Category: Asia

Where to Stay in Mui Ne, Vietnam- Full Moon Village Resort

4/11/2019

As most of you who read this blog know, about six months back the husband and I spent two glorious weeks in sunny Vietnam!
The first week was spent attending a life-changing yoga and mindfulness retreat with saigon om.
The retreat was in Mui Ne, Vietnam and was held at the fabulous Full Moon Village Resort.
If you are planning on traveling to South Vietnam, this place is a can't miss!
Here's why you need to book your room at Full Moon Village Resort now;

Ok first let's start with the room! And when I say room, I mean an entire villa! To ourselves! Completely fenced in! With an outdoor hot tub! Yeah this is it right here!

Way too fabulous, right?!
As you can see, to say this space is luxurious is an understatement indeed!

And housekeeping is wonderful!

Pretty romantic huh?!

And don't even get me started on this pool...too late! You got me started!
But for real, have you ever seen a more luxurious pool?! And let's face it, at least half of a resort's must-stay factor lies in the Instagram worthy-ness of its pool! And with this incredible view, you will have all the Instagram pictures you need! Don't believe me? Check these out!

Learn to travel like me in my book, Creating Your Dream Life; A Road Map.

Swimsuits hand-picked by me

Now let's not overlook the ocean in all of this (pun intended!)!
A resort on the beach needs...a great beach!
Sadly with so much pollution the beach was littered with trash, but the resort staff did a great job of clearing the debris from their beach every morning! So that left us with a beautiful beach to relax on, and take lots of great pictures.

One of my favorite things about this beach was that you could see ocean and mountains at the same time. Breathtaking!

The Full Moon beach is the perfect place for some early morning qi gong and mindful walking, both of which we did every morning during our retreat.

Speaking of mornings, the sunrises here are definitely something special!

Check out the before and after of this sunrise picture of me! I made the after picture using my 'Sunrise Surprise' preset, from my Beginner's Wanderlust Lightroom Preset Pack. You can purchase this for only $9.99, or get it for free with Kindle Unlimited on Amazon! Check out all the befores and afters, using all six of my beautiful and unique presets.

The path from our room to the beach.

The food and drinks were absolutely gorgeous! Prepared by an on-site chef, everything was fresh, healthy, and delicious.
Everyday I got to feast on freshly prepared pho, while sipping fresh squeezed watermelon juice, and the darkest most perfect Vietnamese coffee, as well as plenty of other fresh fruits and some of the healthiest and best meals I have ever experienced.
Side note, if you are vegetarian or vegan, Full Moon has plenty of options for you!

We loved staying at the Full Moon because it is located at the very end of the long stretch of seemingly un-ending ocean side resorts that the southern coast of Vietnam offers, so it was nice and secluded. The other reason it was perfect is that they have a van that runs multiple times a day between the resort, and their sister resort that is located in downtown Mui Ne! By staying at Full Moon you have access to the other resort, and can simply hop on the (free!) shuttle bus and be whisked downtown!

This aspect was so perfect because after our retreat was over Nick and I wanted to explore downtown Mui Ne (as you definitely should, read about our experience). The bus not only took us into downtown Mui Ne free of charge (even though we had already checked out of the hotel!), it also dropped us off directly in front of our new hotel (that was not the sister hotel)! This was especially incredible considering we don't speak the language!

The owner of The Full Moon Village Resort, Pascal, is a Frenchmen. So if you speak French or English, no need to worry about communicating, as you will find plenty of people there who speak both languages!

And the best part? Rooms at Full Moon Village Resort start at less than $70 a night! Gotta love Asia, you simply cannot beat luxury living for that price!

Full Moon Village Resort's Facebook.

What do you think of Full Moon Village Resort in Mui Ne, Vietnam? Is it on your must-visit list? What looks like the coolest part? Let me know below!
And if you visit here, I would looove to hear about it!

Peace Love and Full Moon Village
Jess <3

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Mui Ne Vietnam, a Fishing Village by the Sea-that You Have to See

1/20/2019

2 Comments

A couple weeks ago you read all about our yoga retreat in Mui Ne, Vietnam with saigon om.
We spent five wonderful days at this retreat, but spent a total of two weeks in Vietnam. So what did we do the other nine days? I'm so glad you asked!
We split our time between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and Mui Ne, so I will split these two cities into two blog posts-here is the first one, welcome to Mui Ne!

