Thai Hoa Resort

If you do go to Mui Ne, this is the cheapest place in town to stay, and it is also the quietest. It has a ROCKIN pool and individual 'bungalos' with little porches in front. We had the 2nd room from the beach, which rocked. The grounds were lovely and well maintained--manicured, actually.

On Saturday, a Vietnamese tour group came in for the day and the night and raised a ruckus, but their day-time antics were actually just fun to watch with a beer in my hand. Nighttime, on the other hand, was a different story, and I had to pitch a fit with the reception desk to get the tribal drums to stop at 10 or 11 pm. They did, however, stop immediately, and peace was restored, and life was excellent. The management of this place is exceptional.

Mui Ne Fishing

The fishermen were up early, but I got up with them while we were there. It wasn't difficult, seeing as I went to bed around 8:00 pm every night. We aren't much on nightlife over here. Anyway, they were hard at work when I hit the beach every morning at about 5:45.

Some used the traditional basket boats, as you can see in the photos. This was impressive; the waves were pretty rough and pretty high, and those little boats tossed and tossed.

Other groups had a long boat drag the net out (earlier than I got up, thanks) and then they slowly pulled it in. They stood in a line with the net attached to their waists, pulling backwards up the beach. When a person got far enough inland, he/she undid his 'belt,' ran back into the sea, and reattached it at the front of the line. There was also a guy (always one guy; never a woman) way out in the waves working with the net and getting pummelled by the waves.

The single guy in the shallows was crabbing with a small net that he would lay somewhat flat in the water and then pull up, catching the spider-like crabs that dug holes in the sand at low tide.

Soooo LAZY!!!

Good morning to all of you. It is 1:48 am your time; it is 3:45 pm my time. I have had my butt parked by the (absolutely pristine, cleanest in Vietnam) pool since about 8am, except for the times I decided to walk along the beach for a bit to check out the wind and the waves. I am a shade of reddish brown that I have not been since I was a kid. (OK, there are parts that are bright red and will need some ibuprofin later. Like in 5 minutes. Washed down with another beer.) We are about out of sunscreen. All I have done pretty much all day is read a book (like, literally, from start to finish), eat a bit, drink a few (4 total) beers (OK, decided I was on vacation for the day and started that about 10 am), and, like I said, hang out by the pool. I just walked past several other people who have spent the entire day like-minded, so I made the comment, "A bunch of sunburned white people." We are all blissful.





Anthony and I arrived here between 10:30 and 10:45 last night, after a bus ride that left HCMC at 4:30. Long, but not too shabby. I highly recommend that Phuong Trang bus line! The bus was clean and comfortable (but bring a sweatshirt for the overzealous AC), they stopped twice, once to eat at a clean, reasonably priced restaurant (because there would be nothing open in Phan Tiet/Mui Ne when we all arrived) and they drove like bats out of hell. OK, that was scary, but only because I was in the front seat and could see the oncoming traffic and road conditions.

When we got in, it was pitch dark, but I could hear the sea when we went into our 'bungalo' room, so I wondered how far we were. (The rooms are individual buildings, which is great, as it cuts noise out so much better than a shared wall.) I could just barely hear the roar of the waves all night, too, as long as the AC was off. In the morning, I walked out of my room and almost cried: We are the second door on the right from the SEA! We are also directly across from the pool (this set of rooms lines the walkway to the beach and surround the pool).

I took a walk down the beach, which was filthy, unfortunately. Absolutely everything was washed up on it, including dirty diapers and mounds of twisted clothing and kinds of fabric. However, the fishing and crabbing going on was fascinating. I have pictures for another blog. After seeing their fight against the waves and their catch, I told Anthony was 'pool only' swimming. The jellyfish they had in their nets were two basketballs big! Yikes! Now I know why Blue Coral Dives said that those other ones last week were 'just little ones.' They weren't kidding!

have a great day, and I will talk to you later!

BLUE CORAL DIVING

The second 'lagoon' where we snorkeled, nearly alone!

BLUE CORAL TOURS
This was THE absolute HIGHLIGHT of the trip. I had been looking forward to snorkeling here, and I was not disappointed. In fact, it was even better than I had imagined. Anthony snorkeled for the first time here, but unfortunately, we didn’t bring his contacts and he (obviously) couldn’t wear his glasses, so he didn’t see much detail. It was a good mechanical practice for Hawaii, though.

