Readme.me - We, 16 people, in South Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat, and Mui Ne

We, 16 people, in South Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat, and Mui Ne

LingPle and the gang, 16 people in total, are going to South Vietnam. We will travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat and then to Mui Ne. There were about 3 - 4 people only when we first came up with this travel plan but we have ended up with 16 people. Therefore, it is going to be a big fun trip. ^^, This trip got begun when I would like to travel to the famous desert in Mui Ne in the southern part of Vietnam. And yes, I have got a flight ticket promotion with Thai Air Asia again. Once there is a flight ticket promotion, I have got to travel to somewhere. Anyway, I guess Ho Chi Minh City is a good choice this time since it is not far and 4 days would be good enough to make a good trip.

We, 16 people, are ready to show you the southern part of Vietnam. We have just touched down in Ho Chi Minh City. The way we walk out to the arrival hall is like we are the superstars because there are so many people waiting but we don't know whom they are waiting for though. Anyway, let's take a group photo shot! :)

Then we are good to go because we have reserved a private transfer with Vietsea Tourist already. We also have reserved the bus to go to Da Lat through them. The transfer drops us off at the office of Vietsea Tourist. This is where a lounge and restrooms available before we need to take another bus to Da Lat that parked nearby.

We are going to sleep on this bus tonight. The seats are adjustable for almost 180 degree so it is very comfortable to sleep on. This bus seems like a private bus for us because we are already 16 people. The bus is quite new and in a good shape. The fare is 252.000 VND per person.

We left Ho Chi Minh City at 11 PM last night and we have just arrived in Da Lat which is around 5 AM. The bus hostess comes to wake every single one of us up. Once I open my eyes and start to look around, I have found that I am in the middle of pine tree jungle. I feel as if I was in Mae Hong Son. Hahaha The weather is chilly with light fog (I just woke up so I am not ready to take any photos).

We have checked in into the hotel that we have booked through www.booking.com and unpacked already. We are now ready for some breakfast and some coffee or maybe tea. We will try to act as if we were locals.

What we definitely won't miss is this Vietnamese Pho. It looks similar to our Chinese Roll Noodle Soup but the noodle is similar to our Rice Vermicelli.

We have filled up our stomach already so it is time to start the day. We ask the receptionist at the hotel to arrange a van to show us around the town for today. The van that we have got has 4-row seating, the receptionist confirms that this is enough for all of us. Alright, if he said so. It should be fine but it is actually not only 16 of us but 17 including him, the receptionist who arranges this van for us. Well, he just sneaks in wherever there are some spaces. His name is Nguyen Hoai An nicknamed An and he will be our tour guide for today. An is friendly and helpful. If you would like him to be your tour guide, you can contact him directly through his Facebook, Nguyen Hoai An. We heard that he is studying and having this job as a part time. He is a hardworking person so we guess it is good opportunity to support him. :)

The first stop is at the top of Langbiang.

We are going to take these jeeps up in the mountain.

It is a pine tree forest along the way.

And this is the top of Langbiang. ^^

This is the view we have got (but why we all cover it up?).

Then we have moved to Dalanta Waterfall. We are excited to get a ride on the famous roller coaster. It is 45,000 VND per person. One sled is for 2 persons. This is totally exciting. We all sure will scream all the time along the way, no exception for our male teammate. hahaha

Controlling the sled is only by the hand brake. The ride is through the jungle to go to the waterfall down below.

This is what we are down here for, Dalanta Waterfall. The water is in yellow color because the rain just stopped. It looks like a flash flood.

The water color is very strange so we can say it is a yellow water fall.

We decide to take a quick photo shot and go back because we are afraid of a flash flood. To go back is up the hill so the sled can't go too fast.

We only have 1 day and 1 night in Da Lat so we choose to go to only famous tourist attractions base on weather condition and time. Our next stop is Robin Hill Cable Car. It is 50,000VND per person to take this cable car to view the city of Da Lat and we have got a chance to view it after the rain with light fog.

We have been all around the whole day so it is time to go look for something to eat. We have decided to walk to Dalat market because we don't think it is far. We will also be able to take some photos along the way.

Every time we see food stalls by the street on the way to the market, we stop and try all along.

What we are quite interested in trying are these variety kinds of shellfishes. They are pretty tasty actually.

