Back from the Beach

It’s warm and balmy with breezes, am in an Internet cafe on busy street Saigon. I just got back from two days out at the beach — Mui Ne, a beachside destination 5 hours bus ride north from Saigon. After a week of Bangkok and Saigon I need lung cleansing. Mui Ne is a lot different from the idyllic picture in guide books. The actual Mui Ne is a pretty grotty town, lots of trash, dirty beach, pretty fishing boats … but south and north of there is a at least 10 miles of beaches, along which have been erected an amazing number of beachside resorts. The architecture is in many cases imaginative and tuned into local materials.

I ended up at a Japanese-style hotel, $27/night, second story room with tile floors and balcony looking out at beach. Slept with windows open to sound of crashing waves, with mosquito netting over bed.

The place next door is a kite-surfer mecca and in the afternoon winds they were flying all over the place. I went swimming, bodysurfed a bit, rolled around, felt good, washed city vibes away. While I was rolling around, I watched a kite-surfer take off — I was lying at water level — and it was like he stood up and walked on water. I rented a motorbike and drove around for two days scoping the place out and shooting pix — many of circular bamboo roofs, and of bamboo wizardry in general, and humble little buildings with character. Decided to come back to Saigon and will next go out tomorrow to see the Viet Cong tunnels, then the next day head to the Mekong Delta, to Phu Quoc Island, and then to a “silk village” in Chow Doc and from there upriver by boat to Phnom Phen. Much of this trailblazed by my friend and neighbor Allan Maxey.

I’m gearing up to buy silks. Tonight I bought 5 beautiful red and black cotton hats made by the Zao tribe, $2 each. I’m studying about the hill tribes. There are 10 main ones in Viet Nam.

A Few Notes from My Notebook

Viet Nam by Motorcycle: You can buy a Czech 350 cc (new) motorcycle in Viet Nam for less than $1,000. Check out www.minskclubvietnam.com or Cuong’s Adventure Biking Shop in Hanoi, 04-926-1534. Tour the country on your own. Would be great adventure for two people.

Mode of Travel

I am — at practically 70 years of age — on the backpacker circuit. For one thing, in any town in the world, the internet cafes are populated by backpackers. You forget how big backpacking is in much of the world; it’s practically non-existent in the U.S. When you’re on the road, that’s who you’ll find online — 20-year-old backpackers. Some of the travelers look really great. Like healthy young Californians, adapted to customs and dress, spreading good vibes. So I ride busses and prefer the backpacker route much of the time, instead of sterile tour trips. However, I stay in nice hotels, mainly in the $20 range. The kids are spending $6 a night.