They picked us up at the hotel at about 8:20 and it took a whole 5 minutes to drive to the loading dock. The boat was a large wooden flat bottom with slatted wooden benches under the cover. We sat with them up as seats for the rides to each site and to lunch, but coming back from lunch, we made them into big long lounge chairs by putting the backs of one to the front of the one behind it.

There were 8 people on the boat plus the staff. I need to make a plug here for the staff, too, because they were wonderful: professional, kind, helpful—regular boyscouts and girlscouts. There were 2 Australians and 2 Vietnamese. The Australian girl was there working for the dry season. She’s a divemaster. Her mother lives in Hoi An, but was in the US for the summer trying to find sponsors for her organization, www.childrenseducationfoundation.org.au. This organization helps educate young women and girls in the highland areas of VN, mostly around Sapa and Dalat, where the culture does not yet value education for girls, seeing as their job in life is to stay home, raise babies, cook, and clean the house. Talk about an organization after my own heart!!!

As for us snorkelers and divers, there was a family (the husband was German and the wife was Vietnamese), an Australian couple, Anthony and me, and a crazy (and I do mean crazy) economics teacher from Belgium. He wore his Belgian flag around on the back of his backpack. (At one point in time, I joked that he did this so that no one would mistake him for an American. ) At first, I thought that the 3—he and the 2 Australians—were together because he was talking at them a mile a minute. After a while, though, I figured out that he had just adopted them as listeners, because I picked up on some crazy statement (he made so many, I couldn’t keep track of them all) and asked her, “WHERE did you pick HIM up?” She laughed and said, “We didn’t!” We started talking, and when it came up that I was a teacher, he-Carl, I believe—chimed in “Oh! I’m a teacher, too!” I don’t know why, but we found that hysterical, and while we were laughing I said, “THAT’S why you talk so much! We talk for a LIVING!!!” Turns out he can talk like that in four languages. God help the world. Hee hee.

The snorkeling was wonderful. The first site was interesting—until the jellyfish came out. It wasn’t so interesting for this Pacific NW girl after that. The Australians and Vietnamese felt that they were tiny and no big deal. “Oh, they just come up and prick you a bit and then it’s over and they swim away.” Anthony got a good one on his upper arm, and he’d had enough of that site.
The second site was phenomenal. Some of the rocks and coral were so close to the surface that I had to be extremely careful as I swam over the top of it. I didn’t want to touch any of it with my fins. It was amazing to look at. There were so many colors, and some of it waved in the current so gently, like long trees in a mild breeze. There were some absolutely amazing shapes down at the bottom, too, of huge platter shaped coral with fingers coming out of it. The fish were beautiful, too, and I saw several that are also in Hawaii. I even saw a bunch of blue starfish! Better yet, we were the only boat there, so there were a whole 6 of us in the whole lagoon. It was incredible. The staff taught Anthony how to dive off the top of the boat here while I was away with my head under water. They had a ball.
After the 2 snorkeling sites, we puttered on over to the main Cham Island, where we had lunch. There was a fish baked in tinfoil, some calamari, (my favorite) some sautéed garlic spinach, (another one of my favorites) and several other dishes. The group went on and on about how fabulous it was. We thought it was very good, but we have to say that our old stand-by, Trinh-Trinh in GoVap district is still the best, right after the places that Ms. Ouahn takes us to eat! We even talked about her over lunch, because let me tell you, she knows the BEST places.

After lunch, Anthony went swimming and I took a little walk down the beach to quiz the huge group of kids at the end of it. It turns out that they were high school kids doing their one semester of military training, which included this day of beach training. One of the boys told me, “It’s the worst day of my life” and held up his shredded flip-flops. When I asked him what happened, he said he didn’t know; they just disintegrated. I offered him my girly-girl shiny gold ones, but he passed. Anyway, they had been sitting on the beach in a big square when we arrived, and we had watched some in-water maneuvering during lunch, so I asked them what they were doing. They had to swim from the beach to the boat in the water, then swim back to shore with their food (lunch). If they dropped it, they didn’t get lunch, I think. Then they had to cook their lunch (ramen) on the beach, which is what they were doing now. The one kid said, “I’m exhausted!” They were so cute.

Later, that same boat came and basically ran into the back of ours parked at the dock. I went to the back of the boat and watched as 5 kids came crawling and jumping from that boat onto ours, then ran to the front of our boat--as it was pulling away from the dock--then jumped one by one onto the dock. The last one in the line called out, in perfect English, “Sorry for the interruption!” and we all burst out laughing. It was perfect.

