Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Being an Arabian Princess at the Sand Dunes of Mui Ne, Vietnam

5 hours south of the sleeping town of Dalat, the girls and I headed to Mui Ne via bus. The scenes that feasted our eyes on the bus changed drastically from the view of blue top mountains of Dalat to the yellow, sandy hills of Mui Ne. It was like going through a fast-forward movie strip .

Heading to a totally different part of Vietnam. From the North to the South. :)
Right after we arrived at a single strip of wide road where hotels and resorts were visibly seen on both sides of it, the bus finally dropped all of its passengers down. Some jeep operators came to us with tours to various attractions in Mui Ne. Among the tours offered were afternoon tour packages which involves visiting the infamous white and red sand dunes of Mui Ne and also the Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien).

Lily chose the tour sold above the counter. I believe I paid USD 12 per head for that (there are 6 of us). But later outside, a jeep driver offered a whole jeep regardless of pax for USD 50. T__T *nampak tak permainan di situ?*

So here are the list of places that we went that day as set by the tour package.

1. Walk Along the Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien)

A miniature grand canyon in Vietnam.

Walking barefooted in an ankle-deep, cold stream under a hot sun does me wonders!
The Fairy Stream is a little river that winds its way through bamboo forests, boulders and the dunes behind a village. Some parts of it actually resembles a miniature version of the grand canyon, though I never been to there before. Hehe. So while you walk up via the sandy hills, it will lead you to a path overlooking the oasis-like valley and then return by wading in the waters. The sand and rock formations seen on the side were formed from typhoons.

2. Sand-boarding at the Red Sand Dunes

I was definitely surprised by what I saw! The place was like a dessert!

My travel-mates negotiating the price for renting a sled. 
While they sled away, I instead sat down and just enjoyed the view. :)

Oh.. somebody said I looked like a princess of the dessert, despite of my rugged attire. Haha. #eh

I swore, this is my first time wearing baggy pants during any of my travels. Guess the sand did this to me. :P
A group of people heading to a spot to do some sand-boarding.
3. Riding an ATV at the White Sand Dunes

The sands here were whiter and the hills of sands were BIGGER! Too bad no sleds were offered here. There were only ATVs for rental and that's just what we did. 

This place was just beautiful! 
So off on ATVs we go! Each with a driver though. Haha! 

The ATVs that we rented. 
The view during the ride was spectacular. No words to describe my feeling that day. I was just simply speechless! Sadly, one of the tires under the ATV I rode on got loose! We got stranded for awhile, waiting for another ATV to save us. hehehe. Wondered how the ATV broke apart under me. Was I that HEAVY? 

This is actually a lake. *methink*
And so ends my Arabian princess experience at a place resembling a dessert. Hahaha. Happy traveling peeps! 


10 comments:

kakitravelkhairuddin.blogspot.com said... [Reply]

Cantiknya....

Masy said... [Reply]

bestnye!

Alid Abdul said... [Reply]

OMG I can't believe this is in Vietnam. Just like in middle east

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ muhammad khairuddin lim... cantik? apa yg cantik? pemandangannya atau orangnya? hehehe =P

@ masy.. best sesangatttttt!! ^^

@ alid abdul.... bener!! no need to go far till the middle east to enjoy a desert! :)

backpackerborneo.com said... [Reply]

pengen pake ATV nyaaa....

Happy walker said... [Reply]

that's great, long time no see ur post d~

nateniale said... [Reply]

This is unlike the Vietnam that I have been to! Looks great!

hcvvorld of Travels, Lifestyle and Photography said... [Reply]

wahhh..totally not like vietnam..looks like it's in Arab or at least it's Egypt by the Nile River~ good experience eh~ :D

Khai said... [Reply]

Jard, aku tak pernah tau pun kat Vietnam ada dessert like place. This is awesome weyh!!

And the formation was caused by typhoon? It must be a very strong typhoon then. Looks like a very nice place!

DebbZie said... [Reply]

woohooo it looks so cool just like the dessert in Dubai. I should put it on my bucket list for my trip to Vietnam :D