And I was going to the beach! How we got to the Pandanus Resort in Mui Ne was an adventure in itself. Because one of our low-cost carriers arrives in HCMC or Saigon at such an unholy hour, there is a big risk especially if you need to travel outside city limits. Our problem was the first bus to Mui Ne wasn’t going to leave until 6 a.m. So we had to wait several hours before we could even start our fi ve-hour journey by land. We decided to wait in Pham Ngu Lao, the backpacker area of HCMC. While asking around, we were badgered by xeom (motorbike for hire) drivers who said that they knew of a bus to Mui Ne that would leave much earlier in the Binh Thanh District of HCMC about 8km away. It was a risk, but for some reason, we trusted them. And they dropped us off in front of a bus station that looked closed and told us to wait in the coffee mshop in front of it. At least it was a bus station. And so we waited and had some local coffee. Until fi nally, a van passed by and people inside started shouting something in Vietnamese. Unable to comprehend, we asked the lady at the coffee store if that was the vehicle to Mui Ne. And she signaled us to get on board. All was well until they stopped somewhere to load newspapers at the back. It turns out, aside from taking in passengers, they deliver newspapers as well! So we were on a newspaper van that left at 4 a.m. We arrived in Mui Ne at about 7:30 a.m., earlier than expected.
Mui Ne and neighboring Ham Tien Ward are very popular for their beach resorts. And Pandanus Resort is the best of them all! What initially struck me about this town were the colorful fishing boats in Mui Ne Harbor and the immediate vicinity. We passed them by while on the bus to Pandanus Resort. As soon as I saw its grand entrance, I heaved a sigh of relief since I needed rest badly. Walking through the massive reception hall gave me a feeling of calm. I knew immediately that I was going to enjoy my stay. The first thing we did upon arriving was to sample their wonderful breakfast buffet at the Café Blue Lagoon. The spread, although laden with Western treats, had a strong local flavor to it especially with the pho stand in one corner. I had a hefty serving of salads, bread and cold cuts, and fruits. But the highlight was the hot pho which took away the tiredness. We found out that the restaurant manager, Flory Malonzo, was a Filipino, which explains the great hospitality at the restaurant. The rooms were just as inviting and as soon as I lay down on my bed, I dozed off, weary from hours of traveling. But we didn’t want to sleep too long since there was so much to see and do in Pandanus. Shortly before lunch, we were welcomed by the general manager, Steve Raymond, a San Francisco native who has been GM at Pandanus for the past year and a half. Like any gracious host, Raymond introduced the resort to us: “Basically, we are separated from the resorts on Ham Tien Beach. Every guide book in this area is wrong. They refer to that beach as Mui Ne Beach. But Mui Ne Beach is right here. So we are really the only large resort near Mui Ne. And we’re the only one in the area that faces directly east because we are in a peninsula. We face directly into the ocean. So the sun comes up here while almost all the other resorts face to the south.” He adds, “We are built in the Cham style. So it’s all Cham architecture. We have Cham statues and things. We have a Cham band that performs right here. And we have a Cham lady who sits down there weaving cloth all day long. So we have a lot of the Cham culture here in the resort.” The Cham people are an ethnic group in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. It really added to the ambiance hearing the Cham band perform in the grand reception hall. In the evenings, a live band plays pop songs. As Raymond mentions, “We also have a Filipino band which you’ll hear all the time.
