After our lovely Russian beach resort, we hopped down the coast to a place called Mui Ne. This also turned out to be another Russian paradise but also a kite surfing haven.
But it wasn't the kites or the Russians that we were here for, it was the dunes!
There were tours everywhere doing a whistle stop tour of them so we decided against that and opted for driving it ourselves on mopeds.
The night before we wanted to leave, Sean and Alex bartered to get the best price for them and later went back to pick them up. When we arrived, the bike owner demanded double what we had agreed so we got grumpy and left to wander the streets to find a cheaper deal. There was nothing anywhere. Rubbish.
Until an unexpected opportunity arose. A street seller started by offering us drugs (fairly standard outside Europe) which we politely declined. He then continued and offered us 'boom boom'. After a bit of confusion, turns out that this is a prostitute. So again, we politely declined. But he kept pestering. So eventually we decided to ask him if he had 2 bikes and he tapped a couple of words and numbers into his phone and just said "follow me". So being obedient people, we did. He took us to a shady part of the road and 2 minutes later, 2 accomplices arrived on bikes. Cash (of course) was exchanged and we had ourselves some fancy mopeds for the day! Nothing dodgy about that at all. But there were no other bikes anywhere! I won't even discuss the over the counter petrol from local shops you get....
So we were very pleased with ourselves and went out for a dinner of BBQ crocodile and ostrich steak!
So at 4.30am the next morning we left for the first set of sand dunes with the hope to be there for sunrise. After a few detours and a bit of a race against the clock, we arrived just in time! Climbing to the top, we saw the sun start to peak over the horizon with a beautiful orange glow. So what else do you do on sand dunes but run and jump off them! We did kart wheels and flips and rollie pollies! Very exciting!
Next we popped down to the fishing village and saw millions of boats and fish! All very exciting but we were getting hungry so we went in search for food.
On the way back, we found a amazing posh hotel and went for a buffet breakfast by the beach. Delicious! We even managed to have a dip in the infinity pool and a sunbathe after some fierce negotiating!
Later that day, for sunset, we wrrent to the red sand dunes and went sand sledging! Which wasn't quite as fun as it sounds. The sand was too soft so we couldn't go very fast. It was still good though.
But then came the best bit of the day. Man vs Food. A little burger joint called Phat Hamburgers offered up an opportunity we couldn't refuse. There is a burger so big that if you finished it in under 20 minutes, it was free! Or it used to be but the owner didn't like occasionally giving them away free so that didn't stand anymore. Sean and Alex tried anyway.
The burger had 1/2 kg of beef, 1 lb of bacon, a whole caramelised onion, a head of lettuce, half a pineapple, a slathering of ketchup and mayo, 3 tomatoes and a plate full of chips.
All gone in just over 16 minutes. Boom!
Although I didn't get it free, the owner did give me a free drink.
Sean on the other hand didn't fare too well. He managed most of the burgers inners but didn't touch the bun or the chips. But after, the only thing I wanted to do was go for a nap...
But it wasn't the kites or the Russians that we were here for, it was the dunes!
There were tours everywhere doing a whistle stop tour of them so we decided against that and opted for driving it ourselves on mopeds.
The night before we wanted to leave, Sean and Alex bartered to get the best price for them and later went back to pick them up. When we arrived, the bike owner demanded double what we had agreed so we got grumpy and left to wander the streets to find a cheaper deal. There was nothing anywhere. Rubbish.
Until an unexpected opportunity arose. A street seller started by offering us drugs (fairly standard outside Europe) which we politely declined. He then continued and offered us 'boom boom'. After a bit of confusion, turns out that this is a prostitute. So again, we politely declined. But he kept pestering. So eventually we decided to ask him if he had 2 bikes and he tapped a couple of words and numbers into his phone and just said "follow me". So being obedient people, we did. He took us to a shady part of the road and 2 minutes later, 2 accomplices arrived on bikes. Cash (of course) was exchanged and we had ourselves some fancy mopeds for the day! Nothing dodgy about that at all. But there were no other bikes anywhere! I won't even discuss the over the counter petrol from local shops you get....
So we were very pleased with ourselves and went out for a dinner of BBQ crocodile and ostrich steak!
So at 4.30am the next morning we left for the first set of sand dunes with the hope to be there for sunrise. After a few detours and a bit of a race against the clock, we arrived just in time! Climbing to the top, we saw the sun start to peak over the horizon with a beautiful orange glow. So what else do you do on sand dunes but run and jump off them! We did kart wheels and flips and rollie pollies! Very exciting!
Next we popped down to the fishing village and saw millions of boats and fish! All very exciting but we were getting hungry so we went in search for food.
On the way back, we found a amazing posh hotel and went for a buffet breakfast by the beach. Delicious! We even managed to have a dip in the infinity pool and a sunbathe after some fierce negotiating!
Later that day, for sunset, we wrrent to the red sand dunes and went sand sledging! Which wasn't quite as fun as it sounds. The sand was too soft so we couldn't go very fast. It was still good though.
But then came the best bit of the day. Man vs Food. A little burger joint called Phat Hamburgers offered up an opportunity we couldn't refuse. There is a burger so big that if you finished it in under 20 minutes, it was free! Or it used to be but the owner didn't like occasionally giving them away free so that didn't stand anymore. Sean and Alex tried anyway.
The burger had 1/2 kg of beef, 1 lb of bacon, a whole caramelised onion, a head of lettuce, half a pineapple, a slathering of ketchup and mayo, 3 tomatoes and a plate full of chips.
All gone in just over 16 minutes. Boom!
Although I didn't get it free, the owner did give me a free drink.
Sean on the other hand didn't fare too well. He managed most of the burgers inners but didn't touch the bun or the chips. But after, the only thing I wanted to do was go for a nap...
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