The Amazing Dragon Fruit Tree!

                                                                            Time to hit the road. Again.

The face mask is to keep out the dust as much as the carbon monoxide fumes.

I got an invitation from a lady in Vinh Long City to come and teach English at her private school. So, I decided that 5 days was long enough for a beach holiday. Time to get back to work! Onward and upward.

The bus was around $35US although I probably could have gotten it cheaper by buying directly from the bus station. But the seats were perfect. Like the bus on the way to Muine, this one had lovely full beds with little foot houses. You could lie down the whole way or just lean back but your feet were up.

En route to Vinh Long City, I discovered the dragon fruit tree orchards. Here's a tree up close. Their fronds are very narrow and look to be like a succulent. But, poking out from the bottom, you see all these funny little prickly balls. At first I had no idea what they were. I knew they couldn't be pineapple plants, though that thought crossed my mind. I have never seen a pineapple plant.

 Passing on the bus, we were going pretty fast so I clicked the shutter at the fields upon fields of these funny little trees. They're only about three feet to four feet tall.

 Here's a shot from the inside of the bus. The lady in the middle has her seat up. Those are my knees on the right but you can see the little foot cabin under the water bottle. Very new and modern buses.

                             More dragon fruit trees. They look a bit like the Cookie Monster.

What I heard about these tree is that they grow at night, so there is a light placed under every individual tree. I was told that you can see millions of lights at night under the dragon fruit trees.

 It's a simple life outside of the city. Simple people just trying to make a living.

                                                                                   Shots from the bus.

 Aren't they cute? And their fruit is funny. Maybe I just see it that way because I'm a Westerner.

 The terrain is a bit dry around here, like San Diego, as an American mentioned. It's a good comparison. The air can get full of dust when a breeze picks up.

What would we do without the farmers? I have a very high regard for these hard-workers who produce the world's food so that we can eat! Thank God for them.

Muine Beach and Trees

                                                                                  One million Dong!

                                                                        Beach bunnies and boats...

               One rarely sees so many gorgeous trees in one place. But you see them here...

                                          Poles of a fence make a nice frame around the boats.

                                                Beauty on the boughs

 This amazing fruit hangs off the tree like big Christmas bulbs but you don't eat it apparently.

 I admit I'm a bit obsessive over trees! These fruits really intrigued me. A bus-driver told me you don't eat them. So then, what exactly are they? And what do you do with them?

They sound hollow- ish and are not super heavy but not air-light either and the stem is thick that they hang on. I also took a pic of one tree like this from across the road.

                                                                              Here's a knotty fellow.

The hotels have rows and rows of palms of all sorts and little grass huts. My idea of heaven.

A Fishing Village in Vietnam

Eating brunch at my favourite restaurant, I spotted this funny vessel out on the water!

Are you SERIOUS? A bath-tub boat? Apparently, not only was he serious, but, as I 

later discovered, there are many of these guys. Rowing around in bath-tub 

boats. Seriously.

 

 An American I met at my favourite restaurant offered to take me to the local fishing village down the road. We went in a taxi about 4 kms and this is what we saw. 

Bath-tub boats of all different colors, like Smarties sprinkled all around. Perfect for catching fish. These fish can be bought here at the local restaurants on the cheap all cooked up for you. They are held in water tanks alive... all kinds of squid, shrimp, prawns, eels, sting rays and even snakes. In fact, there's a sea food sign with a picture of a cobra on it and I don't quite make the connection between sea food and cobras.

There's lots of big fat frogs for you to chomp on too. They go well with your crocodile burger and a slice of fried snake, if you're feeling adventurous.

One of the little cuties at the beach selling shells and souvenirs to the rich tourists. She knew at least two words of English: "hello" and "money". And who wouldn't buy something from such a sweetie?

Sunset...

Kite Surfing in Vietnam!

Kite surfing is all the craze around here. Mui Ne seems to be a great place for it because of its high speed winds. And the surf just tosses these skinny little kids up into the air on their little boogie boards or whatever they call them these days. It sure looks like a lot of fun. And a bit of work, too!

 There's a school on the beach that teaches kite surfing and the students are out in droves!

 I think you really need strong arms for this sport because that wind just grabs up the kite and pulls you along like a wild horse.


 

The sky is so full of them, I was worried what would happen if two of them got tangled up together.

Footprints in the sand...

 They're everywhere! They're everywhere! It's raining kites! And kite surfers!

There are white caps out there and wild waves. They say that the name of the place means "hiding point" because the fishermen and sailors often have to come back from the rough sea for shelter when the waves get too strong for them. We're on the South China Sea here but it's open sea out to the Pacific. This sport means you're taking on the wind, the waves and the tropical sun. Watch out for the sun! You don't want to get sunburn on your eyes. It can cause a lot of eye trouble. Not kidding.



 

 Apparently, according to the sign, they teach with walkie-talkies. One would hope that if you did get all tangled up in the other guy's rig, the person on the other end of your walkie-talkie would be able to speak your language fluent enough to explain to you move-by-move how to solve your problem.
"No! Your other right!"

 I love the bobble things hanging on the trees here. Not sure if it's a fruit or fungus of some kind.

                                       Beauty surrounds you here. A touch of heaven.

Off to the Beach!

After three days in Ho Chi Minh, I was ready for a change of scenery. Yes, the city has a buzz. Yes, there was free beer. And, who would want to miss the War Museum? Me! I would! It was a nightmare. Pictures of mutilated, malformed children and people who had limbs missing because of Agent Orange. The best room was where they displayed the Viet Nam War Protests from ALL OVER THE WORLD. I knew that Canada protested (and we were there on the wall!) but I didn't realize that SO many countries around the world had protested against the Americans in Vietnam. Dozens!

Of course, I had had draft-dodger friends who were escaping the war by coming into Canada, so I got to know what was going on and their reasons for avoiding the draft. I also met the brother of an American friend who was bound to a wheel-chair for the rest of his life on account of Vietnam. There were loads of repercussions from that pointless war. But, the past is the past. Let's leave it in the past.

So, I boarded the bus for a five-hour trip to the beach in Mui Ne! I no sooner got down with my little suitcase and roller carry-on bag than a lady called out to me from across the street! SHE HAD A ROOM and WHAT a room!

                                                                      My Sweet Little Digs!

 In fact, it was more than a room. It was a kitchen with a table and chairs and bathroom and then, in a separate room with a door that locked was the bedroom, complete with a big wardrobe, bedside table, TV and double bed! Ooooh lah, lah! There's even a fancy mosquito net hanging overhead and AIRCON! The cost? It was a million dong for three nights. That's about $15 US / night.


                                            Here's the beach... at the bottom of the stairs...

I feel right at home here. The water is SALTEE! That's probably a good thing. And the waves are forceful! The sky was full of hand-gliders pulling along brown-tanned tourists on their boogie boards.
I had to walk about a kilometer down the road before I could get at the actual beach without the stairs that go straight into the water. All the hotels along the beach have a set of stairs and then a wall between them and the next hotel that also has its own stairs all the way down to the water. To me, that's foolishness. It's really difficult to climb around or over every wall. (I tried and finally went out to the street and walked down to where the walls end! But, that was after taking a swim in one of the swimming pools at one of the hotels, which was a bit bleachy but not too bad.)

This is the cute little walk-way leading to my room at the Sea Winds Resort in Mui Ne

                     This is an orchid hanging on the wall outside of my quarters. I love orchids.


When I went swimming, I didn't take my camera, but there is a nice sandy beach here and huge waves that tossed me around like a cork and almost ripped my bathing shorts off! FUN.