La Gi to Mui Ne
I learnt a valuable lesson this morning, dont take anti-malarials on an empty stomach.
It was really hot as we walked to find some breakfast. I had taken the drug in the hotel and thought nothing of a quick stroll before some food. It was aweful and came over me really quickly but i felt like i was going to hurl right there in the street! After 10 mins and some water back at the hotel I managed to eat breakfast and felt 100 times better. It came as quickly as it went and I knew what the cause was.
On the bikes, today was a short days ride to reach where we should have last night. We are meeting up with a US girl Cam and Mike met earlier in their travels. Regan would be joining our little convoy and now there were 4 of us!
We arrived by lunch and had some food, it was relatively cheap and really nice, a theme that seems to be developing. We needed to contact Regan and needed Wifi to do that except the power was out for the whole town.
We decided she could meet us at the hostel and I really needed to de-sweat before meeting anyone new. The sea looked so inviting I was straight down there. It was amazingly warm, in the water with sun sea and sand and a beachside bar selling beer for 25p a bottle. It was truely bliss after the stress of yesterday and the heat of today.
Reagan eventually turned up after Mike had checked the police bribery blockade had gone home. There is literally only one road in and one road out of Mui Ne. The dodgy cops sit just outside the town and wait for westerners to come by and they pull them over everytime. There is an understanding that 200,000 Dong is the max you should pay. Just keep small notes in your wallet and the larger travel money hidden. Apparently they do it to fund the police chiefs gambling debt, it seems fairly well known..
Anyway, Regan had transport as she had bought a bike that day. It put all ours to shame… I think we got screwed in Ho Chi Minh when buying our bikes but oh well.
We all wanted to see the sunrise on the nearby sand dunes in the morning, it had only been half a days ride so we werent that tired but got an early night. Mike and I gave a go at sleeping in our hammocks. The beach front tents that we were meant to use were really hot, small and uninviting compared to our hammocks in the temperate fresh breeze.
We each lasted about an hour before giving up and laying on the concrete floor under our tents. It wasnt much better but at least it was a normal sleeping position and my feet werent being eateb alive by mosquitos!