Day #1 at the Cham Villas in Mui Ne, Vietnam
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| This woman was covered from head to toe....even her face had a scarf over it to protect from the sun! We bought a very delicious watermelon from her...she sliced it for us on the beach. |
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| Life is sometimes hard....I somehow get through it with a smile! |
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| Andreas, on the other hand, had a harder time relaxing...this is him singing the YMCA on the beach! I think he was trying to embarrass me so that I would get up and jet ski with him..... |
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| It worked....we went jet skiing! |
VIDEO:
Jet Skiing in Vietnam!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgQF9v9zIeQ
However, Andreas needed a little less dead weight on the back of the jet ski in order to fulfill his need for acting like a reckless idiot out on the open seas....so he ditched me...and I was happy to be ditched!
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| Congratulations....you survived! |
Andreas and I absolutely loved our time at the Cham Villas. It was relaxing, private and very quiet. We will be back here one day...hopefully one day very soon!
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| Andreas relaxing on our terrace overlooking the ocean! |
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| The villas had two restaurants...the food was fantastic and no matter how much we ordered...no bill was over $20! Needless to say, we ate and drank ourselves to death here...and loved every minute of it! |
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| The main beer in Vietnam is Tiger Beer...LSU Tiger Beer! We didn't know this until the night of Ry's graduation from LSU...it made us feel like we were at least a tiny part of the graduation celebration! (Ry, just another reason for you to visit Vietnam...your national beer is served here!!!) |
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| Fresh Mango in the room! |
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| View of the ocean through the windows |
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| Meg, I think I called you at least a half dozen times from that little day bed...my favorite spot at the resort! |
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| The grounds at the hotel were beautiful...full of greenery and shade! |
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| The pool...didn't spend much time here with such a beautiful ocean to enjoy! |
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| The day we arrived at our villa, I noticed a little lizard had been killed between the door and the wall of our bathroom. We kept him around as the villa mascot, but a few days later we noticed that unfortunately, the ants had gotten to our mascot. This was all the was left of our little friend! |
Beautiful Sunrise and Moonrise in Mui Ne
Through Andreas eyes:
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| The blog does not do this photo justice...its really stunning! |
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| Full moon rising |
Driving A Motor-Bike in Vietnam
Rule #1 when driving a motor-bike: Know how to stop your bike quickly in case your husband brakes in front of you!!! I have learned a lot on this trip...one thing is that I have no business driving a motor-bike in Vietnam. Andreas thought it would be FUN to rent two bikes for an afternoon in order to explore the surrounding villages. The hotel ordered us these semi-large bikes for 24hrs, which, in total, cost us $23. When the hotel manager came out to say good-bye, he asked, what he thought was a rhetorical question...."You done this before?" As we both nervously drove through his hotel property, we turned back to assure him that Andreas has....but I, unfortunately don't even drive a car anymore....let alone never been on a motor-bike. He ran up to me, looked me in the eyes, and sad "Go very slow!" I could see a little fear in his eyes as I giggled and reassured him that I would, and that everything would be fine....20 min later I accelerated into Andreas bike, fell off my bike and burned my leg on the exhaust. The scene of the accident happened to be in a small fishing village down the road from the hotel. As I laid on the road, with injuries to both my leg and my pride....a small "village" of people began to crowd around me as if there was a dead body on the street. Children, older people...and a nice man that kept trying to treat my cuts and burns with cotton balls. At one point, Andreas asked me if I would like to visit the village doctor, which was my cue to get up, get on HIS bike, and get the hell out of dodge before I found myself, for the second time this year, in a hospital unable to understand a word anyone was saying, ;-)
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| Andreas stopped to check on me...and my nerves....before taking a photo! |
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| Nerves were not OK....less than 5 min later I crashed into his bike and burned my leg on the exhaust |
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| There goes my dream of upgrading from foot model to leg model....back to square one! |
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This is what Andreas was photographing in the scooter picture above...dozens of fishing boats preparing to head out for the night.
