When I Became a Grain of Sand

Mui Ne, December 28^th 2009

After the half day journey from HCMC to Mui Ne and the frustrating dealings in Hon Rom 2 Resort, we finally had some time to refresh ourselves before we were picked up to get onto the jeeps that would bring us to the sand dunes. I booked a tour to the sand dunes via Binh Thuan Tourist Travel Service Agency. Overall I’m satisfied with their services. 19 USD per pax included transportation, tour guide, cap, and a bottle of mineral water. We were actually scheduled to be picked up at our hotel on 3:00 PM, but we already got a knock on our door at five to three. There stood Mr. Minh, our tour guide.

Mr. Minh was friendly with us, and also with little Gabriel. At times he took Gabe by the hand. Mr. Minh himself seemed excited. He often asked one of us to take his picture using his pocket camera.

Mr. Minh got on a jeep with Wiwik and Gabriel. Michelle and I got on the other jeep. Michelle sat in front and I sat at the back. Unfortunately, half top of my jeep had no cover and my back seat wasn’t tighten that it always fell on my back on every brake push our driver made. Wiwik and Gabriel’s jeep drove in front of us. Along the way I wondered how they could keep their caps on. I already tried to tie mine as fast as possible, but the wind seemed to be twice stronger. It was not until half the journey that I realized that my jeep had no top cover. I gave up putting on a cap.

The white sand dunes were beyond my imagination which I got through a single photograph I saw in Insight Guide. The creek, pine trees, vast white sand hills, under the evening bright blue sky… were nothing but awesome wonder. 

Standing on top of one of the sand hills, I could feel how men are actually just another grain of sand in this whole universe. You might be a top manager, a scientist, a conglomerate, a miss universe, whatsoever you name them all. But, when you stand here, those are meaningless. The further and higher I went, while my ankles began to sink into the sand, the more meaningless I felt about myself. The more in awe I became of the Creator of this universe.

At times the wind was so hard that I had to wear my sunglasses on to protect my eyes from sand. My tripod could not stand straight, so I had to hold it. Some kids played slide which could be rented from vendors which were mostly kids. You can also rent a horse. If only there were a camel, I could have fooled my countrymen telling them that I had been to Middle East.

I waited until sunset came and yes, I did get a terrific sunset scenery. More breathtaking was the after sunset scene. While I was so excited capturing the view, Michelle texted me telling that Mr. Minh wanted to leave. Hah… I wish I could have stayed there just… a bit longer. It might have been once in a life time experience. I mean, I might return to these sand dunes again, but the sky would not be the same. When I reached the hut where I thought Wiwik and Michelle were waiting for me, they were completely out of sight.

Back at the hotel my hair was as stiff as a broom rake and my ears were full of sand. I’m sorry my friends seemed not to feel the same excitement as I did. However, I’m sure I wasn’t being weird, because I saw many tourists (adults and kids) going even further and higher than I went. I watched the faces of those returning back. Along with the wind that blew the sands, laughter blew on their faces.