Mui Ne is known as the kite-surfing mecca of SE Asia, it was news to me though that they even had kite-surfing in SE Asia, to be honest we were just there for the beach. This little beach town is a popular stop for those traveling the length of Vietnam because it serves as a nice little half time break between the pandemonium of Hanoi in the North and the chaos of Saigon in the south. Garrett and I shacked up at Bungalows that lay about 30 feet from the only bar in town, Wax Bar. Our Aussie friends, Lizzie and Alice, joined us on the 2nd day as they were stuck in the last town of Hoi An getting more clothes tailored.
With them they brought 3 fellow backpackers they met on the bus, Tom, Taz and Tim, who all happened to be from Tazmania. To this day they're the only people from Tazmania I've met. And thats not a good thing, these guys were a riot and I only wish I could meet more backpackers like them! The 5 of them all checked into the same bungalows as us and let me tell you; Us + 5 Aussies + Nearby Bar=TROUBLE!!! Needless to say we were at the bar everynight exchanging war stories about life at home, as well on the road, dancing up a storm and of course drinking excessively!
Most of the days were spent lounging on the beach and eating at our favorite restaurant down the beach a bit, where you would literally sit in the sand while you enjoy your delightful $3 meal. But on day 4 we decided to stop being lazy/hungover and take a tour and see what else Mui Ne had to offer. We started off by loading into 2 U.S. Army jeeps left from the war. I called dibs on the back seat and sitting in that seat was worth the $8 I paid for the all-day tour alone, so much fun! After a brief photo-stop at the fishing village we arrived at our first real destination. This place was pretty much just a rivine of red dirt. We were all waiting for see something cool, but it never happened. I think the people of Mui Ne just had nothing much else to show off so the red dirt rivine qualified as tourism material for lack of anything cooler.
After visiting the rivine of broken dreams and being hasseled by our 6 year old guide for tips for walking us through his shitty rivine we were off to see what else we could find. The drive to the next stop was actually quite beautiful. The coastline met the desert and we got to enjoy this clash of scenery from a genuine jeep from the Vietnam war....not bad! Next stop was yet another red dirt attraction. This was a mini-version of the Grand Canyon I guess, it was cool though.
An washboard road served as our route to the next stop on the tour. The Jeep came to a stop near a still lake, with white sanddunes providing the backdrop. Word on the streets was that you could slide down the dunes on sheets of plastic you rented from kids near the dunes, yes! I paid my hard-earned dollar after bargaining with the little men and there I had it...revenge!... I tried to slide down the dunes on Frasier Island (Australia) but failed miserably, but I was confident today would be the day I would reclaim my pride. Something in the air told me today was the day! Within a 5-minute walk I saw the massive giants I would be defacing soon enough! I haven't seen many dunes in my life so I dont have much to compare, but they were massive!
Immaculately shaped and absolutely brilliant to look at these dunes were! Some were as tall as they were deep. My mind could not help but wonder what kind of havoc skateboarders would reek on this place if the dunes were covered in cement, 'skate-heaven on Earth' no doubt! As I stared off into the the distance like a Gucci model, it hit me this was all a part of the plans of the dune; make me awstruck with their beauty and make me forget about the task at hand... revenge! You are good dunes, but not good enough! I grasped my thin sheet of plastic and B-lined it to the biggest one in sight. The walk was tiring to say the least, but I was determined! Staring down the incline was a bit intimidating but I was prepared. My 1st sleding attempt brought back relics of Frasier Islands as I hardly slid 1 foot. Embarrassed as ever I returned to the top more driven than ever! This time though I took about 5 steps back and got a running start. And just like that I was charging down the dune like a pro! aH! victory was mine and I could now call myself a man once again...finally!
Our Aussie Travel Mates, Alice and Lizzie
Alice and I making the horrible treck up the dune!
The Tazzie Boys Feeling the Deep Burn!!!
All sarcasim aside though, sliding down these dunes was extremely addictive. The feeling was so unique, I felt like a kid who just learned how to ride a bike, I just wanted to do it over and over! The only problem is that dunes are made of sand...it's science, and sand is really soft and when you walk in it your feet sink, which makes climbing up steep dunes exhausting. I could only do about 3 runs before I was on my last ounce of strength, my mind was saying more more more, but my legs had checked out of the office for the day.
As I lay lifeless on the sand, Taz points out an even bigger dune in the distance, 1 that I couldnt see from my previous vantage. This 1 was at least 3 times the size of the 1 just ridden. I thought to myself there was no way in hell I was going to do it. But now that I was a man again my ego began to get the best of me. That combined with some peer pressure was all it took; before I knew it I was at the ridge of this mammouth dune, starting down at the belly of the beast. I was genuiniely afraid of this one, but I figured how bad could sand really hurt me?
Walking to the big Kahuna!!
The first half of the ride was pretty mellow and I thought to myself “This isnt so scary!” That was until I hit a bump followed by a much steeper incline that I didnt see coming 1 bit! This was all it took to officially put me into overdrive...!#@*! I sped out of control towards the plateu that would be the end of me. Inertia took it vast anger out on me as I slammed into the sand and rolled for a good 10ft or so. I rolled over, spit out the mouth full of sand and checked for any injuries. Nothing major luckily, just a few trophy cuts and scrapes to show some lucky ladies at the bar tonight...haha! That was definitely 1 of the craziest/unique/fun things I have ever done in my life...wow!
Doin some warmup runs on the smaller stuff...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment