| May 2014 - Vietnam
This year's trip was to
Vietnam. My friend Kumi went with me. The cities we stayed
in were Phan Thiet and Nha Trang We did not stay at a Four
Seasons resort. For this year's trip I chose Anantara and Six Senses. From Sacramento, I did the usual Amtrak/BART to SFO. I met Kumi at SFO. Then it was a 12 ½ hour flight to Taipei. Followed by a 2 hour layover in Taipei, then another 3 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Immigration was relatively quick. Especially if you already had a visa. If not, then you go through an additional 20 minute process to get a landing visa. After immigration, baggage claim, then meet our driver who was waiting outside. Our driver quickly loaded our bags and we were off for a 4-5 hour drive, with a couple of rest stops, to Anantara. This is where having wifi in the car, which we did, is awesome! Hours later, we arrived at Anantara in Mui Ne. They are definitely in the lead for best check-in ever. Not only did we receive a welcoming drink, we got massages as well! After checking in, we went to
our villa. Following a quick tour (translation: we took pictures of our
villa because "pics or it didn't happen"), we decided to put our
private plunge pool to use. Then we crashed for a bit before going to
dinner. Pictures of our villa are here. Following breakfast, we went see the concierge to plan a few activities for our stay here. We chose the Mui Ne Sand Dunes excursion for one day and the Ta Ku Mountain excursion for another. Then back to the villa for more outdoor pavilion, plunge pool, relaxation, "veg out to our hearts content" stuff. We did manage to make it to happy hour later. Figured while we were there, we might as well get something to eat…. Afterwards, we stopped by the spa. The original plan was to get a tour of the facility, but we ended up getting the “Mui Ne Recovery” treatment:
Half of this stuff I didn’t really care about, but the reason for the recommendation was due to our mentioning of mosquito bites. This treatment would soothe those… It actually did. The treatment lasted for 150 minutes and it was reeeaally good. Doing anything after the treatment was out of the question. We went back to villa and crashed. I went to sleep. Kumi made a valiant effort to post stuff, but went unconscious several times with her laptop sitting on her stomach.Day 3, the Mui Ne Sand Dunes Excursion. We were up at 0400 for a 0430 departure. We did this to catch sunrise at the White Sand Dunes and to avoid some of the heat. There were actually a few people there. Many were taking pictures. A few decided to get a pad and slide down the dunes. We took a few pictures of the dunes and Lotus Lake. Then sat down to eat a breakfast prepared for us by the resort. After breakfast, we went to the Red Sand Dunes. Many more people were here, plus a lot of local kids who were trying to get your money. A few more pictures were taken, then we were off to Mui Ne fishing village. I can’t adequately describe the village, but you will see it in the pictures. From fishing village, we went to Fairy Stream for a leisurely walk. After Fairy Stream we returned to the resort. All that was before 0830. (8:30 AM for those who don't understand a 24 hour clock.) The rest of the day was very mellow. I took advantage of our outdoor pavilion again. Kumi posted a lot of updates. I eventually took a stroll around the resort to get more pictures. (A map of the resort is here.) That was hard work. So much so, that I had to stop by the pool bar to take a break. After one more nap followed by dinner, we called it a day. We began the next day with another awesome buffet breakfast at L’Anmien Restaurant. (I could do a separate blog on this place. (Mental note: Do Trip Advisor update.)) Then we met our guide and driver and off we went. First stop, Phan Thiet market. Like many open markets in Thailand, almost everything is VERY fresh. (As in it’s still kicking.) It is packed with people. One of the many things you can get here is fish sauce. It’s very popular and very good. From the market, we went to Ta Ku Mountain. It’s about a 45 minute drive. We stopped at a dragon fruit plantation along the way. Dragon fruit is a huge export from here. (I love dragon fruit.) We took a few quick pictures, then continued on to the mountain. At the base of the mountain, you have a couple options of how to get up the mountain. You can:
We opted for number 2. There is a lot of stuff on the mountain: restaurant, shops, pagodas, statues, etc. We were there to see the reclining Buddha. If you go, bring a hat and be prepared to walk up and down a lot of steps. After Ta Ku Mountain, we went to Poshanu (Cham) Tower. It was much easier to walk around and a good finish to the excursion. From there we returned to the resort. Then it was the usual, shower, nap, recline by pool, evening dinner by the pool bar thing. Side note: My hair was very popular….Day 5, do nothing day. Slept late. Ate too much at breakfast. Returned to villa. Slept some more. Got up. Moved to pool. Slept some more. It was also our last night here. We did have a bit of drama: Back at the villa, we noticed water dripping from the ceiling. We think the air conditioner was leaking. A quick call to the front desk got maintenance out… The resort was very nice and apologetic and switched us to another villa. They also gave us a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine. The 6th day was travel day. We had a leisurely breakfast, checked out of Anantara, then jumped in vehicle to take us to Cam Ranh airport. It was a long drive, but not as long as the one from Ho Chi Minh airport. Again, we had wifi in the vehicle. Our driver made good time and got us there