his bike back from the Police then the total fine would be 1,000,000 dong which is $50! He asked us to pay half of this amount, to start with we asked a few questions with other bike companies and western people who’d been in the area for a while, but we learned that unless the fine was paid our bike owner would loose out on 10 days worth of trade. We also found out that many of the bigger companies pay a fee each month to the Police to avoid any problems like this with tourists. One comment that was made by a western man at Mellow went a little like this…”the police pull in a lot of bikes around this time of year…funny how it happens just before and after Tete…beer money!” Hmmmm! So another lesson learned and hopefully of some advice to those of you looking to rent bikes in this region. We decided to pay half to the man and be down with it, such an annoying start to the day and for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So back to the beach it was for the rest of a lovely afternoon, we didn’t let it bother us too much and enjoyed more swimming and relaxing. Later on we had a fab pizza from a restaurant about 10 minutes walk east of Mellow followed by an acoustic session with the Vietnamese version of a 70′s soul star at Joe’s bar – open 24 hours apparently.

22nd – Another day at Mui Ne

This was definitely the location for us Vietnam where we found some time to relax, obviously there are many tourists that travel through, the Russians use this area as their holiday destination but so do many professional kite surfers with the world championships taking place the previous week. You will often see the anticipation of kite surfers waiting for the wind, every day they wait for the right time, often getting ready and going home again after an hour of disappointment. Its good to see especially when the light is good.

We started the day again with running and swimming and the amazing fruit platter for breakfast from Long Time getting in a head start towards our 5-a-day. We decided to use the day once more for some beach action, earlier on there was some rain but by the afternoon it all cleared and we enjoyed a wonderful late afternoon sun, Dave even managed another run! This was followed by a moody golden sunset and we walked along the beach photographing what we saw along the way. You can learn to windsurf and kite surf on the beach and there are many schools offering this but it all costs money and was out of our budget but it is THE place in South-East Asia for Kite-surfing so no doubt the instruction will be top. Other activities around Mui Ne include the sand-dunes and various options of getting around them. We were heading this way when our bike was taken from us so we were quite happy not to spend anymore money getting around, but again have heard it’s a good afternoon option.

Our last evening in Mui Ne saw us go back to Joe’s for some Thai food, it was okay perhaps the portions were a little small for the cost but the atmosphere was good and we enjoyed more live music. Back to Mellow for our last night and the next morning we were due to leave at around 7.30am. Mellow were pretty good at offering us a discount for 3 nights stay with them, it’s always good to ask for discounts if you’re planning on staying a while.

We were due for a pick up at 7.30am but it wasn’t until around 8 that the bus turned up, we ended up doing the rounds of the town picking up fellow travellers and en-route passed our place about 3-4 times! Once on our way it was a pleasant journey, we were pretty chuffed as we had the whole of the upper back row sleeper seats to ourselves – that’s 5! It’s a good tip actually when you’re doing the sleeper buses over in Vietnam the upper top or lower back end of the bus means you get a little more room and windows to get rid of the smell (if there is any!). Helen was feeling ill so slept and awoke for a few photos every so often, Dave happily snapped away through the back window and was rewarded for his efforts we think!

We arrived in Mui Ne at around 1.30pm and it was scorching, somewhere around 30 degrees or so. Very nice indeed but we had to look for somewhere to stay so onwards we walked to find accommodation, fortunately we bumped into Justin and Jules and they let us put our bags in their room at Mellow. A nice vibe place that is what its title says; Mellow! Oh and yellow!! We booked to stay there for the following nights as they had availability and found a room at the back of a restaurant a few doors down from Mellow for $15. For the ease and the fact that it was clean we stayed there for the night.

We managed to walk along the beachfront to catch a glimpse of the sunset before meeting up with J&J at The Lam Tong restaurant for dinner that night. Lam Tong is nicknamed ‘Long Time’ for good reason, the service is pretty poor, they don’t always get the right food to the right table and you may have to wait a while to eat. Still it’s cheap and pretty good for what you’re paying, they also do an excellent fruit plate which is tour 5 a day right there. We went along the beach for a few drinks and then went off to our beds!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Up early and out the door with our baggage we headed to the Ocean Tours office. We were able to leave some bags at the tour office to lighten the load whilst on our trip to Halong bay with our new friends Justin, Jules, her brother John and his wife Lisa. The six of us piled into the tour bus with the other adventurers and began our 4 hour journey to the bay. We arrived at midday after a stop at a service area which sold assorts of tourist paraphernalia including huge tapestries which were made in the shop by a bank of ladies at sewing machines.

