Vietnam's Sahara - White Dunes, Mui Ne

Us four kiteboarding students were waiting for wind so we grouped together and rented a Jeep to tour the local sights. With Stefanie (Holland) and Philip (Switzerland) we headed out first to Fairy Stream. This turned out to be quite fun as the further up the stream we walked, the more interesting the formations became. With red and white sandstone and dunes on one side, and thick, lush, green palm trees on the other it was quite a sight, especially from on top. A quick stop at the fishing village with what seemed like hundreds of colourful fishing boats, surrounded by the strange round boats they paddle in. Of course,we were mobbed by kids again onshore. The funky eroded landscape of Red Canyon followed and then on to watch sunset on the Yellow Dunes almost completed our day out. A final stop at a Bia Hoi place (fresh draft beer) that only cost 3000 dong per litre -that's only about 20 cents. Of course, joined in the small plastic chairs by local men and watching kids bringing in jugs to buy for their fathers we can only presume.
The next day again, no wind! So, the 4 of us, plus Julie (French) rented bikes to head to the White Dunes. A long drive along the beautiful coastline and through some strange cemetaries with graves covered in swastikas, we arrived at the dunes in the heat of the day. With a parade of kids behind carrying sand sleds (which looked like crazy carpets for the Canadians) we marched our way up the huge dunes and I went for a couple of long slides. A fun time with the kids who chased me down to carry the sled back up. After that, we went jumping off the dunes (as pictured) to get a little more sand in the out of the way cracks!!!! A nice drive home on the bike was interrupted slightly by a cow crossing the road. We skidded to a full stop from 60km/h honking the entire time, to end up face to face with the stupid beast!!! After the scare, we stopped for some more Bia Hoi with the rest of the Bia Hoi team - Wes/Amanda (Can) and Lydia/Jim (Brits)! Finally we rewarded ourselves again with a huge BBQ squid feast at our favourite restaurant 'Smoky House' that I think has the friendliest staff in SE Asia! *Stub