Mui Ne Vietnam, a Fishing Village by the Sea-that You Have to See

Mui Ne is an adorable little coastal fishing and tourist town along the southeastern edge of Vietnam.

During our first five days in Mui Ne we enjoyed the luxury of the Full Moon Village, a secluded and glorious resort that we stayed at during the retreat. This place was so awesome it will be getting its own blog post soon!

If seclusion and luxury is what you are wanting, look no further than the villas that we stayed at in Full Moon Village Resort. Full Moon Resort is not in downtown Mui Ne, it is about a 15 minute bus ride.

I absolutely loved watching the fishermen hard at work, their little boats bobbing around in the ocean, and cruising around the beach on their motorbikes!

Once the retreat was over, Nick and I hopped onto the complimentary shuttle bus that goes from the resort to their sister resort in downtown Mui Ne, and even though we were not going to the sister resort, they were happy to drop us off in front of our new hotel. We headed into town, a bustling little touristy area with no shortage of restaurants, bars, convenience stores, and seafood. Downtown Mui Ne is divided in two- the ocean side of the road, and the non-ocean side.
The ocean side of Mui Ne is where you can find the luxurious ocean front hotels, ocean front dining, and one of the best clubs I have ever been to. The non-ocean side is usually made up of less expensive hostels and backpacker hotels.

Nick walking on the ocean side of the road.

We found ourselves smack dab in the middle of the long stretch that is Nguyen Dinh Chieu, the street dividing the ocean side and the non ocean side, staying at Cocosand hotel, a little hole in the wall on the non-ocean side. It only cost us $16 a day! We could have gotten an even cheaper room, but we wanted a private bathroom.

We absolutely loved it here-I mean look at that courtyard!

This drop dead gorgeous, magnificent, perfect courtyard was in the middle of the hotel, with a sidewalk going all the way around it, and the rooms branching off of the sidewalk.

This was our room!

Want your own epic travel pics like the ones in this post? In my Lightroom Preset Pack, find many of the presets used on pictures in this post!

Can you tell I'm obsessed?! We were so very happy with our stay here.

Oh yes, the food! Food and drinks are usually one of our favorite parts of vacation (ok life!). Add in an ocean view and crazy cheap food and drinks? We were in heaven!
This was our favorite place, with our favorite view, with our favorite food!

Speaking of restaurants! I am obsessed with this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant where you take your shoes off before you enter, sit on mats on the floor, and the waitress brings you newborn puppies to hold because her dog just had babies!!!

Goooooood morning Vietnam!

As you can tell, we had the best time during our stay in the beautiful Seaside village of Mue Ne, Vietnam. I whole-heartedly recommend it as your next vacation spot! Why not join saigon om on their next yoga retreat here?!

Thank you so much for reading- stay tuned for upcoming posts about The Full Moon Village Resort, and our time in Saigon!
Have a wonderful week loves <3

Peace Love and Mui Ne Vietnam
Jess <3

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A week in Vietnam with saigon om

11/20/2018

7 Comments

"Sitting on our mats on the ground, joining in a guided meditation, listening to the birds chirping in the top of our shala, and the waves just beyond, I couldn't help but smile, and just be thankful to be alive, and to be spending a part of my life in this glorious slice of God's earth."
This was an entry I wrote in my journal I kept while at the retreat. I don't normally journal, but there were so many moments, and so many emotions happening, that I didn't want to forget a second of it. A good portion of this post has been taken from the journal I kept at the retreat.

As I am sitting here looking at my three hundred plus pictures, and going through my pages and pages of hand scribbled notes, I am wondering how on earth to truly share with you guys, and do justice, to the five days and six nights I spent with saigon om. I guess I will just share with you what our week looked like, and start by telling you our daily schedule while at the retreat. I know I wrote a little about the schedule in my previous post, where I told you all about saigon om and how excited I was to attend a retreat by them. If I'm being honest, when I wrote that schedule down, and then showed it to my husband, it left us both feeling a little overwhelmed. Neither of us were super advanced in yoga, had ever attended a retreat, or knew anything about mindfulness, and that schedule, while it looked amazing, was a bit daunting! If any of you felt the same way when you looked at it the first time, don't feel bad! But I knew it would be good for us, we wanted to do it, and so we did it! And wow, I can't even begin to explain how happy I am that we did! So with that in mind, here is what our week looked like while at our yoga and mindfulness retreat with saigon om in beautiful Mui Ne, Vietnam.