You can find street BBQ in every corners. And of course, we need to try it. We ask the vendor what kind of meat it is and we are told that it is pork. However, we wonder if it is pork for real. We have heard a lot that it is very common to eat dog meat here so we are not sure if we communicate with the vendor clear enough.... Anyway, the meat tastes good though.

It is totally crowded here on the weekend. It does look like our night market somehow.

We are quite tired so we will walk back to the hotel now. Guess what! we get lost. So our way back is further than it should be. Eiei

We woke up early on this new day because we are heading to Mui Ne with the private bus (I don't remember how much it costs because the payment is together with the hotel rooms). Even though the bus is in good condition, the air conditioner doesn't work well. ^^

Before the bus departs, we run to grab some breakfast to take away in order to save the time and we have got Vietnamese sandwich ( Bánh mì ) or also known as Baguette. Locals commonly have Bánh mì as the breakfast. It is simple and delicious.

Our bus journey takes around 4 hours to get to a coastal town of Mui Ne.

This is behind our resort, Mai Am Guest House. Our resort is right by the beach so we could sleep while enjoying listen to the sounds of waves.

We have lunch at the resort before taking the jeeps for half day at 7 USD per person.

We stop to take some photos at the spot overlooking the fishing village where we can also see the traditional fishing boats, the coracles, the ones in roundish shape.

Our next stop is this Fairy Stream. It is also known as Mini Grand Canyon. It is a steam in orange-brown color flowing along the sand hills.

These sand hills are also in orange-brown color. It is pretty hot here but we won't give up. Eiei

We still can jump no matter how hot it is. ^^

We kill our time here before going to White Sand Dunes, the famous tourist attraction in Mui Ne. We will go there in the late afternoon so it won't be too hot.

Even though this White Sand Dunes is not extremely huge, we are truly excited to see it. The admission fee is 20,000 VND per person. The White Sand Dunes is actually not far from the sea either.

Very smooth

Luckily, that the sky is clear.

And of course, we need to jump, jump, and jump.

He is handsome in his own skin.

Very cool with two of you

Even better with two of you jumping Eiei

This jump requires a lot of effort. He rolls on the sand right after this jump.

ATV is also available both for rent and with a driver but we rather walk (to save some money).

Please allow me to take a picture of you, this shot is just great :)

A photo of her and a shadow of me ^_^

We have a good time here at the White Sand Dunes and we are heading to watch the sunset at Red Sand Dunes next. Oh no! We miss it even we hurry to be here. The sun has gone already when we arrive. T_T Anyway, we are still able to enjoy the sand dune slides. The admission fee 30,000 VND is per person. However, we can't do many slides because it is getting late. It is not worth it but no one to blame, we arrive too late (no photos here because it is dark Eiei).

We just go for a dinner at a restaurant nearby our resort before coming back and enjoy the night.

We are going back to Ho Chi Minh City this new morning before taking a flight back to Thailand in the evening. There are many transfer service providers come to our resort to offer us their services. After bargaining, we have ended up getting the private transfer to Ho Chi Minh City at 90,000 VND per person. It is about 5 hours to get to Ho Chi Minh City from Mui Ne. We have arrived in Ho Chi Minh City around 3 PM. The bus drops us off near the office of Vietsea Tourist. We still have got sometimes to kill so we will drop our bags at Vietsea Tourist Office and go around Ho Chi Minh City and do some shopping.

We ask the staff at Vietsea Tourist Office for the idea of the taxi fare from here to Notre Dame Cathedral and we learn that it should be around 80,000 VND. Then we are ready to get a cab. After catching a taxi and ask the driver how much it is to go to Notre Dame Cathedral, we decide to take this one since the fare quoted is only 70,000 VND. We are happy to get it quite cheap. It turns out that Notre Dame Cathedral is not far. The ride is only 10 minutes. hahaha

We have arrived at Notre Dame Cathedral.

The interior

We have only little time to do some shopping at Ben Thanh Market. So, we hurry to bargain the price and make a quick decision whether to buy or not. After that, we take a taxi back to the office of Vietsea Tourist. Well, we have just realized that this taxi has a taximeter and the fare is charged according to the taximeter. We wonder why the taxi driver that we had a ride with before didn't do this. It turns out that the fare this time is only 50,000 VND. It is even cheaper than our first ride. hahaha We thought our first ride is already cheap and never thought that it could be any cheaper. ^^,