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All of these boats fish from sun down to sun up....in the evening you see dozens of little lights out on the sea...the lights are all of the little fishing boats.
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SPA TREATMENTS
On our second day at the Cham Villas, Andreas thought it would be fun to get $12 massages offered by the hotel. The spa looked very nice. It was open air, and only 1 couple could get treatments at a time. We arrived for our massages, and there were three spa personnel waiting. Before I could even ask one of them where to change, or lay my things....Andreas strips down to his birthday suit, and hops onto a bed. All three girls were in shock...he gave them no warning. No announcement was made that he was going to just take off all of his clothes 3 feet from them...without giving them any time to properly get up, and excuse themselves..or at least look away. My mouth dropped straight to the floor, and I froze....as all three girls giggled. Andreas didn't seem to care, but I was thinking...I can't strip down in front of these three girls if they are going to giggle at me too. Ok, but I eventually found the nerve to do so and prepare for my massage. Two of the girls started the massages...while one girl continued to sit between Andreas and I and giggle. Once again, Andreas was oblivious to the world. I, on the other hand, couldn't relax....I had no idea what she was saying...and why she was still laughing. I counted down the minutes until the massage was over....thanked God it was only $12 dollars and made Andreas attend the rest of his massages ALONE for the remainder of the week; he has no shame.
Adventures with Mr. Nu
Mr. Nu, the manager of the Cham Villas, was one of the nicest, most hospitable people we have ever met. When I had my bike accident, he came by every day to check on me and see if we needed anything for my burn. Just a really sincerely nice person. On our last full day at the Cham Villas, he took us on a private jeep excursion...that quickly became a huge highlight for our trip!
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| Ok, let's get the low-light of the excursion out of the way first. First, I should mention that there is a smell in southeast Asia that you sometimes come across, a smell that I can't define nor locate, but it stings the inside of my nostrils worse than the smelly toilet at the Great Wall. Mr. Nu was kind enough to introduce me to the root of that smell....he took us past a fish salt farm. These bins are filled with a gagging smell, and also happens to be a staple in the Vietnamese diet...which means that these vats are located all over the country! (with that said, it certainly does not define the smell of the land...its only occasionally that you are hit with this smell of death and smelly feet) ;-) |
While on our trip, Mr Nu instructed us to leave our shoes in the jeep and join him in the creek to walk to some orange sand dunes. With a big burn on the side of my leg, I was a little reluctant, but did it anyway....
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| On our way to these orange dunes....while walking, at times, ankle deep through the creek bed...we came across an ostrich farm....where these animals wore saddles and you could pay a small fee to ride them...not a chance in hell was I getting on one of them. However, it was hilarious to watch an ostrich gallop up and down its enclosure with a person on top! |
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| Andreas and Mr Nu at the orange sand dunes! |
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| It was beautiful there...oh, and that was the creek we walked through! |
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| I love this shot of the Orange Sand Dunes...the colors are incredible...again, the blog does not do it justice! |
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| I loved this place...I kept asking Mr Nu if it was possible to slide down the dunes on a trash can lid!!! |
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| Props to Mr Nu...he was a wonderful photographer! |
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| Heading back to the jeep. These rocks around me are all made of hardened sand...pretty cool to touch! |
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| Andreas was lagging behind taking photos...so we decided to be in one! |
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| In the jeep on the way out to the Sand Dunes! |
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| The cow on the road...clearly has the right of way! |
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| Surroundings in one of the fishing villages while out in the jeep |
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| The infectious smiles and waves from the local school girls! |
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| Again, completely covered to shield from the sun..she is even wearing gloves....p.s. its about 98 degrees outside! |
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| Mom, Dad and child....all on the scooter outside Mui Ne! |
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| Kids in Mui Ne are curious and candid...they all loved Andreas taking photos of them! |
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| Our jeep |
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| Mr Nu insisted on this shot! It turns out...WE LOVE IT! |
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| Orchid lake with the sand dunes in the background |
