Making use of the facilities we took a dip in the pool and sunbathed the hours away before our 'Jeep Tour' trip.

We were crammed into the back of an old jeep and then set off towards 'Fairy Stream'. We are not sure what was 'fairy' about the muddy stream. Was it the smell of the fish sauce factory? The rubbish and sewage floating in it? The 'ride an ostrich' farm? Or the monkey on the lead in the free zoo? (We gave that one a miss!) Whatever it was, the driver pointed to the stream and told us to walk for 40 minutes. Luckily we had read some trusty tripadvisors reviews which said do not stop, just keep going as 15 minutes into the walk it would meet your expectations. Huge red and orange sand formations lined the stream, giving the magical look and a waterfall fell at the end.

Stop 2. We went to the fishing village. In other words, we pulled up on the side of the road and the guide pointed to the beach and said 'Fishing Village'.

The main event....The Mui Ne White Sand Dunes. Purpose of the stop....hire a quad bike and fly about the dunes. No safety required. This was shown when we flew to the top of a dune and realised that there was a complete sheer drop in front of us. Luckily we had time to stop. Also for people who didn't know their limits, there was a huge risk of rolling the quad down the dunes. This made us slightly more cautious about the routes we took. 5 minutes before we were due back, the foot plate came flying off. Char picked it up but cut her finger in the process (it had clearly been welded on numerous times.) Blood all over. Matt turned into medical mode "Let me see, I need to pull it open and see the damage so we can sort it out." It looked bad but not wanting to get sand in it, we wrapped it in a tissue and Char kept pressure on the wound until we got back. On revealing the severed finger, we looked at each other....and burst out laughing. We could hardly even see the cut. Small cuts really do produce A LOT of blood. Panic over, she will keep her finger!

The final stop....the red sand dunes. Not as spectacular when you have just been flying a quad about the others. We were meant to be here for sunset, however with the sky turning a dark shade of grey, and it being 4pm monsoon time our driver decided to head back.

A plan to just drink in the pool was cut short as the electrical storm was getting nearer. They actually closed the pool. In Asia so far such logic is un heard of. This lead to a downward spiral of the night as all the backpackers were forced into the inside (smallish) bar area creating an almighty game of ring of fire. In such games age gives us the upper hand as all the young lot just get wasted. The owners of the hotel were with us, Eric and Lang (Belgium and Vietnamese) and wanting to keep the noise away from the resort they took all of us to the local hot spot 'Dragon Beach Club'. This is when it gets weird. We were waiting for a lift by Eric to the club but he was no where to be seen. 10/15 minutes go by and Eric and Lang appeared in the same outfit. Tight shorts and tight white vest. We just accepted it and moved on. The night began strongly with the hotel owners paying for everything until some trouble started. One of the backpackers that was out got dragged into the toilets and accused of stealing the bar ladies purse. Luckily Eric manage to sort the problem and told the guy to leave immediately or there would be people waiting for him when he left. This event was a little bit sobering as we initially thought it was one of the 'set ups' you hear about. In actual fact they had CCTV footage of it happening. This is what ring of fire can do to some people. After some sloppy games of pool we took a 3.30am ride on a Honda Wave back to the digs.

Why the white vests you ask? So did we......

The only explanation we have is that it is a sign of homosexuality in Vietnam and partners wear the same vests to stop any unwanted attention. This only became clear when we saw them kissing in the club.

M & C xxxx