Sahara desert? No

Gobi desert? No

Arabian desert? No

Kalahari desert? No

Atacama desert? No

Well, we can also find such beautiful deserts in our region (Southeast Asia rocks! heh) without the need to travel too far. It was amazing to see the desert on one side, and the beach on the other end.

So some of you must have been wondering where is this place, well it is in Mui Ne, Vietnam. It is a convenient trip from Ho Chi Minh city, just 4 hours away. There are two ways, either by bus or by train. I would recommend taking the bus because it is cheaper and it will bring you to Mui Ne city centre direct or depending on the bus company that you take, it would also drop you off at your accommodation.

How to go to Mui Ne from HCMC?

Method 1: take the bus

There are several travel agents in HCMC which can arrange your bus ticket for you. I paid 140000d (S$8.5) for the bus ride from HCMC to Mui Ne. It takes about 4 hours and dropped us off in front of our guesthouse. The best thing is, we were staying at a hostel which was walking distance to the Pham Ngu Lao bus station where the buses depart. We also got a comfortable sleeper bus as you can see from the photo below. The only limitation is that traffic out of HCMC might be congested, so that would add an extra hour or so to your journey.

the comfortable sleeper bus that took us from HCMC to Mui Ne

Method 2: take the train

Again, book with one of the travel agents. The train does not go exactly to Mui Ne. It goes to Phan Thiet station and it costs 400000 (~S$24.30), so you can see it is much more expensive. Being located 2.8km from the city centre, you would need to take a cab to the train station in HCMC. Upon reaching Phan Thiet station which is about 20km away from Mui Ne, you would then need to take another cab to your guesthouse, thus incurring additional expenses. Choose the train only if you’re a train junkie.

little boats looking like bathtubs along the coast marks the importance of Mui Ne as a fishing port

We reached our guesthouse in Mui Ne around 1.30pm and we wanted to book the 2pm half-day tour to the sand dunes. We were hoping there were still available slots left for us, which luckily the guesthouse stuff managed to reserve a tour for the three of us. It costs 133400d (S$8.35) for each person and I felt it is very worth it. The lady, having heard that we haven’t had lunch yet, kindly packed some cut dragonfruit and bananas for us to bring on our trip.

the jeep that took us around on our afternoon tour of Mui Ne

it is just so amazing to be walking along Fairy Stream and admiring the rock formations

The jeep was waiting outside our guesthouse, and it was filled to its maximum capacity of 8 people, excluding the driver. Of course, if you would prefer a private tour with just you and your friends, you can pay a little more to book the whole jeep. Our first stop was to Fairy Stream, which resembles a miniature version of the Grand Canyon in some places. You have to walk barefoot so as to protect the delicate nature. For most segments, the stream is about ankle-deep and no more than knee-deep even at its deepest and visitors are encouraged to take off their shoes and follow right along the creek-bed. The soft red dirt is remarkably pleasant to walk through, avoiding the exposed sand and rocks on the shore that can get quite hot. The pitted rock formations off to the sides of the stream also seem like the perfect hiding place for any potential fairies which may be where the stream gets its name.

(Note that visitors can carry their own shoes while walking along Fairy Stream, as locals there tried to con tourists about paying an entrance fee of 5000d which is actually more like a fee to keep their footwear).

The white sand dunes in Mui Ne, Vietnam were recently featured on Huffington Post’s list of 19 Places in South East Asia that could change your life.  Being located 25km away from Mui Ne town, there were not so many people compared to the red sand dunes, unless you have your own transport or you are on an organised tour. The roads to the white sand dunes were newly paved and the ride was comfortable. Here, there were ATV rides which cost $20 for a short half-hour trip. Since we thought it was not worth the price, we decided to walk up the sand dunes on our own. It was fun to hike along the sand, taking pictures along the way and seeing the oasis in the distance. The locals would try and tell you that it is too far to walk, which is not true. We managed to reach the peaks of one of the sand dunes before making our way back to our jeep. Drink lots of water along the way as it can get scorching hot. Also, a scarf or an umbrella to protect yourself from the sun would be useful too.

sunset at the red sand dunes

you can see the sea in the background

We were then driven to the red sand dunes (located 6km away from the city) to see the sunset. It was quite an amazing scene and there were many people sitting on the top of the sand dunes, waiting for it to set. It reminded me of my chasing-the-sunset stints in Bagan, Myanmar and several beach cities in the Philippines, Thailand etc. “The sun sets today only to rise again tomorrow.” Sunsets can have a soothing effect and the best of all is that it is free to watch! There were also local kids trying to pester you to rent their plastic boards from them (around S$3-5 depending on how well you bargain) so that you can toboggan down the sand dunes. They would also help to pull you and the board up the slope after you go down. However, I do not like to support child labour because I know the money they earned would go into the pockets of the ringleaders who seek to exploit such children, hence I did not do the sand tobogganing.

seafood dinner

After the sunset, the stream of tourists strolled back to their waiting vehicles to be brought back to their guesthouses. Our driver recommended us a good seafood restaurant with affordable prices, so we decided to have dinner there.

Seafood restaurant Mr Crab

Address: 112 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Phan Thiet Vietnam

a night stroll along the beach

We had a sumptuous seafood feast of scallops, prawns, fish and kangkong. The seafood was so fresh because they were caught from the sea. We were supposed to have a nice sea view, but it was too dark to see anything, though we could hear the waves crashing against the shore in teh distance. The bill came up to 740000d (S$45 for three people) including drinks. Just make sure to check your bill carefully against what the staff told you at the entrance about the price of each kilo of seafood. There were some reviews on TripAdvisor that they increased the prices to the unknowing customer. With our tummies filled, we went back to our guesthouse to retire for the day and prepare for our early morning departure to Dalat the next day.