So... having left Ho Chi Minh at 7.30 I arrived in Mui Ne at 1pm. Usual searching around for the right place to stay, didn't take too long. I soon discovered there isn't a whole lot to do in Mui Ne and it's really quiet; I was the only person staying in the bungalow resort I was at. Everywhere does the same day tour which I decided to do ASAP then leave. After some lunch and by 2.30pm I was on the back of my guides motorbike! There are 5 places you visit... despite the fact there isn't much there, I did really enjoy what there was and in parts it was a really beautiful place.

There's white sand dunes and red sand dunes, most people go to the red ones as they're near the town and don't bother with the white ones, but that's where I was headed first. I asked my driver how far they were and he told me 300km. This worried me a little, so I looked at the mileage and decided to give him 10km before asking again. 10km later he told me is was 200km away so he obviously had his decimals in the wrong places, phew! When you approach the sand dunes there is a lake in front which you have to ride a few km around, such nice scenery. When you first walk on the dunes you can see lots of footprints but as you walk further there becomes less and less. Luckily my guide was up for going far and we went all the way to the highest dune, where I could see nothing but blue sky, golden sand and 2 sets of trailing footprints.

Next on the agenda was the red canyon, nice but not as spectacular as it looks in the pictures. Everyone writes their name on one rock so I made sure I wouldn't be missed! Then onto the red sand dunes. Whereas on the white sand dunes I didn't see a single person here was tourist packed. At the bottom are little kids with sheets of plastic that you rent off them for sliding/boarding down the dunes. My kid was really intelligent, only 10 years old and had taught himself good English through tourist interaction. He took me to the steepest slope and we had a good laugh, he took a good photo for me too! It was soon getting dark, so we went down to the beach as the sun set to see the fishing village, just lots of fishing boats. There was no time for no.5 so we went back and I said I still wanted to go the next morning which wasn't a problem. That evening I had a great curry before borrowing a bike to cycle to a bar. I went to the 'happening' bar which had 2 people playing pool, then went the opposite direction to the only nightclub which was closed. Brilliant! I ended up cycling about 12-14km and enjoyed the people-watching as I passed by. I spoke to my brother (your famous now Mat) on MSN that night and he told me he's probably going to visit me in Oz for his birthday (18th) so that should be fun, get him DRUNK! Yes thats right mum and dad.

So in the morning I went to no.5, the 'fairy stream.' You walk in the stream, it's only 0-3 inches deep and take in the surrounding land formations. Enjoyed it again, had fun climbing some rocks, posing in archways, sinking in sinking mud and chasing crabs. When back at the bungalow I lay in the hammock for a while before having another curry as it was so good the previous night. Nice scenery on the bus journey of ride fields, mountains, kids playing in fields and other things. Here they play a 'keepy-up' game with a shuttlecock type thing. I haven't seen any people do more than about 5 though, whereas in Thailand they have a similar thing and are all amazing at it. There they use a little woven ball which is actually rock hard. They have so much accuracy and kick from behind their heads and things all the time and I watched one group do at least 100 keepy-ups. They've also invented a volleyball type game, exactly the same but lower net and kicking the ball. That's amazing to watch too, they're always doing flying kicks!

Anyway I arrived and found a hotel for $4 a night. Was offered one for the same price with 5 beds but decided against it! Walked around and had dinner. Took 50 minutes for a pizza which was a joke, especially out here where the average waiting time for a meal is under 5 minutes. It was nice though, and the chocolate mousse dessert I had was possibly the best thing I've had since I left England so I forgave them. I watched a sports update on my TV that evening, saw Cheltenham got promoted into the 1st league which is good!

Had croissants and banana cake for breakfast the next morning in a restaurant I promised I would go back to the night before. Then I rented a bike for the days activities, had a lot planned. First to the 'Po Nagar Cham Towers.' Not that impressive to be honest, but then they've got things like the Tak Mahal to beat so a bit unfair on them! Met some American-Vietnamese there and had ice cream with them. They were going to stay there for the next 3 hours because it was shaded and they didn't want to go in the sun; I said the Vietnamese don't like the sun! And they weren't even that much Vietamese. Then onto the 'Hon Chong' rocks. Someone was clever to think to make an entrance and charge people to enter as it's just a natural feature and you can easily walk onto them from the beach! I liked climbing and jumping on the rocks and did the self-timer thing (see pics below).

It was quite a ride to the 'Thap Ba Hot Springs' where I went next for some serious relaxation. Started off with my first ever mud bath! Then sunbathed still muddy as it's supposedly good for your skin and body. Washed it off with a hot shower before having a power jet massage. Then lay in a hot steam bath for a while, before a waterfall massage and swimming in a normal swimming pool. And all this for less than 2 pounds! After I went to a pagoda and trekked up the steps to the white buddha which was surrounded by lots of grave plates with kids climbing and playing chase on and around them. Then to the gallery of a local photographer called 'Long Thanh.' All his work is in black and white and is really good, http://www.elephantguide.com/longthanh/ is his website if you're interested, though it doesn't have my 2 favourite pictures of his. Finally I went to the Dam Market but it was more for locals not tourists and the smell of cigarette smoke and fish (my two most hated smells) soon turned me away! I drove along the beach front and saw a pretty bad crash, went out and had some dinner before bed.

Today I went on a boat trip. I was meant to be picked up at 9 but at 8.45 there was a banging on my door because the people were early - first ever! Picked up some more people and boarded our boat, quite big with about 30 people on. About 5 other boats of exactly the same format too, it's a popular trip. We visited 4 islands throughout the day, each suprising you with some sort of fee you're not told about beforehand!

No.1 was for swimming and snorkelling. I saw 2 cool creatures but don't know what they are. One I have seen before when diving and it was half buried in sand and it dangerous to touch. The other was shaped like a baracuda and had a long pointy nose. Will investigate them. A group of us were doing dives and flips from the top of the boat, hadn't done flips for ages. No.2 is where we had lunch. Big meal with noodles, beef, rice, bread, bananas and soup, helping yourself from the table. Filled up nicely. Then we had some entertainment - the guides singing songs from different countries of the world which was interesting. For England they sang "Yellow Submarine." Then we had the floating bar where everyone jumps in the water in an inflatable ring and helps themselves to the free wine from the guides little floating device! No.3 was name 5000 Dong Island as you have to pay this much for everything. It's only 17p though and all I had to pay for was entry onto the island. Walked along the beach, played some volleyball working up a sweat before jumping in the sea to call off. Had an ice cream on my way back to the boat. I heard some people shout "DAN," turned around confused and it was some Vietnamese people who had been on the same bus journey as me before and were infactuated with me... "Oh your so handsome. I want to die." Haha. No.4 all there was to do was visit the aquarium. It was 20000 Dong and I had no more money (I was told I wouldn't need any) so I didn't go. Wasn't bothered though, it was only for half an hour and I'd much rather see the fish in their natural habitat when scuba diving! Listened to some music whilst waiting and watched this guy hammering off the things that cling to rocks, cutting them open with a knife then eating them - gross. Got back about 5, had dinner same place as last night then came on internet!