Beachin along the coast - Nha Trang & Mui Ne

Next stop Nha Trang which is the beach capital of Vietnam. I would kind of consider this place similar to Sharm but quite a bit smaller. Not too touristy but has a load of people around and many things to do. Nha Trang also has the best diving in Vietnam and that is exactly what we did, spent a day discovering the underwater world.
This was the first town that Joe, Amy and I went out to really experience the night life. We loaded ourselves for delicious belini's at a place called Guava which is run by two guys from Vancouver Island then we ventured to the Sailing Club which is located right on the beach. Watched a live band and the most talented fire dancer I've ever seen and then started the dance floor right on the sand after comsuming a few lethal buckets of Vodka Redbull, not the best idea when you have booked in for diving the next morning.
Amy and I barely made it to the dive shop to start our day out at sea early the next morning, around the 9 islands that surround Nha Trang. I dove two sites, Octopus Rock and Moray Beach. I saw schools of tropical coloured fish, the most colourful, vibrant coral, a moray eel, cutle fish, blow fish, massive star fish and a dozen more types of fish I could not name unfortunately and also swam through my first cave which was about 15 feet long and filled with fish(lots of fish:)..such a thrilling experience! The water was 26degrees with 10-15m visibility....for me this is just heaven because I get cold easily but for most people it may be a bit too warm. The air temperature was over 33 degrees I think and beautifully sunny, so no lack of warmth :) The boat ride out to the site was spectacular, a variety of islands surrounded by blue and red fishing boats, turquoise waters and endless sunshine! This has definitely been the highlight of the trip so far!
Another great thing about traveling the coast is the endless amount of fresh seafood we have been eating...BQQ prawns, squid, clams and more...
So after two days it was time to see more of the coast so we travelled 4 hours south to a beach called Mui Ne, arguably the best all-round beach in Vietnam according to the Lonely Planet guide. Mui Ne is also known as the 'Sahara' of Vietnam, with the most dramatic sand dunes in the region looming large. It is a lot more peaceful than Nha Trang without huge crowds on the beach and few motorcycles on the roads. We thought this is a perfect place to rent our own motorbikes for a couple of days and explore. We settled at the most amazing resort with an infinity pool that looks straight out onto the beach....backpackers with style! Then we were off to choose our bikes. That evening Joe, Tung (Joe's brother) and I went for a night ride to see some of the coast. The next morning all 6 of us, Amy, Joe, Aigh, Tung, Dave and I got on our own bikes and Joe's mom hopped on the guides bike and we sailed along the coast about 45km to the white sand dunes...the ride was beautiful with the wind in our helmets and the freedom at the throttle, it was as beautiful as the Great Ocean Rd in Australia!
We had a few refreshments at the sanddunes, Coconuts with fresh juice, before we set on our sandsledding expedition. Sand sledding was fun, but I prefer running and jumping down the dunes like an idiot and getting sand everywhere possible :)
The farm fields were a lot different than we had seen up the coast, the soil was red/orange similar to the soil in Kuai Island in Hawaii for those of you who have been there. I loved the farmers out in the fields with their rice hats and full length pants and shirts in the 35 degree heat. Not something I could do...
The afternoon got very hot so we resided around the pool and beach to catch some more rays...
Joe and I that evening did a bit of stargazing in the pool and caught up from the past 10 years!!! It was good to have my best friend back :)

All good things have to come to an end...it was time for Amy and I to say goodbye to Joe and his family. After everything they had done for us, organizing taxi's, hotels, tours...etc it was sad to say goodbye. It was so much fun to share the experience of traveling with them especially since that was their first time here also. We said our farwells and watched them drive south to Saigon. Amy and I hit the tanning once again to make the most of the beautiful resort which we probably wouldn't be staying in something so nice for a while! We caught a bus north back to Nha Trang to get one last fix of this liveliness. Although we ended up spending the day relaxing in the sun on comfy beds, swimming in the clear waters and getting fresh fruit served to us all day long. We tried to bargain for a cheap massage but they wouldn't budge on 140dong ($9) for both of us so we passed on that...now that I think about it, that is pretty damn cheap but we are stubborn negotiators!
Tomorrow morning we have an early flight to Hanoi which is the capital of Vietnam. Stay tuned for more adventures and fun !

Love both of us xx