Day 18! After a very exciting, yet exhausting, day I was due for some relaxation… but that doesn’t mean I didn’t do a little work today 😂

I finally got a full nights sleep! Who knew all you needed to do was have an exciting and exhausting day to make it happen?!

Some of the friends I made were heading to new places so I decided to wake up on the early side to join them!

We went to the same restaurant we enjoyed our cheap dinner at and the owner was very happy to see us again!

I ended up getting a Vietnamese pancake with vegetables on the inside! This pancake is one of the many impacts of the French on Vietnam.

Some of my friends went to catch their bus, but the rest of us went to the pool where we relaxed all morning!

While sitting by the pool I had a lovely FaceTime with my parents (where it just snowed another 3 inches) and wrote yesterday’s blog which (as you probably know if you read it) I put off because of our late night out.

I love beach towns! There’s nothing like sitting outside in the salty air!

Once lunch rolled around Yaro, Lucas, and I wandered back to the restaurant we ate breakfast at.

You might think we’d want to branch out and try new ones, but this place is phenomenal and has endless options for very cheap so we’re taking ample advantage while we’re here!

We saw there were some couches in the back so we asked if we could sit there and since the owner was now very friendly with us he was happy to let us!

Lucas (on the right) even brought along his mini guitar and we passed it around playing tunes for each other!

I was really appreciative of getting the chance to play, I miss playing every day and look forward to when I can get my hands on one!

Now… I guess becoming friendly with the owner of a restaurant means you now help out at the restaurant 😂

You see the plant he’s tending to? It wasn’t there when we showed up… and I think the owner recognized a unique opportunity.

He came over to us and asked us for our help and of course we all said yes! Turns out he had three HUGE flower pots (more like tree pots) he needed help moving.

So with having three able bodies at the back of his restaurant, he had all the help he needed!

These have to be the heaviest thing I’ve ever helped lift… but very glad I could help out!

He even ended up giving us all a free beer with our meal. Which for lunch I got chicken satay with com!

It was actually incredible! I’m not sure if it was because I had worked up an appetite with helping move the pots, but it was very tasty.

After lunch I needed to run a few errands before my drive tomorrow and I offered to drive Lucas to the surf spot he was wanting to go take a lesson at!

Mui Ne is actually very well known for its kite and wind surfing. People come from all around the world to experience the windy sea here!

Mui ne is also the travel destination for many Russian tourists and most of the signs have Russian on them as well as Vietnamese.

I then drove in circles trying to find a gas station and eventually found a local who, with the help of Google translate, was able to help me locate one 4 kilometers away (about a 7 minute bike ride).

I dropped my bike off back at the hostel where I went on a walk to look for an ATM… which also had me walking around in circles since many ATMs don’t work with foreign debit cards!

But eventually I found one and I’m now all set for my 4 hour bike ride tomorrow!

I got back to my hostel and decided to enjoy the rest of the sunlight sitting by the pool as it’ll be a few days until I’m back in a beach town!

After the sun went down I was about to go back up to my room. But right before that a guy started walking by and we started to chat!

His name is Odin and he’s from Germany. We ended up chatting about a lot and instantly went from being strangers to being friends.

While we were chatting my hostel friend Lucas, who’s also from Germany, came down to join us. Turns out he had a fun time surfing (I’ll need to get my hands on a board here soon)!

We decided to meet our other friend Yaro for dinner and just as we were leaving another hostel goer was walking into the pool area and I asked her if she wanted to join us and she did!

We had a wonderful group of new and “old” friends all coming together like we had known each other for years!

We of course went right back to our friend’s restaurant and had another yummy meal. I had chicken in green curry with com and a chocolate banana pancake!

While we were eating we got into talking about each others lives.

Laura, the last minute dinner friend, is from Switzerland and is 18 months into her traveling! She was telling us wild stories about her time abroad and one specifically about how she opened up an “illegal” bar on the beach in Costa Rica.

Someone form the beach town ratted her to immigration and the immigration patrol was searching for her so she had to flee the country 😂

Odin was telling us about a sport he plays that I’ve never heard of (if you have please let me know how and why)! It’s Canoe Polo… and it is the craziest, most agressive sport I have ever watched, you HAVE to look up a video of the play.

This is a picture of Odin showing Laura canoe polo and her reaction was the same as all of ours!

I then called it a night at 8pm to go back to my dorm room to pack up and get ready for my early morning drive to Da Lat!

Before I close this out, I need to say, if you’re ever in Mui Ne you should definitely check out this restaurant! It’s cheap, it’s very tasty, the owners are wonderful, and the options are nearly endless!

I’m constantly using the words “amazing” and “wonderful.” But this adventure really is and my time in Mui Ne was just that.

I met some great people in Mui Ne Hills Backpackers Hostel and I’m very happy I found out about this town!

Tomorrow I set out at 6am to bike just under 4 hours to Dalat.

I’ve heard good things about it and I’m excited to scope it out myself!

(One of the best things about it so far is the hostel was €1 a night!)

See you tomorrow!

– Elie