“Mom, I don’t want to be a tourist, but a traveler”
” Tra-ve-ler“ He repeats again pronouncing every syllable carefully. ” Not a Tourist! Big difference!“.
His face is all serious and he is looking at me with intent. Before the trip he was nervous that we did not have sleeping arrangements for every night of the year ahead. Now, three months into the trip, he is trying to tell me that we are playing it safe. The unknown doesn’t scare him anymore. He finds it ‘awesome’ that we decend on a new destinations with no plans at all while our fellow travelers are arriving with printouts of their reservations in hand. And still, that is not enough for him. He already wants more.
The conversation with Boryan made me think. What is more important: to put all your energy in getting off the beaten path or to focus on making an authentic connection to a place popular with tourists in the height of the travel season? As a mother who is in for the long haul I vote for the latter. My daily dose of energy is limited and it makes sense to me to follow the popular path but at arrival take off and explore the back alleys, eat the local food and hang out with the local people. Moreover though, travel with a slow pace.
“Fine” I told Boryan. “We are getting motorbikes and venturing out on our own”
We were in Mui Ne, an area so full of Russian tourists that even the restaurant menus were in Russian and the fruit sellers knew a few Russian words. The White Sand Dunes were the main reason why we came to this place. Motorbiking seemed to be the only way to run away from everything organized and easy to access. So I was game. For the record: I have never motorbiked. This fact by itself presented enough of a challenge. Add to that the apparent lack of traffic rules on the Vietnamese roads and you really got me in a pickle. From the sidelines motorbiking here looks to me like a computer game in which you are trying to dodge enemy ships but unlike a computer game you only have one life.
Total trip length: 70 km. The alternative: Jeep Tours at sunrise for $30/ family.
We knew that if we opt for the tour we are going to be rushed and would feel herded around. There is nothing that gets us more aggravated as being rushed. Especially when we are at a beautiful spot we want to enjoy for as long as we feel like it. We got burnt already once, at the gorgeous waterfall next to Luang Prabang. The tuk-tuk driver gave us two hours at the falls and it did turn out that two hours were not enough for us. The stress from rushing taught us that we need to have freedom to enjoy the place we visit to be happy.
So there, we rented two motorbikes for $17 total and we went to sleep.
Wake up time 3.30 am. I was so nervous I barely slept. The caretaker of the guest house was waiting for us outside with the bikes ready and with helmets in hand. The clips on Boryan’s helmet were broken and did not lock. The sweet man kept telling me that it is ok and gestured to put the helmet on Boryan’s head. Really? Not only I am going to motorbike for the first time in my life but my passenger is about to be without a helmet. Nice.
Kuba was the only one who was thinking straight. He put the broken helmet on his head and off we went. The road was empty. I can do that, I thought. 10 min later I realized that I have not dressed up enough and I was shivering from the night wind. Darn. I had to suck it up. Boryan wrapped the beach towel around me and we pressed on. Kuba and Raina were far ahead. In the dark Boryan’s body pressed against mine to keep me warm. He kept talking his Boryan talk and the wind was stealing his words from me but I didn’t mind the chatter. It made me feel awake.
An hour later, completely frozen and with tight back mussels I parked at the White Sand Dunes parking spot. I felt so happy though. The feeling of complete freedom was exhilarating. I was beside myself. To say that I loved driving a motorbike is an understatement. It was the most exciting thing I have done in a long while.
This was already shaping up to be one of the best days of my life. As a bonus we didn’t get lost on the way, arriving at just the right time to see the sunrise. We started walking quickly (not, running to warm up) towards a high spot the dude in charge of parking pointed at us.
Yes, the White Sand Dunes in Mui Ne are special and beautiful but at sunrise they are more than that. They are divine. Untouched by human feet, brand new and sacred. The feeling of peace at that early hour is complete.
I could hardly believe the beauty stretching in front of us till the eye can see. A little walk in and we were all alone.
You can see the sea from the dunes. Breathtaking. And jumping in the sand was the bomb!
We took our time. By the time we had our fill it was 11 am. We have spend more than five hours at the dunes without even realizing. Back on the motorbikes. Boryan had some fun time on the bumpy dirt road.
On the way to Mui Ne we stopped at an empty beach (empty, not counting the trash that was everywhere). Given how developed the beach on the other side of the fishing village was we found the trash beach to be amazing.
At lunch time we explored Mui Ne, still a small fishing village that was not affected much by all the development happening to the South of it. We got lost in small streets with no tourists in sight. Eventually we found our way to an alley leading to the picturesque bay hosting all the fishing boats.
Trash again and lots of boats. The round boats you see are typical Vietnamese basket fishing boats, woven out of bamboo and treated with tar like substance for waterproofing.
Last stop of the day was the Fairy Spring, a wonderful creek that meanders through colorful sandy rock formations. This place felt more touristy because it was very close to the resort but we still enjoyed it. We helped a few Russian couples take lovie dovie portraits of themselves and then headed home.
We got back to the guest house exhausted but happy. Yay to motorcycling, our newly discovered road to travel happiness.
-M
P.S. If you make it to Mui Ne do go and visit the dunes. But do it at sunrise. You won’t regret it. And don’t take a tour. The tours stay very short time, not enough to soak up the true beauty of this spot. Get a motorbike and go. It makes for a memorable day!
