Vietnam - Day 8

26.05.2017

Today we set off to what is considered the most beautiful spot in Mui Ne according to various internet forums and travel guides. We took the scooter to the so-called Fairy Stream, a nearly dried-up riverbed that fascinates with its distinctive red sand. When we arrived, a group of Vietnamese teenagers was already waiting for us. One of them wanted to show us the way - for a fee, of course - even though we didn't want to take advantage of this "service." He insisted on showing us a really beautiful spot for taking pictures.

After taking a picture of us, he wanted his payment.

The little creep persistently demanded a hefty sum of 100,000 Vietnamese Dong, which is a significant amount in Vietnam. Unfortunately, we had parked our scooter with him and were afraid he would dismantle our faithful companion until we returned if we didn't give him anything. In the end, we gave him 40,000 Dong and the little extortionist went away.

The Fairy Stream is highly recommended, but next time we would park the scooter a bit farther away and make it clear to the wannabe scouts right from the start that we won't give them any money.

From the Fairy Stream, we continued on the scooter - which surprisingly was unharmed - to the Poshainu Cham Towers. These are historical towers of the Cham people, a Sunni Muslim rice farming community, which serve as places of worship.

In the evening, we went to the restaurant Lächeln, which, despite its German name, is a Vietnamese restaurant. But we quickly learned the reason for the German name. Huang, who is a co-owner of the restaurant and got extremely excited when he realized we were German, told us that he lived and worked in Hannover for 18 years and regularly visited Würzburg. He was so thrilled that he brought several rounds of schnapps to our table and got lost in memories, completely oblivious to the fact that his grill caught fire and had to be extinguished by his colleague.

Huang told us about his visit to Oktoberfest, his job at VW, his love for German football, the Berlin Airport, and his attempt to go skiing as a Vietnamese. Unfortunately, he ended up on sick leave for 3 months and had to undergo multiple surgeries because even though he was skiing, his ride had to be stopped by a tree. Unfortunately, the tree provided a very abrupt stop, resulting in multiple facial injuries and a broken shoulder for Huang. But Huang still thought skiing was great 😂 - in Germany, not working for 3 months and still getting paid 👍🏼. Huang also offers day trips, and we're considering booking one with this funny Vietnamese guy. It was a very entertaining evening at Restaurant Lächeln, where we learned that the Vietnamese and Chinese have a very tense relationship.