Graeme's first dip in the South China Sea...

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon....

So, like most of you, this was a three-day weekend for us.  No, they do not celebrate Labor Day here.  Nor does Erin's school.  It was Vietnam National Day, celebrating their independance from France.  There are a ton of French influences left behind in Vietnam (Pho, the national dish has French origins!) but they don't seem to be so keen on the times when the French were here.  But, I'm no history major or politco....

 So, also like most of you, we headed the beach this weekend!  We took a train up to Mui Ne.  It's kind of the "Jersey Shore" of Vietnam.  Just trade guido's for Russian tourists and you can get the idea!  It was Graeme's first train ride and our first adventure out of HCMC since getting here.  Traveling by train is a great way to get around in Vietnam. The terrain and roads are a bit rugged, traffic laden as well as we are not allowed to drive here anyway so we'd be hiring a driver (not exactly expensive)...the ride to Mui Ne is about 3 1/2-4 hrs by train, 7 by bus or 4-5 by car.  Almost a no-brainer.  The train can take quite a bit longer depending on the day and the stops and the condition of the train.  For this trip we lucked out and hit it in about 3 1/2 hrs each way.  We booked "Soft Seats" in the "Aircon" berth.  So, we got airplane style seats in a car with a/c.  Food carts dart up and down the aisle once in awhile so if you didn't bring snacks you are covered...

Circa 1950-ish??  Felt like it on the tracks!

The ride was fairly uneventful - kinda want it that way.  We were the only blondes in our car (getting used to that!).  Graeme garnered his usual over-attention but no one really overdid it so that was nice in such an enclosed space.  The trains are definitely not of this century and I'm guessing from the middle of last century.  My chair was stuck in the recliner position, not that I minded!

How you like the Giants chances this year?

We pulled out of Saigon and it's amazing how close to peoples homes you are.  The tracks cut straight through city blocks.  You could high-five them or maybe even grab a snack off of their dinner table if you were quick enough! 

Dragon-fruit "trees" for days!

Lots of great scenery out here...

You quickly hit the countryside and realize how beautiful it is here.  After spending the past 5 weeks in a city of 8 million (they think) people it was great to see some green land and blue sky.  We traveled through farm country for the most part.  Spectacular to see.  Aside from the Dragon-fruit orchards we have no idea what we were looking at!  All kinds of trees, plants, crops all lined up for miles and miles into the hillsides.  The Dragon-fruit trees are just as unusual to look at as the fruit they bear.   

Dragon-fruit - usually white inside tho..

If you've never seen one just look to the right ;)  For as exotic as they look they are that bland.  I don't really get it.  Maybe because I am expecting a super strong taste and it just isn't there?  Erin digs them.  We usually have one in our fridge...The "trees" they grow on (above) are really cool looking.  They take like about 6 of the vines they grow on (that look like aloe plants) and have them climb a post about 6ft tall.  They then grow over so that they look like a tree and the fruit hangs off the vines.   We saw miles and miles of these orchards.

Don't miss the hole...

The bathroom on the train was gnarly interesting.  Not the first "hole" I've had to use.  I will say, it was the first "hole" that went directly to the outdoors and was moving at the time of use.  Be careful next time you go for a walk along train tracks ;)  The hose you see in the picture are in most bathrooms - another French throwback.  It's the Vietnamese version of a bidet.  Or, in this case, a great way to hose down the entire bathroom before you use it!

With it's location in between trains it was super loud and bouncy in there.  Graeme inevitably had to go and (lucky for me) it was Erin he wanted to take him.  Well, it was "too loud" in there for him so he chose to hold it.  This led to a little mishap in his nap but he stood up to the challenge awhile later and conquered the hole!  By the time we were waiting to take the train home we asked him if he had to go and his response was "No Thank You, I am waiting to go on the train"!

Sunrise over Mui Ne

Mui Ne is the general name for an area of about 2 or 3 old fishing villages turned into resort areas...very narrow white sand beach, mellow surf (Oct-Jan is the high season and the wind picks up pretty good making this the mecca for Kite-Surfing in Vietnam.  So many Kite shops, rental and lesson places around), warm water (was lower 80's while we there) and faces south into the South China Sea.

Beach was busy at Sunset

We went low-budget but stayed right on the beach.  Our room was about 50ft from the waves hitting the sand.  Great to hear as you are falling asleep and waking up!  It's not the place you go to find undiscovered beaches but for a quick weekend get-away from the city it fits the bill just fine.  It was the low season (very hot and no wind for kite-surfing) so town was pretty dead - that said it was still super busy.  I'd hate to actually go there when all the resorts and restaurants we saw are filled to capacity!

The last time Graeme spent this much time in the ocean was when he was about 7 months old at the Jersey Shore.  He's had an hour or two here or there (San Diego, Mexico) but nothing like a few days in a row with waves et al.

He LOVED it!  He charged the surf.  Over.  Under.  Through.  He'd take the waves on any way he could get them.  Even got him to bodysurf a few in with me a little bit!

The surf the first 2 days was perfect for him.  Low-ish tide from about midday on...water was clear and really warm.  Got to see some cool jellyfish and other sea creatures.  There was this really cool thing that looked like a caterpillar but I have no idea what it was..they were all over the place.  Googling around, turns out they are Sea Mouse.  Crazy little creatures for sure...

The beach was pretty bitchin' for sand castles too.  Perfect sand since it was under water at high tide....

 

The fishermen here were non-stop.  High tide was early morning and they were literally fishing 20 or 30 feet from shore.  With the amount of boats and nets out there not a fish had a chance!  Surprised there are any left!  Really cool "tub boats" called Coracles were going toe to toe with the larger plank-style boats.  Watching these guys row up and down the beach dropping and retrieving nets all day long was making me tired!  Thank goodness the ice-cold beers were only .66 cents usd :)

The restaurants in town were really good.  I should rephrase that.  The restaurant we ate every meal at was great!  Went there for lunch on arrival from a recommendation and were so satisfied we ate every meal but one there!  For a resort town the prices here were rock bottom.  I was expecting the usual gauge but not here.  It was significantly cheaper then our district in HCMC (probably shows you how over charged we are living in an ex-pat district).  Lunch and dinner running us about $10-$20 total (with drinks).  Consider the train tix were $15 roundtrip for Erin and I and our room was $50usd/night and you've got a nice affordable weekend away to escape the city once in awhile!

OK, OK, OK - I'll get to the lady behind our seat....

So, yeah.  This happened...

So we start the ride home...get our seats.  Not unusal for someone to be in your seat.  Either they overbook or there are hanger-ons or the train workers are sitting wherever they can...this woman was in our seat  Then she moved to the wash-bin area just out of the pic to the left.  So we start moving and one of the train guys brings her a fold up chair (you can just make it out to the left).  Didn't think much of it.  Until about 1/2 hr into the ride she starts heaving vomit into the sink and garbage next to her seat.  Great!  I was hoping it was just motion sickness...flash forward about an hour and she decides to cuddle up on the floor behind Erin and Graeme!  Classic!  I guess any port in a storm??

Each day as Graeme and I take off on our bicycle I ask him "What silly stuff do you think we will see today?"  Guess I need to start asking him that before every train ride as well....


Leaving in about 1 1/2 days to go back to California so the blog will go dark till we return.. We are very excited to see friends and family and to celebrate Brittany and Jason's wedding day!  Not sure what we are going to do for cell phone coverage while we are there so if you want to connect email will be best.  Erin is coming in hot and leaving on Monday morning (9th) while Graeme and I are staying until the 13th.

Hòa Bình,

The Hawken's in HCMC
#thetaoofgraeme