Vinh Suong Resort Phan Thiet

... sights of desert-like, pure white sand dunes but we found ourselves in what I can only assume is the real Mui Ne, a busy but ramshackle fishing village where women sat on porches mending fishing nets, buildings are made from whatever is affordable be it tin, bamboo, wood or concrete sand the kids do their bit for the family business in between school hours. And still the same smile, the same hellos and the same determination and ...

We hopped a bus in central Nha Trang and headed down to Mui Ne (about 5 hours away). The bus was fairly comfortable and definitely surpassed the train in terms of not overstepping each and every one of my personal boundaries. Upon arriving in Mui Ne, we were happy to see that the water was clean and the town was fairly empty. Definitely a town for some serious relaxing.<br><br>Our days were spent lounging on the beach and our nights were spent meeting up with another Kellogg ...

... soil but plenty of sand. Mui Ne is becoming well known as a place to go kite surfing and there are several school which are happy to teach you the sport. Lessons do not come cheap though; the place we looked at was US$50 an hour, which included renting the equipment. We saw lots of people trying to learn and I don't think many people figure this out in an hour or two. However there was dozens of experienced kite surfers in the sea and it was fun to ...

... gorgeous landscapes along the way, we eventually see the white sands in the distance. Coming closer, we notice a small lake in front of the dunes, again providing us with a fantastic view. The lake is partially filled with lotus flowers and lily pads and its turquoise waters seem to help illuminate the white sands even more than normal. I truly am unable to describe the scene, much like you can never ...

... nuovi amici. Gia', gli amici: oltre alla mia nuova compagna di viaggio, abbiamo incontrato alcuni suoi amici sudafricani, Nick e Christoff che lavorano a Saigon, la ragazza russa di Nick, Sasha, ed una sua amica di Vladivostok, Julia. Tutti completamente fusi; ho riso praticamente per due giorni filati senza quasi mai smettere: se i sudafricani sono tutti cosi', non vedo l'ora di andarci in Sudafrica! Dopo esserci sistemati nella guesthouse, Nick ed io siamo partiti per una ...

... in Saigon with no accomodation booked ahead so went with the first place we saw. Surprisingly, we were actually dropped in the backpacker area this time so location was good and hotel was grand so worked out fine. Went for dinner in a place called Eden and decided to have a cocktail with dinner. It was happy hour so we got 2 for 1 which is just as well because it was actually a shot we got instead!! Disappointed but got an Orangina too (my new best friend!) so it worked out in the end.

... guests at this hotel. After another day of lounging around we decided to take a private tour to the sand dunes. We expected so see dunes in Morocco and Dubai, but Vietnam was a surprise to me. The dunes were about a 20 minute drive from our hotel and it surpassed my expectations. They don't compare to the size and beauty of the dunes we saw before, but was unique was its proximity to the sea. It ...

We have two more nights in paradise -- a stretch of white sand beach up the coast a ways from Ho Chi Minh City. Not much to report -- just swimming, walking along the beach, reading, relaxing, etc. This was the perfect beach for Yale and me -- no crowds, no vendors bothering you to buy their wares, good food a walk away, and a beautiful beach. Enjoy the pictures!

... we could confirm start dates with employers we were never able to access a single Taiwanese related site and we never received any kind of reply to requests for information from a single Taiwanese governmental agency. Weird huh? Regardless, we had to formulate a plan of attack, even if it was subject to change, so we decided on heading from the beach back to HCM on February 26th and booking a ticket to Taiwan (with a refundable return to Hong Kong) leaving HCM around March 1st ...

... a wander to a place less Westerny but back to the Sailing Club to see in 2005. No karaoke. I was near the ocean and listening to dance tunes and being jostled by a wide variety of local and Western babes. But as soon as 2005 started I thought, "Hmmm... righto... I'm off." Went back to the hotel, flicked the TV on, saw about 3 nanoseconds of CNN before switching that off. I've had much quieter New Years', but they've been in the company ...