Once we arrived we boarded the Junk boat and set sail into the bay which had some nice views if a little cloudy. The boats have accommodation for up to fourteen people so they are nice and cosy. Due to the limited space we were staying on Cat Ba Island for the first night and on the boat on the second.

We were served some very good food on the afternoon which included some fresh seafood which we all loved. After some more sailing and relaxing on the top deck we dropped anchor and a boat arrived with some kayaks for us to venture into the bay under our own power. They were double person kayaks so we both jumped in and paddled around into bays and caves. Even though the weather wasn’t the best we loved the kayaking and the water was a decent temperature, there was even talk about going for a dip in the water at some point!

We boarded another junk boat that had docked with the first boat and the six of us headed off to Cat Ba Island for the evening. The sun poked through the clouds and it made the whole area just that little bit more magical. Our tour guide was chatting to us, supplying us with information on the area and answering any questions, he was very knowledgeable and helpful. Upon docking at the island we headed to our evenings accommodation via push bikes for a few km, maybe taking around 20 minutes to get there (our bags were taken onwards via motorbike). The village is very small and quiet with a new custom built area for the tourists to stay in basic but practical bungalows with en-suite bathroom, hot water and a double bed.

To save some money we purchased a little present from Hanoi in the form of a bottle of Rum priced at 90,000 Dong (£3). Justin and Jules had the same idea, so out came two litres of spirits which got the night off to a good start. Dinner was served and again the food was very good, they even catered well for the vegetarians and also wheat intolerance. We were informed in Hanoi that there would be AC heating in the room, but this was not the case, however more blankets were supplied and this kept us all fairly snug.

Breakfast was served at 8am which included some very good apple pancakes and omelettes. After some relaxation time and packing we all got together and headed off for a hike up the nearby karst peak (around 300m in height). Its quite a climb and you will need some good footwear, boots recommended, to manage the rocks and steep assent, apparently the record is around 35 minutes but we managed it in around 45/50 minutes. At the top there are some great views over the whole bay and down to the village below, however it started to rain so we headed down which was made more difficult by the slippery rocks underfoot.

We also ventured out to a nearby cave before heading back to the village for some lunch and then we jumped on the bikes to ride back to the dock to rendezvous with our evenings watery accommodation. The double rooms on the boat were very well presented, clean and comfortable, with hot water from the showers. The temptation to take a plunge in the water was just too much for some and after stripping down and braving the now chilly air, Justin, Jules, John and Dave all jumped in. It was chilly to say the least, but bearable for a few minutes, in the summer it must be lovely. The boat headed off and dinner was served including seafood and a plate of chips which all went down very well.

You can have a go at Squid fishing from the boats edge, however it was a quiet night in the ocean and nothing was caught, good job we weren’t fishing for our food, otherwise we would have been very hungry. After some card games and an offer for Dave to play some Texas Holdem poker with the Vietnamese boat staff, which we declined when we found out they were playing for money, I’m sure we would have got shafted, we headed to our cabin for a night at sea.

After a good sleep in our cabin, breakfast was served on deck and we were informed that due to bad weather we had to move to a safer bay which took us too far away from the Amazing Caves that we were due to visit. This was unfortunate but out of anyones hands, government orders apparently, so we set sail back to port. Upon arrival at the port we had lunch at 11am, so we were all feeling pretty full after two meals in the space of a few hours. The food wasn’t as good as on the boat but it was ok. Generally speaking the food on the trip was very good indeed, often at times we felt like each meal rolled into the next, you certainly wont go hungry if you book with Ocean Tours!

The journey back to Hanoi was uneventful and we arrived safely back at Ocean Tours at around 4.30pm. We had a sleeper bus booked for that evening so we were glad we had the time to get to the hostel pickup point and grab some food before our departure of Hanoi. Street food was a quickest option and we had some rice dishes. Helen’s vegetarian option was sticky rice and pickled cucumber, which was tasty but basic, Dave’s was a type of salami, a fried boiled egg, rice and sauce which was very tasty, almost like a mini full English breakfast.

At 6pm we were picked up from the Rendezvous hostel via mini bus and taken to the sleeper bus for the journey to Hoi An via Hue, a 13 hour journey to Hue and then 4 hours onwards to Hoi An.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)