This little ocean side town was the first place on my trip where I've had a personal encounter with theft. I had 120,000 Dong (about $8 US) lifted from my purse by the guesthouse cleaning lady. It happened as I was packing my bag and preparing to check-out of the room; she was waiting in the doorway for me to check-out so that she could clean the room, I had the cash sitting on the top of my open purse, I went into the bathroom for 30 seconds, and when I reemerged, the money and the cleaning lady were gone. I talked to both the suspect and the hotel owner, but conveniently neither of them understood what I was trying to say, so it was a lost cause. It was particularly disappointing that the owner didn't make more of an effort to apologize or recoup the cash. The experience didn't ruin my visit to Mui Ne, but it was a sobering reminder that I need to watch my back. Word to the wise, if you are headed to Mui Ne, skip the Xuan Uyen Guesthouse and head elsewhere.
I met some pretty cool travelers in Mui Ne. Bobby from Manchester brought his guitar and we had some good, old fashioned beach side sing-a-longs (not quite as much fun as singing with Billy, but I'm fairly biased towards my brother). Johannes from Stuttgart explained the essence of kite surfing, and even though he claims it's difficult to learn, he made it look like a piece of cake.
-Julia
Mui Ne Beach
Xuan Uyen Guesthouse, scene of the crime
Mui Ne at sunset
A little girl and her pet kitten, aptly named "Cat"
Kite surfing lessons
3 comments:
Is the susbect the old cleaning lady who cannot speak english???
I am so jealous that you are in my favourit country in SE Asia.
take care but not to much
johannes
Hi
Sorry to hear you had a bad experiance with the guest house where you stayed. It can happen that money is taken from the room by cleaners at any of the hotels here, and not just in Vietnam. It only has to happen once and then we know that its not safe to leave valuables in the rooms. Also it must be very tempting to a low income cleaner to see cash just sitting there, that is no way an excuse for stealing but more of an understanding. There is a good site for kiters coming to mui ne that will give some hints and tips for where to go and what to do, there is no hotel info as of yet but I believe they are currently working on reviewing some kite friendly hotels that are up to a good standard. www.kitesurfing-muine.com also there is a great forum where you can buy or sell kite equipment.
Hope to see you back in Mui Ne soon.
Hi
Sorry to see there have been no more posts since my last one back in 2010, Anyway you would be very surprised to see how Mui Ne has changed, all I can say is you saw it at its best. Not to say it is bad now, but it is very touristy and with tourism comes the modern world and the modern way of thinking. Its a shame but Mui Ne is evolving every day.
Hope to see you back soon.
PS website for Mui Ne has been updated to www.kitesurfingmuine.com
Take care and maybe see you in Mui Ne again.
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