Daily Schedule
6:00-7 a.m. Qi Gong, mindful walking on the beach, and guided meditation
7:00-7:45 a.m. Fruit, tea and coffee
7:45-8:30 a.m. Lecture
8:30-10 a.m. Morning yoga
10:00 a.m. Brunch
11:00 a.m -4 p.m. Free time
4:00-6 p.m. Evening restorative yoga, mindful tea drinking, group sharing
6:15 p.m. Dinner

6:00-7 a.m. Qi Gong, mindful walking on the beach, and guided meditation
I am a bit embarrassed to admit that one of the things I was worried about, was our schedule beginning at six o'clock in the morning. I have trouble getting to bed before midnight, and getting me out of bed before eight is nearly impossible, so the thought of having to start my day every morning at six, was a bit troubling! However, I discovered with delight, traveling to a place eleven hours ahead of home, is the perfect solution for that! I fell asleep every night before eight, and every morning we arose before sunrise. Sneaking out of our villa, following the trail to the ocean, we would watch the magnificent sunrise, the clouds slowly peeking above the ocean, the sun casting its fiery rays. This was a beautiful moment for Nick and I every morning.

Once the sun had rose, we would wander up to our shala, which was a second story open-air hut with a beautiful thatched roof that housed a large number of birds, that had a breathtaking view of the ocean. Shala means house in Sanskrit-it is used in yoga to mean a house of yoga. This is me at the front of our shala.

The Chinese practice of Qi Gong was a delight! Qi in Chinese means energy, and Qi Gong is the practice of using breathing, meditating, and movement to get your energy moving (Sarah and Hang explain it much better!).
I loved learning about this thousands of year old art form, and getting to use the free flowing movements to wake up my organs, and even ease some of the tension in my shoulders!
The photo above and below are courtesy of Pascal Lefebvre, the owner of Full Moon Village Resort.

Our mindful walking was a beautiful time spent every morning walking in mindful silence, as a group, along the beach.

Guided Meditation
During our first morning guided meditation I sat on my mat, and participated in the guided meditation. I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of Sarah's voice gently guiding us on our meditation journey. Tears ran down my face as I listened to the birds chirping, the waves crashing, and focused on loving awareness towards myself. I was overcome by such deep feelings of joy, peace, and a love for myself and my surroundings.

7:00-7:45 a.m. Fruit, tea and coffee
Once the guided meditation was over, we all walked down from the shala where fresh fruit and teas were awaiting us. If that wasn't enough, we got to order a fancy tea or coffee from the wait staff. My iced Vietnamese coffee with coconut cream was probably one of my favorite parts of the day! I also loved the opportunity to sit and conversate with the amazing individuals from five different countries, and all walks of life that were at the retreat. Being in a group of like minded people, talking, sharing, and nobody on their cell phones (!!!) felt like paradise to me!

7:45-8:30 a.m. Lecture
After we had our fill of the glorious fruits, teas, and coffees, we made our way back up to the shala. I thoroughly looked forward to, and enjoyed the lectures. The word lecture conjures up for most hard chairs, fluorescent lighting, and a long-winded professor. More opposite of that this could not have been! We sat in a semi-circle in our shala, on our yoga mats, with the wind in our hair, and the ocean beside us, learning lessons that we would later practice on the mat, and in everyday life. Hang and Sarah enraptured and delighted us with their vast knowledge, humor, and contagious joy. We learned about the different doshas, mindfulness, the garden of the mind, and how words can affect us, and more! I took lots of notes and am so excited to keep applying these wonderful principles to my life.

8:30-10 a.m. Morning yoga
Ahhh morning yoga...can you think of anything more perfect?
Lying there on my back focusing on my breathing, hearing only the gentle sounds of Hang's voice, and the crash of the ocean, with its cool salty breeze blowing delicately on my face, I knew i was truly in paradise. And yes, this is the view from our shala!

