267: Kitesurfing in Mui Ne

Li Qinghe accompanied Vu Linh Huong on a tour around the Po Shanu Cham Towers. Inside a small sanctuary, a relatively well-preserved Linga and Yoni statue, symbolizing Shiva, was kept.

Overall, these Cham Towers belong to the pre-Angkorian Khmer style.

Southern Vietnam was originally part of the Khmer Empire of Cambodia, and traces of that history are evident in these Cham Towers.

Historically, during the Khmer Empire's most prosperous period from the 9th to 14th centuries, its territory covered most of Southeast Asia, corresponding to the Tang Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty in the Dragon Kingdom.

The main lineage of Khmer style originated from the architectural styles of the Indian subcontinent, so the religion primarily worshipped Vishnu, the main deity of present-day India's national religion.

However, later Khmer style absorbed some elements from the Dragon Kingdom's style, forming a unique Khmer aesthetic.

But the Khmer Empire's deities like Vishnu were subtly transformed into Buddhist deities by the time of the Dragon Kingdom's Yuan Dynasty.

The most famous pinnacle of Khmer architecture, Angkor Wat, also transformed from a Shiva temple into a Buddhist temple during the Yuan Dynasty.

Later, after the Khmer Chenla Empire was conquered by the Siamese army, its capital moved to Phnom Penh, and the once-flourishing Angkor Wat was abandoned in the vast jungle.

It was not rediscovered by Western explorers until modern times, finally seeing the light of day again.

With the rise of the Siamese Empire, the Chenla Empire's control over its Southeast Asian territories became increasingly strained.

Its territory was gradually encroached upon by surrounding chieftains and empires, and what is now Southern Vietnam gradually became the land of the Vietnamese Empire over the long course of history.

The Khmer Empire now only has a small piece of territory sandwiched between Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

Although the Vietnamese Empire did not intentionally destroy these historical relics, it also did not protect them.

Thus, over the long river of time, these magnificent Cham religious relics were reduced to the ruins and rubble seen today, with only a handful of major buildings remaining.

Only now, in order to develop tourism, Vietnam has renovated these distinctive coastal buildings.

They have become unique tourist attractions in various places.

Although the ruins of these Cham Towers in Mui Ne are not large in scale, they have attracted a certain number of tourists.

Even without an entrance fee, they bring a considerable amount of tourist revenue to Mui Ne's overall tourism market.

Li Qinghe and Vu Linh Huong stayed on Ba Nai Mountain for a while, seeing a few scattered tourists enjoying themselves there.

Originally, there were also some Buddhist temples near Ba Nai Mountain, but Li Qinghe and Vu Linh Huong had no interest in continuing their tour, so they chose to drive back to the west coast.

For lunch, they continued to eat grilled seafood. Mui Ne's seafood street offers a wide variety of delicious seafood.

The most authentic way to eat it is grilled, without any seasoning, and then dipped in sauce.

After lunch, as usual, they returned to the villa for a beauty nap. However, after lying down for a while, Vu Linh Huong wanted to hear a touching story from the Dragon Kingdom.

Li Qinghe had no choice but to satisfy her request. Vu Linh Huong cried twice after hearing the story before finally falling asleep peacefully.

It wasn't until two in the afternoon that they slowly got up.

After arriving in Mui Ne, their entire pace of life slowed down, imbued with the unique tropical laziness of a seaside town. The two went to play on the beach.

Mui Ne is one of the famous holy sites for kitesurfing, as the wind here is consistently stable and strong year-round.

Mui Ne Kitesurfing

You can feel the wind blowing from the White Sand Dunes and Red Sand Dunes; the sand particles are blown up by the wind, and when they hit the skin, there's a burning pain.

And what is called kitesurfing is actually paragliding surfing.

Mui Ne's surfing spots are mainly concentrated in the middle section of Mui Ne Bay, where many surf schools are located. There's no need for reservations; you can just find a coach and sign up.

"Qinghe, why don't you give it a try?" Vu Linh Huong sat on the beach, holding a coconut and enjoying the sea breeze. She had already changed into a sexy bikini.

Li Qinghe had applied sunscreen evenly all over her body to protect her fair skin from getting tanned or sunburned.

Vu Linh Huong

Seeing how much fun people on the sea were having, Vu Linh Huong encouraged Li Qinghe to give it a try too.

"Why don't you try it too?"

Li Qinghe also smiled mischievously, instigating Vu Linh Huong to go together.

Vu Linh Huong looked at Li Qinghe in front of her with a half-smile, then glanced down.

Li Qinghe clearly understood what she meant; with such strong wind and her current attire, it would be very easy to have an accidental exposure.

Asian women are still very different from European, American, and Russian women. Those women can boldly wear bikinis for various sports, while Asian women are relatively more reserved.

"Then you'll be responsible for being beautiful on the beach, and I'll be responsible for looking cool and handsome on the sea."

Li Qinghe snapped his fingers at Vu Linh Huong; this extreme sport looked quite interesting.

First, an 8 to 12-meter long paraglider is laid out on the beach. Once the wind lifts the parachute, it is controlled to carry the person out to sea, surfing on the water with the help of the wind.

So, leaving Vu Linh Huong to adorn the beautiful beach scenery, Li Qinghe walked towards the surf schools with rows of colorful flags.

He simply sought out someone he found agreeable to learn from.

As he walked along, he saw two people who looked like coaches organizing parachute gear. Their dark skin made it impossible to tell which Asian country they were from.

Both coaches were around 1.7 to nearly 1.8 meters tall.

So Li Qinghe used English to ask them, and the learning fees here were charged in US dollars.

A 7-hour course cost 420 US dollars, and a 10-hour course cost 600 US dollars.

After training, one could open a parachute to surf and also receive a certificate from the International Kitesurfing Association.

After a brief exchange, Li Qinghe decided to sign up for a 7-hour course.

In terms of sports, he was very confident now; with his exceptional athletic reaction speed, he learned any sport very quickly.

After the two coaches finished talking with Li Qinghe, they casually exchanged a sentence in the Dragon Kingdom's language: "I bet this guy is definitely not a Vietnamese monkey."

"Of course not. Can a monkey grow to my height?"

Li Qinghe flexed his muscles and responded in the Dragon Kingdom's language.

"Oh my, it's one of our own."

The two coaches were a bit surprised. Although there were many tourists from the Dragon Kingdom in Mui Ne, not many dared to try kitesurfing.

Generally, those who came to play were groups of kitesurfing enthusiasts who had organized themselves back home.

Wild tourists like Li Qinghe were very rare.

In contrast, there were quite a number of European and American tourists.

This slightly extreme sport was very popular among European and American tourists, so many of the men shouting and drifting on the sea were from European and American countries.

And men from the Dragon Kingdom were relatively calm, enjoying the joy of flying.

On the way to the training school with the two coaches, Li Qinghe learned that these coaches were all from the Dragon Kingdom's Kitesurfing Association.

They had established a training base in Mui Ne since 2008 and organized large groups of people to train here every year.

There is also a very good kitesurfing holy land in the Dragon Kingdom, which is Pingtan in Min Province. From May to November each year is the best surfing season there. Members of the Dragon Kingdom Kitesurfing Association usually stay in Pingtan, and at other times they come to Mui Ne, Vietnam for training.

Li Qinghe paid 420 US dollars and received a receipt. Afterwards, the coach took out a parachute and prepared to teach him how to control the equipment on land.

"Qinghe, how's it going?"

Vu Linh Huong's voice rang out from the doorway.