This was one of the best days ever! Whether you can swim or not, go snorkeling with Blue Coral Dives if you come here!!!

The Purse From Nana

Just before leaving Washington, I decided to change purses. I had originally planned to use my pink back pack purse, but decided against it because I didn't want to have to wear it on my front through HCMC and the like. I am so glad I changed! Nana gave me this bag a few years ago, and I've used it from time to time, but decided it would be perfect for Vietnam. It has been! I'm telling you, EVERYTHING fits in this bag. I have about 10 zip locks with various items, and I can always find everything. When I buy something, I can put it in the bag, too. The best part is that it ZIPS and it slings over my head and across my body, so there is no way anyone is grabbing it as they zoom past on a scooter or opening it as I stand on a bus. Plus, I've even had several compliments on it here! Way to go, Nana. By the way, I'm going to need a new one when I get home--this one is getting worn out from so much use!!

My Son

This is actually pronounced 'mee son' and it has caused a lot of confusion because I am traveling with my son! The ruins were built by the Champa between 4 ad and 10 ad. A French couple and I had a pretty good time taking pictures with the headless Buddha; hopefully this is not too irreverent. If it had been inside a temple, I would never have dared, but it was outside....

My Son
Well, the day started really, really early. I was supposed to be picked up at 5:00 am, which is early enough, but while I was drying off at FOUR FIFTY, the room phone rang. They were there. Jesus H Christ. Anthony answered, I rushed. I didn’t even buckle my shoes. It turned out that I could have slowed down a bit; there was another guy from our hotel, and he wasn’t down for another 5 minutes.

Our bus stopped in front of another travel agency where we met up with some fellow travelers and we all had breakfast, but at that hour, few of us were in any condition to eat. I got a cup of VN coffee and a baguette, plain, and it lasted almost the whole hour until we got to the site.
The site was nice. Mostly, it was a chance to see the jungle in safety. Early in the morning, before the heat set in. Without a million other tourists running through the ruins. The ruins themselves were interesting enough, but I think the key to the whole trip was seeing them at that time of day. We were there by 6:19 am. The sun was still coming up behind the mountains, and the jungle life was still making cool noises (in other words, the bugs were still out).


The travel guide gave good information throughout the sites, but I had studied my Lonely Planet and the internet extensively, so she didn’t add much to what I already knew. You can Google “Cham” if you are interested in the history. I had a tendency to wander off and get photos where no one else was around. I even set up the auto function to take a couple of myself in them. A French couple also had a tendency to wander, and our paths crossed often. She had a GREAT eye, which I told her twice, as she always found the ‘treasures’ tucked into the sculptures.

As she talked, she frequently stated, “This was broken by the American bombs” at each and EVERY building and various statues. Finally, it was so ridiculous that it got to be a bit of a joke, and a guy from Holland kind of laughed, rolled his eyes, looked at me, and said, “Seems to be a running theme.” His wife and I laughed, too. My comment was no less PC, as I said, “Well, the VC used the place as a command headquarters. If they didn’t want it BOMBED, maybe they shouldn’t have used it as a COMMAND post.” (Like, maybe a hospital might have been a better choice?) Even the guy from Ireland LOL’d at that one. Not that war is funny. It's just that her beating the dead horse got a bit old for all of us.

It was a nice trip, and I’m glad I took the time to go see them, but if you decide to follow in my footsteps, FIND THE 5:00 AM TOUR. We passed no less than 3 busses as we traveled down the road leading away from the ruins, and they were packed. I doubt those people got any pictures without at least an arm or a head of a stranger in them.