10:00 a.m. Brunch
Brunch was an absolutely glorious time! After four hours of yoga, meditation, and lectures, we were all invigorated-and hungry! We made our way downstairs where a buffet of freshly squeezed watermelon, coconut and other various juices were waiting, along with a different vegetarian pho every day, as well as fresh salads, coffee, and other various brunch foods. We ate these with the glass doors wide open to allow the outdoors access to us. Sigh, heaven.

11:00 a.m -4 p.m. Free time
After brunch we had five glorious hours to do whatever our hearts desired. This included for Nick and I spending time at the pool, walking the beach, and spending time in our room.
A note about the hotel, I have never stayed in a place more secluded, delightful, and luxurious, all rolled in to one, than the Full Moon Village Resort in Mui Ne. It housed the most beautiful pool I have ever swam in, incredible and authentic vegetarian Vietnamese cuisine, amazing staff, the ocean right at our back yard, and don't even get me started on our room! It was not even a room, but our own private villa! A completely fenced off, perfectly private villa with a spacious kitchen, dining and living room, bathroom, and a bedroom with romantic netting surrounding the bed! This luxury was completed by our very own outdoor hot tub! I will be writing more about this amazing resort in an upcoming blog post about Vietnam.

4:00-6 p.m. Evening restorative yoga, mindful tea drinking, group sharing
At four we all arrived at Sarah and Hang's villa, yoga mat and couch cushions in hand.
We would start the evening with a mindful tea drinking ceremony, first reading the above mantra, then partaking in mindfully, gratefully, and with purpose drinking our tea.
Next was group share. I loved group share! We took turns sharing whatever was on our mind and heart. Some were joyful things, some had realizations and epiphones, and others were struggles and losses. We shared together, we cried together, we experienced together.
Last was restorative yoga. If you are a person who thinks yoga is too hard, then you must try restorative yoga! The lights were dimmed, soft music was played, and we all lay on our yoga mats using big fluffy couch cushions for comfort. Hang and Sarah took turns guiding us on this relaxing, and healing yoga session. Nick even fell asleep one day and started snoring real loud. And Nick never takes naps! It was that relaxing and good!

6:15 p.m. Dinner
The first fifteen minutes of dinner was spent in mindful silence. We first gave thanks to our higher being, and then gave thanks to the food. We were encouraged to say hello to each piece of food, imagine the journey they took to get to us, and to chew slowly and thoroughly. Doing this, we got to experience mindfulness and a different way of thinking in something we do every day, in something as simple as eating a meal. Truly amazing! I actually really enjoyed the mindful silence at dinner time. I got to really taste, and really enjoy every bite, instead of wolfing it down like I normally do. After fifteen minutes we were free to get seconds, and talk. Nick and I usually stayed until about seven thirty talking with all our new friends, then went back to our villa for bed.
The next morning we got to do it all over again!

I am someone who loves to totally immerse myself in things; cultures, languages, experiences. And being totally immersed in this culture of mindfulness was completely transformative! We got to listen to teachings about mindfulness, and then experience it during a yoga session, a walk on the beach, even eating! And that was just perfect.
And yes, yoga and meditation can be daunting. But Sarah and Hang guide you through it with ease. Giving you tips, helping your form, and always teaching you new techniques and sayings, it was such a special experience.

Not a bad way to spend five days!
I 1,000% recommend trying a yoga and mindfulness retreat at least once in your life. Hang and Sarah hold retreats and trainings year round in Vietnam and Australia, if you've ever wanted to visit one of these delectable places, and also Canada if you live in Canada or the States and don't want to venture too far from home. It doesn't matter which location you choose (though I'm quite partial to Vietnam...), just go! Go on this transformative, once in a lifetime journey with saigon om.
If you have any questions about the retreats or different training courses, feel free to email them (saigonom@gmail.com), Sarah and Hang are the greatest and will be happy to answer any questions. Just tell them Jessica from My Peace Love Life sent you! Go like them on facebook to see all the amazing things they are doing!

*A million thank yous to my wonderful husband Nick for going on this adventure with me, and for all of these amazing pictures he took, and also to saigon om for sponsoring this post and for being so so incredible*

Peace Love and saigon om
Jess <3

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Where to Stay in Mui Ne, Vietnam- Full Moon Village Resort

Mui Ne Vietnam, a Fishing Village by the Sea-that You Have to See

A week in Vietnam with saigon om

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