Mui Ne is a fishing town that has become popular with tourists. More than a hundred resorts are in the Mui Ni area. I stayed in a hotel outside of the main city area and I was surprised by how many Russian tourists there were here.
The day's ride from Vung Tau took about 4-5 hours. Google maps says the route is about 177 kilometers. The ride was enjoyable and I was starting to get settled into the routine of riding.
The road leaving Vung Tau was awesome. It had pretty street lights, nice trees, and a median to separate the scooters from the cars. I loved riding on this stretch of road.
Further down the road, I snapped a photo of a town that I drove through. The hammer and sickle flags were still kind of new to me.
I found a nice area to stop and try to readjust my bag. It was just a little too big for my bike. It's not that the bag was super big. Compared to many backpackers, mine was pretty small. But for the scooter, it was just a bit too much for the seat.
The day's ride had me spending a lot of time on nice quiet roads without much traffic. It was great. I'm not sure what the building is in this photo, but it looks pretty cool.
Next to the ocean, there were a lot of new resorts and resorts that were under construction.
After spending some time riding next to the ocean, I turned inland. There was a lot of agriculture.
Something new for me was seeing these kinds of farms. I'm pretty sure they're dragon fruit.
One thing that really surprised me was how many Christian churches that I saw in Vietnam. I don't recall seeing any churches that were still being used in Thailand, Laos, or Cambodia.
There's another church in this photo. I had assumed that churches weren't allowed in Communist countries, but it looks like Vietnam allows them.
I passed another area that looks like a salt farm, but maybe it's something else.
The countryside was pretty, but fairly arid. It was pleasant riding.
My route took me back to the ocean after a while.
The boats were a big attraction for me. I love how brightly colored they are.
Eventually I made it to Mui Ne. I loved seeing all of the boats in the harbor.
I checked my Facebook and this is what I said about this day's ride:
The place where I'm staying has boats. A whole bunch of boats. I haven't seen the little round ones before. They look like they came off of a ride at a carnival.
Pretty nice riding for the most part. Vietnam seems like the most developed country that I've been to down here (SE Asia). The people seem friendly enough. Not much English spoken though. I think I've only spoken English with one person since leaving HCMC.
I'd forgotten about the development thing. Vietnam was definitely more developed than the neighboring countries. It seemed like there was construction going on everywhere in Vietnam. I would stop in "little" towns that barely showed up on Google maps and they would have more high-rise buildings than the capital city of Laos.
I didn't explore much of Mui Ne. After dropping off my backpack, I went into the city to get the oil changed on my scooter. After that I returned to my hotel and parked the scooter. Then I explored the area by the hotel on foot. I found some food and beer, then turned in for the night.
I hope you'll join me tomorrow as I continue the road trip!
