With equal opportunities for relaxation and adrenaline and enough sand to build a million greenhouses, Mui Ne is definitely not somewhere to skip out. While the outset may fool you into thinking it's a sleepy seaside resort, only worth a couple of days out of your travels; there's plenty of lure to keep you extending your stay indefinitely.
The sleeper bus from Saigon was an unexpected delight, with three columns of bunk beds lining the bus. A chance to catch up on some well needed sleep, while lying back in comfort - perfect. It certainly helped the lost music player (phone) situation as well.
Four hours later we were dropped off at a cafe somewhere on the long, single road that runs through Mui Ne, parallel to the beach. "Sit tight, your lift is coming", we were told in a roundabout way. "You may as well spend some money at my friend's cafe", was the more implicit message.
Eventually after lunch and some time waiting, we were squashed into a 4x4 and taken a few minutes down our road to the hostel - Mui Nei Backpacker Village. It did seem a pretty popular place to stay, but there was ample space around a nice swimming pool to relax; plus table tennis and pool tables to make it perfect for purpose.
Our room definitely had less privacy than anywhere I'd stayed before and also contained 'The American Guy' I'd be warned about by my friends. But for the sake of a few hours that I intended to spend in it over the next couple of days it was sufficient. Bags down, trunks on, off to the pool.
Two obnoxious, 'bro' types wandered the pool area, looking for females to pester or blokes to enrol in their ideology. "Choose a tanning name", Tanner McGregor demanded to everyone on a sun lounger. "Make us laugh and we'll give you a shot', Tanning Tatum goaded. We did, of course, make them laugh. We dubbed them 'Team Sausage'.
The sleeper bus from Saigon was an unexpected delight, with three columns of bunk beds lining the bus. A chance to catch up on some well needed sleep, while lying back in comfort - perfect. It certainly helped the lost music player (phone) situation as well.
Four hours later we were dropped off at a cafe somewhere on the long, single road that runs through Mui Ne, parallel to the beach. "Sit tight, your lift is coming", we were told in a roundabout way. "You may as well spend some money at my friend's cafe", was the more implicit message.
Eventually after lunch and some time waiting, we were squashed into a 4x4 and taken a few minutes down our road to the hostel - Mui Nei Backpacker Village. It did seem a pretty popular place to stay, but there was ample space around a nice swimming pool to relax; plus table tennis and pool tables to make it perfect for purpose.
Our room definitely had less privacy than anywhere I'd stayed before and also contained 'The American Guy' I'd be warned about by my friends. But for the sake of a few hours that I intended to spend in it over the next couple of days it was sufficient. Bags down, trunks on, off to the pool.
Two obnoxious, 'bro' types wandered the pool area, looking for females to pester or blokes to enrol in their ideology. "Choose a tanning name", Tanner McGregor demanded to everyone on a sun lounger. "Make us laugh and we'll give you a shot', Tanning Tatum goaded. We did, of course, make them laugh. We dubbed them 'Team Sausage'.
With two for one happy hour on cocktails pretty much around the clock, Gin and Tonic began flowing at a steady rate. A sensible choice to ensure hydration we decided - and just 50,000 Dong (£1.70) for two. Soon enough the cards were out, with games like 'Shithead' and 'Ride the Bus' in full flow. Before long it turned to 'Ring of Fire' and we'd employed a far more effective tactic of drawing the crowds than either of Team Sausage.
Come the evening my three companions had left to go for a 'power nap', while I was left playing 'flip cup' and 'stack cup' with the masses gathered around the bar and on the veranda. When the time to head out came, I was only successful in waking one companion up; so we joined the crowds heading to Mui Ne's main nightclub, Dragon Bar.
Dragon Bar's layout was definitely an improvement on most places I'd come across in Asia. An open plan room was complete with a DJ booth, dancers and fire-jugglers, sand, hammocks and seats overlooking the sea. This was matched with a disco room full of flashing floors, lasers and curious Koreans.
The music wasn't bad either. Instead of repeats of Bieber and Drake, this place smashed drum and bass and big beat anthems from the likes of Pendulum and Prodigy. The DJ also dropped a great selection of classic hip hop anthems and just the right sprinkling of deep house. By the end I was swinging around the room to Still D.R.E. and My Head is a Jungle.
The next day we decided was a beach day. Hearsay was correct that the most feasible ways to gain access all involved some manner of sneaking through a resort. Most of these were pretty classy looking hotels - so after some deliberation, we found the one that was more befitting of four gents from Stalybridge and got our stealth on.
The beautiful white, sandy beach stretches for 12km along the South China Sea. Obviously the best parts are privately reserved for the beachfront resorts, but after walking a couple of kilometres we chanced a seemingly unpoliced area of loungers. It didn't take long for someone to realise we didn't fit the clientele though and eventually we were moved on.