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| This was one of those hilarous moments we got ourselves into...we rented a 4-wheeler to see the sand dunes...but they gave us this mini one, for both of us to ride together....it moved at snail pace and we pushed it more than drove it around the dunes. |
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VIDEO:
Mini Four Wheeler
VIDEO:
Stuck on a Sand Dune
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| Dancing on the Dunes |
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| cart-wheel |
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| ta-dah! It was fun up there...while Andreas tried to turn the four-wheeler around, or dig it out of the sand...I played! |
VIDEO:
Monkey On A Leash (Pet monkey at the sand dunes...I tried to pet it and almost lost a finger...bad monkey!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghzjJu_aefM
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| On our way back into town, the jeep was stopped at a check point by the police. All of these kids came running over to us to get a closer look...they loved the camera! |
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| This little one saw Andreas take photo's of the other kids and came running over to ask him to take one of her! |
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| Kids are kids in every country! |
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| So cute, we loved them! |
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| Our jeep driver! |
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| Capturing sunset! | | |
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| I took this photo...I kind of like it! We were driving along the beach around sunset! |
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| through Andreas' eye....I love this photo....it reminds me of the day we had...a wonderful excursion in Mui Ne. |
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| The equivalent to the family van in Vietnam...family scooter! |
Goldie Locks!
On our last night at the Cham Villas, we went out for a little walk and to check out some of the local shops. We walked into one store that sold ladies dresses, and that was my cue to grab clothes and head to the dressing room. Little did I know that while I was gone....Andreas was being stalked by a very strange shop owner...admiring his golden locks! Andreas told me that the shop owner approached him, stood far too close for comfort, stated that Andreas had 'special hair,' and then proceeded to reach out and stroke his hair. As I walked out of the dressing room...Andreas came running over, eager to get me dressed back into my regular clothes and us out of the shop (but not before I bought a dress). On our way back to the hotel, later that evening, the odd, little man with the giant comb-over was sitting outside his shop....almost like he was waiting for Andreas. When he saw us, he stood up, saluted us (???), and then motioned like he was going to join us on our walk. Luckily for us, he only made it a few steps before turning around and sitting back down again. I guess that means Goldie Locks needs a haircut....things are getting strange.
Kite-Surfing in Mui Ne, Vietnam = Andreas can finally fulfill his destiny of being a SURFER DUDE!
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| It was actually cool and I would have tried it too, if I didn't have the burn on my leg. Andreas did very well and is now a certified member of the IKO (International Kitesurfing Org). |
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| Heading out for his water lesson |
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| FYI we looked into doing this in Hawaii, and they wanted to charge us around $800 or $900 for a similar lesson. In Mui Ne they charged Andreas $200 for a 4 hr, 2 day lesson. |
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| And he's up!!!! |
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| I know it's hard to see him on the blog, but he's up and surfing in the middle of the screen...a little to the right! |
I was so proud of Andreas for trying this....and I'm a little jealous too! We will return to Mui Ne again in the future....if for nothing more than to kite-surf!
So that concludes our trip to the Cham Villas. On our trip back to Ho Chi Minh, Mr. Nu asked our driver to stop at some soccer fields so that Andreas could snap some photos. The driver must have misunderstood because he ended up taking us to a dragon fruit farm in the middle of nowhere....the words for Dragon Fruit and Soccer Ball must be very similar! ????
Unfortunately, we have no pictures from the dragon fruit farm...but we did snap a few of a catholic church service getting out last Sunday on our way into Ho Chi Minh.
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| A family leaving church...she is holding a baby on the back of the bike...while the older child sits in front. |
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| It was mass exodus leaving church service on a Sunday evening! |
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| Bikes heading in every direction...on the same side of the rode! I hope they all prayed for a safe journey home. |
Good-Bye Cham Villas
We had an amazing time in Mui Ne...and the Cham Villas was incredible. This is a a little video of the hotel and us sadly saying good-bye!
VIDEO:
Bye Bye Cham Villas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfx_tlB8i5Q
Hope you enjoyed the blog! Hugs and Kisses to all family and friends....you are all greatly missed!
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