Rub a dub dub
On the weekend I took a train to the nearby seaside resort of Muine (pronounced “Moo-ee-neh”). The main beach was full of wind surfers, mostly instructors looking for prospective clients. The entire 3 mile stretch of beach was littered with, well, litter of course, but also resorts of varying quality. There was a very large number of foreigners, ranging from expats to backpackers. What interested me most was the fishing village of Muine, on the other side of the hill.
But first, the train…
Leaving Saigon Station
Dining car
The dining car was beautiful, at least in the right light…
Two of these three people are texting...
The first person I saw, when I got to the beach, was the “fruit lady.” She saw me coming with her hawk eyes, long before I even stepped onto the sand…
Fruite lady, Muine beach
There must be at least 20 or 30 kit-surfing “schools” along this stretch of beach. I saw a few foreigners brave enough to take lessons and immediately their kites dove straight down into the water. I’m sure mine would have done the same…
Kite surfers
July-August is “off season” for beaches in Vietnam because it’s the monsoon season….
Thunderheads
After deciding I was getting sun-burned and did not want to learn to kite-surf, I rented a motorbike and drove around the coast to the fishing village of Muine. Far more interesting than the resort, as far as I was concerned…
The "real" Muine
These dinghy’s are woven out of bamboo reeds. The only reason I can think of to use something round, is because it is easy to roll when out of the water?
Round Dingy
The one advantage of a round dingy…
Rolling the dingy
Muine fisherman
Returning fish-catch baskets to the boats
Now this was something interesting – high above the fishing village of Muine (which you can see in the distant background), there are sand dunes, with both white and red sand. Apparently this region is extremely dry. It is also extremely windy, hence the preponderance of kite surfers…
Sand dunes above Muine
These “portable gas stations” can be found everywhere. They are designed to service the ubiquitous motor scooter.
Shell station
On the train from Saigon to Muine, an American went through the cars handing out business cards for a place called “Joe’s” which, according to the card, is open 24 hours and had not closed, for even one hour, for the past two years straight. I thought I’d check it out. This was about the only action I found there. It was a kind of backpacker crash pad with a special room for watching movies, and lounge chairs. The menu was full of burgers and fish & chips, and had only one Asian item on the menu – which I got. It was a kind of watered down, American-style Thai curry. Blecch. Kudos on the design, though. It’s a traditional old Vietnamese house right on the main street. I’m sure it rocks at night. I was just long gone by then…
Live Music at Joe's
Speaking of night, this was a snap shot that I took on the beach. It shows not only the phosphorescence of the waves, but also the continuous string of lights from the Muine fishing boats out on the horizon, stretching across the bay…
Night on Muine Beach
