Beautiful Sand Dunes

Our second day in Mui Ne begun at 4:00am. This isn't really a problem though seeing as we go to bed between 7-9 every night.
At 4:30 a Jeep would meet us outside our hotel and drive us to the infamous red and white sand dunes of Mui Ne.
We meet our driver (Air- pronounced Ay) as he roles up in the oldest army jeep you've ever seen (hey- alteast we aren't riding our bikes).
We jump in and I look around for my seat belt. Of course there isn't one. I don't know why I was surprised seeing as the jeep didn't have a speedometer or odometer either.
There are already people out walking the street- I thought they were on their way to work... Later I was informed that the restaurants and bars done shut here until dawn... So infact these over-achievers were in fact drunks. Beauty.
At any rate we start our drive to the dunes. It was actually quite nice because as soon as the sun goes down, the temperature drops 20 degrees.
Air knew his way around the roads... He knew exactly where every bump on the road was and slowed right down. Clearly he's got the lay of the land.
The idea behind leaving so early in the morning is to see the sunrise over the dunes, which are roughly 40 minutes driving from the hotel.
I'm so glad we did this. It was beautiful.
I was thinking of home- and Dad's birthday in particular. It was like Sandbanks, times a million. The sand stretched on as far as the eye could see, and the sea was the backdrop behind it.
Steve and I definitely got our workout in. We climbed up so many dunes, I could barely breath.
We even tried sand boarding, which was pretty fun- though you get a face full of sand.
We even saw someone getting married on top of one of the dunes.
It was as hot as blazes- I don't know how that girl was wearing a full wedding gown- but she did it.
There are both white and red sand dunes. Pretty self explanatory... The red sand is so vibrant though. Its literally bright orangy-red. Like PIE dirt, but more intense.
Air hadn't given us a time limit as to how long we could stay out exploring the dunes. We finally made it back to the jeep though, and we were on to the next destination on the tour. At this point he started giving us time limits- but he told us with a little smile... So it was cute.
Next we went to Fairy Stream. This stream flowed over a bed of red sand, which gave the water its orangy colour. We walked up the stream, in the middle of the jungle, for about 40 minutes and stumbled across beautiful cliffs of red sand. Words cannot do it justice- so I will have to show you photos. Needless to say it was beautiful!

After Fairy Stream and a quick stop at the fishing village viewing platform Air dropped us back off at our hotel.
We were both covered in sand- head to toe... So we went for a quick swim and then packed up all our stuff in preparation for our departure for Nah Trang.

The receptionist at Nam Hai was super cute and helpful too- and we booked us our bus and assured it would come pick us up at 12:30.
At 1:30 two motor bikes came to pick Steve and I up- to take us to the bus station.
We were so confused, but hoped on.
I didn't quite understand how this was going to work. Seeing as both Steve and I had a massive pack, and a day pack.

Then again, I should have know, based on the loads most people carry on their motorbikes, that this wouldn't have been a problem.
We wrangled the packs on, and off we were.
It was actually pretty exciting to ride the motorbikes. I would do it again for sure!

At 2 o'clock we got on the bus. Its unlike any bus I've ever been on. First of all, you have to take your shows off before you get on.
Secondly, instead of seats, there are extendable chairs that turn into beds. Its actually pretty cool and they are really comfy!
Luckily for us there was no karaoke on this bus. Rather a Vietnamese comedy playing. The comedy is still pretty annoying but I'd take it over the singing any day.

Our bus driver just pulled over on the side of the road, and got out of the bus. I'm paranoid that people are going to steal out stuff, so I look out the window to see what's going on.
What are the odds that he stands right underneath my window, whips his willy out and takes a pee?
On that note I'm going to call it a day!