We escaped from the beach through what could possibly have been a very confused Vietnamese family's front room; before heading back for another dip in the pool and another night of festivities.
Adrenaline and sightseeing awaited the next day as we booked to go quad biking on some sand dunes, with a new plus one in our group. First stop for our rickety 4x4 was for a pleasant stroll up the Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien), a winding, shallow body of water lined with cliffs and hundreds of sand rolls.
A couple of minutes into the walk and I couldn't believe the sign that greeted us. 'Ostrich riding', surely it was a joke? No, it wasn't. A new low in animal barbarism even for this part of the world.
We walked over to the enclosure to see three ostriches with seats haphazardly strapped to their back. The handler fumbled as he held the 2.5m bird still so a French tourist could climb aboard. Once aboard, it darted around in a wacky and manic manner, the distress equal on both the animal and the tourist. The other two ostriches looked on suspiciously. I'd seen enough.
A couple of minutes into the walk and I couldn't believe the sign that greeted us. 'Ostrich riding', surely it was a joke? No, it wasn't. A new low in animal barbarism even for this part of the world.
We walked over to the enclosure to see three ostriches with seats haphazardly strapped to their back. The handler fumbled as he held the 2.5m bird still so a French tourist could climb aboard. Once aboard, it darted around in a wacky and manic manner, the distress equal on both the animal and the tourist. The other two ostriches looked on suspiciously. I'd seen enough.
Back on the road we grimaced at an obligatory police trap looking for Western moped riders, but then the white sand dunes were in sight. And they were a sight to behold. After parting with 400,000 Dong (£13.60), we were on the quads and soon testing our resolve against a downward slope. I was up first. My stomach dropped as I slid pathetically down the first one, then relief followed.
That's all it took to get me opening up the throttle and hurtling up, along the crest and then back down the dunes without a care in the world. The only thing bringing us back down to earth was the occasional stall climbing the tallest dunes - which we were warned about due to a power limit on the quads.
One member of the party, who shall not be named, spent most of the half hour duration stuck on even the smallest of mounds. He even impressed the locals by managing to flip his quad twice. But the rest of us were in our element; racing, drifting around each other and forlorn to finally receive the call that our time was up.
That's all it took to get me opening up the throttle and hurtling up, along the crest and then back down the dunes without a care in the world. The only thing bringing us back down to earth was the occasional stall climbing the tallest dunes - which we were warned about due to a power limit on the quads.
One member of the party, who shall not be named, spent most of the half hour duration stuck on even the smallest of mounds. He even impressed the locals by managing to flip his quad twice. But the rest of us were in our element; racing, drifting around each other and forlorn to finally receive the call that our time was up.
The final stop was at some red sand dunes, for an attempt to replicate the same white knuckle ride. As soon as we pulled up, throngs of kids flocked the truck waving plastic mats and demanding cash. Renting a mat to slide down the dunes probably cost the equivalent of 20p, and I could just picture flying down the hills and getting some serious air time at the bottom.
Sadly though, even with some thorough tuition from these kids, the resulting slides were pretty tragic. At one point I sussed the real reason for their overzealous involvement, as my wallet had dislodged from my pocket and I had to scrambled over sand to retrieve it before them. All I achieved was exhaustion.
Sadly though, even with some thorough tuition from these kids, the resulting slides were pretty tragic. At one point I sussed the real reason for their overzealous involvement, as my wallet had dislodged from my pocket and I had to scrambled over sand to retrieve it before them. All I achieved was exhaustion.
We decided to extend our stay by another day to deal with the exhaustion, but obviously still found some energy to hit the Dragon Bar again. Although beforehand we trialled a delicious Mexican restaurant located next to the hostel, El Latino. This place had a fantastic offer of a burrito and a margarita for just 100,000 Dong (£3.40).
We did find that many of the recommended restaurants weren't Vietnamese, and on the following night we made a 2km voyage to Ganesh, an Indian restaurant. It was well worth it though. Even as curry connoisseurs from Tameside, a hub of great curry houses, we were suitably impressed with the selection.
Our final day and night was spent indulging in more of the relaxing qualities of Mui Ne - a rest which was well earned by now. While tempted to extend our stay some more, we extended our party size to six instead and left for Da Lat at noon.
We did find that many of the recommended restaurants weren't Vietnamese, and on the following night we made a 2km voyage to Ganesh, an Indian restaurant. It was well worth it though. Even as curry connoisseurs from Tameside, a hub of great curry houses, we were suitably impressed with the selection.
Our final day and night was spent indulging in more of the relaxing qualities of Mui Ne - a rest which was well earned by now. While tempted to extend our stay some more, we extended our party size to six instead and left for Da Lat at noon.