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- Day 2–5
- July 6, 2025 at 12:00 PM - July 9, 2025
- 3 nights
- 🌬 30 °C
- Altitude: 70 m
VietnamPhường Mũi Né11°0’11” N 108°20’45” E
First destination

We arrived into Ho Chi Minh at like 6am after a 9 hour flight with Vietjet. It was not a full flight so Brandon took advantage of 3 seats, not knowing we needed to pay for the upgrade but he was fast asleep so they didn’t wake him. Inara and I dosed in and out throughout the flight and josh was squished next to an old lady and got very little sleep.
Getting the visa on arrival was easy. It took over an hour and half to get through passport control. The kids were getting restless but did really well keeping themselves entertained with games on whiteboard markets and hand clapping song games. (We got a SIM card while in line and was a great decision)
As we ended up being 15 min late for our taxi we quickly got food at the airport , where the kids got yummy mango smoothies and iced coffee for josh.
We had a three hour drive north east, through the city and to the ocean, to get to Mui Ne. The kids were very entertained with the many motorbikes and with very little traffic control. After the city we saw rural areas and lots of different plants. Dragonfruit, acacia trees, banana’s and a coconut are the ones we knew.
Inara has been talking about Dragonfruit for weeks so we got her a whole bag (11)for $1.20 aud (20,000 dong) on the side of the road.
We finally made it to just past the coastal fishing town of Mui Ne and made it to our hotel, APEC Mandala Ocean Resort.
Kids were more rested than the adults , Josh being the least rested meant I took the kids to the infinity pool on level 25 (in a different tower) and then down to the pool bar, following some time on the very fast water slides.
Tourist season is from Nov to April, so it’s a bit quiet and we pretty much had the pool to ourselves as well as the only people at dinner. We are pretty much the only non asians. Mui Ne seems to be a a weekend getaway from Saigon and is also a big kite surfing destination for Europeans. It is mostly visited by Vietnamese though.
I had a nap while the kids had some downtime and Josh finally got to read his book, before we headed to our first Vietnamese dinner. We all enjoyed our fried rice plates while we played Phase 10.
Downtime again and early to bed so we get a good nights sleep.Read more
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- Day 3
- Monday, July 7, 2025 at 7:03 AM
- ⛅ 27 °C
- Altitude: 76 m
VietnamPhan Thiết11°0’11” N 108°20’44” E
Culture shock

It was so nice to wake up and it was bright and the sun was shining. By 7am the three of us were up as we had a well rested night, as Brandon advised. Josh was still sleeping.
The kids had downtime on screens which I didn’t love but it kept them quiet and really there wasn’t anything else to do yet.
The resort we are staying at is like a complex and is 4 big towers with 25 floors., the pools in between them , little shops/cafes on the sides and a 4 storey building in the back which has the banquet hall , gym, kids area and wellness spa.
Breakfast was a bit harder to find than I thought it would be as much of the food eaten can be both dinner and food, and well we don’t eat rice and noodles for breakfast. One of the cafes had fruit and smoothies which was a winner. There was Vietnamese tourists who helped us with the food choices.
The morning consisted of being back in the pool. I have never seen so many people in a pool at 930 in the morning. It was packed with old people, families , all types. We were the only non asians still.
After finally convincing them to get out of the pool, we made our way down to big hill to the beach.
There was little market stalls where one of the old ladies tried to get josh to buy some weird food. We later found out it was called
Bánh bột lọc and is a traditional Vietnamese dish made from tapioca flour and filled with shrimp and pork belly. Josh ended up spitting it out and it was gross.
We had a lovely walk down the beach to the next buildings over where we had lunch. We saw locals trawling for some small shell fish that the fish farms need to feed their fish.
Lunch seemed to be more of a night club or dinner venue due to the look of garbage all around but they served lunch and it was in the shade.
We went back to the serviced apartment, had downtime, the rain came and then went into Mui Ne we are 20min from centre) . Yesterday Inara lost her brand new pierced earring and she was currently wearing my earring so it doesn’t close up , and we wanted to get her a new pair to wear. We found earrings, found Nike clothes for Brandon and found an atm.
Easier said then done, as we navigate the loud and busy streets. The smells and the sounds were too overwhelming for Inara, so the trip into the markets was much shorter than planned as we waited for the taxi driver at a hotel.
That night we went to a traditional Vietnamese restaurant in the complex . We actually tried to go there for breakfast but we didn’t see anything we could eat, but there was spaghetti , so we decided that would be better for dinner. There was another family in the restaurant, and the university daughter spoke English so she helped us order food, as they ran out of a lot of it. The owner forgot to order chicken. The girl enjoyed practising her English on us.
Went back into the pool, and off to bed , as so far exhausted every nightRead more
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- Day 4
- Tuesday, July 8, 2025
- 🌬 32 °C
- Altitude: 42 m
VietnamBắc Bình District11°5’25” N 108°26’39” E
Fairy stream and white sand dunes

Today we had our first tour and one of the reasons we chose Mui Ne.
The morning consisted of hanging out in the kids area and game area. I thought the kids would be too old for a play centre but when you have it all to yourselves you can do whatever you want.
There was also billiards and massage chairs. The massage chairs were definitely worth the cost of the morning. (250,000 or $15aud) and of course Inara needed to paint as well.
Our tour guide was named Thuy (Thwee) worked for Johnny Tours. We got picked up by Thung in the pink Jeep and met the others in our group. 2 Belgian backpackers, family from Taiwan and a group from Hong Kong.
Our first stop was Fairy Stream, where we walked for an hour in the refreshing stream. It’s a touristy spot as Brandon got to hold a snake and on the walk we saw horses walking in the stream, and a hawk with its talons tied. The fairy stream is fed by a lake 20ks away that reaches the ocean. The bottom of the stream has black bits which is titanium. There are some deep spots as well as spots that you can sink. This is the closest to quick sand feeling I have ever felt.
After the Fairy stream we then went to a fishing village, and then to the white sand dunes followed by the red sand dunes. At the white sand dunes the kids ate sand as the kids did some sand sliding and we got to ride ATVs (with a driver)
Inara had enough of the white sand as she had sand in her ears, face and everywhere and wanted to stop. Luckily they didn’t want more sand all over them and passed on sand sliding.
The kids had a fun time riding in the back of the jeep and by the end Brandon was commentating the “race” with the other jeeps.
Dinner that night was random items we would eat , popcorn chicken, 2 min noodles and pizza with most toppings picked off. The pizza bread was beautiful and soft.Read more
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- Day 4
- Tuesday, July 8, 2025
- 🌬 32 °C
- Altitude: 51 m
VietnamBắc Bình District11°6’19” N 108°28’52” E
TravelerSounds so interesting, a country I’ve always wanted to visit! Enjoy x