ahead of schedule. We weren’t catching a plane. We were meeting our transportation to Six Senses resort. Then it was another 60 minute car ride followed a twenty minute boat ride. When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted by the general manager and the usual welcoming drink. (I have never had a bad welcoming drink.) They gave us a little time to relax before taking us to our villa in a buggy. Before unpacking, we took a few pics of our villa. After unpacking our stuff, I don't remember us doing much else that night.... Day 7, Kumi got up early to go diving. I slept in. I got up around 9ish to go eat breakfast. Afterwards, I decided to view a little bit of the resort. Our villa comes with two bikes. I took one out for a bit. The resort is much bigger than I thought. A map of the resort is here. I covered about half of it the first day. I made it over to reception and a little gift shop. From there I went to the “Dinner by the Beach” restaurant, followed by the actual beach and the pier. I took a short break at the “Drinks by the Beach” bar. Then I was off to the spa. The Six Senses Spa is subtle but impressive. I think I could get lost in the place. I’m not quite sure how to describe it. It’s like an outdoor spa, but not really. It has multiple rooms, but they’re not in one building. The rooms/structures are in a forest, connected by paths through the forest. While I was there, I made an appointment. I got a 90 minute Vietnamese massage. It was my first Vietnamese massage. It was very good. As with many massages, I was pretty much done afterwards. I had the spa call a buggy to take me back to the villa. I took a nap in the outdoor pavilion. Kumi got back sometime later and pretty much did the same thing. I did get up to go to dinner. (She couldn't move.) But after that, we called it a night. The following day we both went scuba diving. We (Kumi) set it up through the resort dive center. We had to be at the dive center at 0830, so we had time for a little breakfast. After our breakfast, our butler, Nozomi, (did I mention we had a butler) drove us to the dive center. We were fitted for our gear the night before, so we immediately jumped in the private speedboat and off we went.It’s about a 30 minute trip to the dive site. There are a couple of interesting things along the way:
One thing of note about VinPearl: They have a massive gondola that connects the resort to the city, and it runs over water. Shortly after, we arrived at the dive site. We transferred from the speedboat to the dive boat and immediately began our dive. Kumi rented a camera for the dive and took all the diving shots. We only did a 2 tank dive. We had about 30-40 ft visibility. There was a lot of wildlife to see. After the dive, we headed back to the resort. Nozomi was there shortly after we arrived and drove us back to our villa. After making use of our outdoor shower, I crashed in our outdoor pavilion until almost dinner. After dinner we went unconscious. (That seemed to be a trend there.) Day 9, Kumi went diving. (Kumi loves to dive.) I got up later and toured the other half of the resort. I went to “Dining by the Rocks” which is on the other side of the resort. It’s at the top of a large number of stairs.Side note: I have concluded that no one who works here is out of shape. There are stairs just about everywhere. My legs got a little bit of a burn just going to our villa. Some of the staff do this multiple times a day, several days a week. After seeing “Dining by the Rocks”, the tennis court, the fruit garden, the organic garden, and “Dining by the Organic Garden”, I went to “Drinks by the Beach” to cool down a bit. Afterwards, I returned to the villa. (Somehow I still managed to miss the Rock Retreat.) A little later, Kumi returned from her dive, and we were back at “Drinks by the Beach”. Followed by a buggy ride back to the villa. The rest of the evening consisted of a “buy one/get one free” spa treatment for me. (I got the Oriental massage.) Followed a short tour the “Wine Cave”. (I liked the Wine Cave.) Then a late dinner for us both at “Dining by the Bay”. Kumi tried to watch a movie after dinner, but she fell asleep after the opening credits. Day 10 was our last full day here. It was supposed to be a do nothing day. That’s not exactly what happened. We did sleep in late. We had a late breakfast. Rested a little bit after breakfast. Then I decided to take a bike and ride to the other side of the bay to see the Rock Retreat. I was under the mistaken belief that it was an outdoor theater. It’s not. It’s a huge villa. It’s the largest one at the resort. I returned from the Rock Retreat, changed clothes, then kumi and I went snorkeling. The resort actually has a snorkeling trail. There is a map that highlights stuff you may see along the trail. We didn’t find out until the end that there were also underwater signs along the trail. Shortly after we finished snorkeling and returned our fins, I called a buggy to take me to the spa. I had the free massage of the “Buy one/get one free” special from the day before. I had a Vietnamese massage. I don’t know how to describe it, but cupping is involved. It was a good massage. After the massage, I got a buggy
back to the villa. I rested a couple hours and then we went to dinner.
During dinner, we met the general manager. We were also informed
it was movie night on the pier. If we hadn’t eaten ourselves into
a food coma, we might have gone to see it. But food coma won out
and we returned to the villa. (Funny thing: The movie they
were showing was "Unstoppable". It was on my TV a day after I got
home.) Things to note about Vietnam:
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