Hoi An Overview

Hoi An
The photos are of the Hoi An riverfront area and the Reaching Out disabled artisans workshop.
We left HCMC on Thursday and flew to DaNang, where the hotel picked us up (for $15) and took us to Hoi An. Our hotel, the Greenfield, is just that: a huge bright green structure! We can’t miss it, so we’ll never get lost. It turns out that it is actually in the best location. We are walking distance to town, yet close enough to the beach as well. (We tried to walk yesterday, but ended up grabbing a taxi in this god-awful heat.) We wanted a hotel on the beach, but the one we could afford was booked, so this one, at $23/night for the two of us, including breakfast in the morning and a free rum punch at ‘happy hour,’ is actually a better deal. The staff has bent over backwards for us as well. They had to change out our fridge on the first night because it wasn’t working, but they were up and getting it taken care of immediately, and you know me and my towels, which they hand over happily.  They put us on the top floor at the farthest end of the hall, where no one but the hotel staff would probably walk, as the staff staircase is at this end; the main one is at the other end. I am so grateful, for there are lots and lots of ‘young-ens’ staying in the 5$-a-night sleeping dorm, and I don’t need the noise. We decided, after the first night, to have our dinner here as well, and so they move the big portable cooling fan (part AC, part fan) to our table when we eat. We watch the ‘young-ens’ run back and forth to the pool bar to refill their happy hour free rum punches; mine gets filled automatically at my table.  You won’t believe it, but I have them stop at 2, thank you.
As soon as we arrived, I went to Anet’s travel agent and booked our snorkeling tour, my My Son tour, and our taxi ride back to the airport.
On Friday, we went on a boat ride/snorkeling adventure out to the islands near Hoi An and had lunch on Cham Island. This was definitely the highlight of the trip. It was booked with Blue Coral Dives, and they are absolutely fabulous. We saw other boats and diving trips; our boat looked the cleanest and most comfortable. MUCH more on that in another blog!
On Saturday, I got up and caught the 5:00 am tour bus to My Son (pronounced mee-son). It was great because we got there so early, with no other tours or people, so my pictures don’t have a bunch of tourists in them. More about that in a separate blog as well. Oh, but about the pronunciation of My Son, I do have a story. As you know, I brought my son to VN. Well, in this town, when I am looking for my son, they all think I want to book a tour to My Son and I just don’t know how to pronounce it!

When I got back from the My Son tour, I managed to just get into the free breakfast with 2 minutes to spare. I put food on my plate and then they cleared the buffet table. When I got back up to the room, Anthony was happily on the computer. He’d gotten up at 8:30 and was happy as a clam.

We walked into the town and did a little sight seeing then. There is a shop called Reaching Out that I wanted to find. It was started by a man who is in a wheelchair from a botched operation when he was 16. Until recently, the disabled were considered unable and he set about to change that. He opened an artisan shop where they make various things: jewelry, linens, pottery, etc. The workshop is in the back of the store, where they are working away. We got to watch them work, and then browsed the store. All profits go back into the store and its people, which is so cool. You can order things from their website, www.ReachingOutVietnam.com as well. Their silks are 70% silk, 30% cotton (or maybe 80/20) and they are absolutely beautiful. The silks are only $7 USD per meter. They buy the woven cloth from another company with a similar philosophy and make linens and other items with it.

We walked along the river and also through the obligatory market, where Anthony bought 2 more lighters and I got Nick 5 t-shirts. That excursion, plus coffee, took us about 2 hours. We still had time for the beach!


I will say that the beach is beautiful, but it’s not as much fun when you are wondering where your 14 year old son went. He doesn’t get to ‘take a walk’ again. I kept looking and looking for him, and he came up from the other direction. It seems he had lost our beach chairs and grass umbrella. Well, they do all look the same. We rented the beach chairs because they had the only cover on the beach, and we were still a little red from snorkeling the day before. We tried to slather ourselves with sunscreen before we left the hotel, but we probably sweated most of it off on the way to the beach, and the rest washed off in the waves coming in. The waves at Cua Dai were a lot of fun, though. I could swim out (way past all the stand-ers) to the warning flag and then ride them back in. I had to watch out and never go past the warning flag, however, because the crazy jet-skiers were out there. I don’t think they paid attention to anything.

Today is our last day, but we are not catching our plane until 8:00 pm. I wanted a full day here to do whatever else we wanted. Mostly, though, with Anthony’s sunburned face, that will be mostly indoor activities. We’ll check out at noon and head across the street so mom can get a cheap massage at one of the spas and Anthony can read his book or play on the PSP. I can’t pass this up. The most expensive treatment in the whole brochure is still $45 for 120 minutes. Where in Washington am I going to find a deal like that??? I can’t find it in HCMC either.

Update: waiting for the plane now.
We were scurried out of our room at 11:00, so we walked across the street to the 'spa' where I had a 1 hour massage ($10) a shampoo (which includes a scalp massage) $4, and a haircut ($5) all of which I needed. My hair looks pretty good, and I really needed this cut and was wondering when i would find time to fit it in.

After that, we went to the hotel restaurant for one last meal, where I typed more blogs in Word and Anthony played on the PSP. Then we took one last walk into town, found a new market, bought some chopsticks, and headed back to catch our taxi.

Business class rocks, by the way. I'm so jealous of business travelers now.

Catch you up later this week!!