LittleSandyBeach

Our journey from Da Lat to Mui Ne took us over a very mountainous area where there were lots of building work for a hydroelectric plant. For about 3 hours we were bouncing around in the bus and trying not to look at the sudden drops off the side of the roads!

When we got to our homestay in Mui Ne we got a lovely greeting and were given a fresh coconut to enjoy from their garden. In the morning they also gave us traditional Vietnamese coffee!

We decided not to do a few of the attractions here as we saw a few bad reviews and also the weather was taking a turn for the worst. So we found a nice restaurant on the seafront and watched the storm roll in…

When looking for a place to have dinner we found a Hungarian restaurant in a mini food court right by our place, which did Beef Goulash, one of our favourite dishes so we had to give it a try.

One thing to know about Vietnam is that they love karaoke. No matter where you are someone will be smashing out a song from their front room. The neighbours of our homestay were no different…

Both mornings we went to the same restaurant for breakfast called Sunset on the Beach. It had the friendliest staff and great food for a great price. We also got a whole plate of fruit for free!

We then got another sleeper bus from Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh City which took about 4 hours. Our hotel was right next to the Walking Street so we went and checked that out. We won’t be posting any of the PG pictures on here… there were some sights down that street!

The next day we went to try out our first metro of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh currently only has one metro line that opened at the end of last year. They are constructing their second line now.

We got off at Tan Cang station as we wanted to check out the Landmark 81 building. It is the tallest building in Vietnam at 461m also making it the 17th tallest building in the world.

At the base of Landmark 81 is a large shopping centre spread over five floors with lots of shops and restaurants. It also has a cinema and even an ice skating rink in the basement!

A short grab ride away we went to check out Book Street which is exactly what it sounds like. Unfortunately because of the rain lots of the stalls had been covered up but we’ll definitely be coming back soon.

Just around the corner is the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon. It was built between 1863-1880 by the French and is currently undergoing restoration.

We had a nice 4am alarm this morning so we could get to the bus station for our trip to the very southern island of Phu Quoc.

It was a very pleasant journey and not very busy. After 8 hours we arrived in the costal city of Ha Tien at 2pm just in time for the ferry we booked for 2.30pm. Phu Quoc is the largest island in Vietnam and is known for having some of the best beaches in the country. The ferry took 3 hours and was slightly rocky but again very quiet so not bad.

We checked into our homestay and went to catch the sunset down at the beach which is about 200m from our room…

We’ve got five nights on Phu Quoc and there’s lots to see and do before we head back to Ho Chi Minh City for our last week in Vietnam.