Hue was growing on us, but the weather was crap and we were getting itchy feet. The day after our DMZ tour we took the train to Da Nang. The scenery on the train was amazing. We were on a cliff looking down at lush jungle and rocky beaches. I wish the train window hasn't been so dirty, it would have been nice to take pictures.
Da Nang looked like a hole, and didn't have much to offer so we were only there enough time to catch the public bus to Hoi An. What an adventure that was! We hop on the bus and the bus dude (not really sure what he was) was trying to charge us 50,000VND each! We had just talked to some other travelers who got a ride on the bus for 10,000VND each. We finally haggled him down to 20,000VND each. Joey held out a 100,000VND bill but wanted the change before he handed it over to the dude. The guy was not impressed. He grabbed a huge wad of cash out of his wallet and threw it at Joey telling Joey to take it. Joey was like "K, well I guess I'm getting off the bus now" and he was losing his patience with this guys behaviour. The guy calmed down and gave him the change. The WHOLE ride to Hoi An he would look back at us with death glares. At one point he even talked to another traveler on the bus and said "Not good, not good, not good. He's a cheap man." At this point Joey and I are quite entertained!
This bus ride was probably one of the highlights of our trip thus far. The bus never fully stopped to pick people up. It simply slowed down while old ladies with huge bundles of junk chased it and barely managing to get on. Sometimes the old ladies would have too much and the bus guy would yell at them and wouldn't let them on. One old lady got on the bus and I guess the bus guy was asking her for too much too. She did the same thing as us, held on to her money until she saw the right change. (Locals only had to pay 7000VND for the same trip) and he started yelling at her. She yelled back and eventually hit the guy really hard with the bag in her hand. It was truly hilarious.
About an hour later we arrived in Hoi An. It was absolutely pouring outside. We put our raincoats and backpack covers out and headed for the hotel that we thought we wanted to stay at. After getting lost and having to walk for quite some time, we arrive and the place is quite gross and worst of all, no internet! We ended up having to walk across town to where all the other hotels are. Another one we would have liked to stay at turned out to be $25 a night. That is wayyyy out of our budget. Two doors we settled on another hotel for a room that cost $12 a night. The room itself have 3 double beds and was absolutely huge. A distinct moldy smell filled the air. The bathroom was even more gross smelling. We were so tired, so hungry and so wet we decided that this would be our home for the night.
After having a wonderful dinner (yet very expensive) at the Cargo Club, we met up with Lindsey and Jamie for some happy hour drinks. It was nice except the place we were at had about 8 different kids walking through and trying to sell us useless crap like whistles and packs of 20 postcards. (For everyone's info, you might not get a postcard from Vietnam because you can only buy them in packs of 10 or 20... I only want 1 or 2 and they wont sell them to me) It gets annoying to have these "visitors" every time you are out at a restaurant or bar. They know no limits and will pester you time and time again. They are somewhat easy to ignore but it does put a damper on the evening because you are there to enjoy yourself, not be guilt tripped into buying a clay whistle from a 4 year old.
This morning we were woken up to the dog of the hotel who kept on barking and barking and barking. It was getting ridiculous. We were also close to the front desk and could hear the phone ringing off the hook (from what we assume is other hotel guests wanting the dog to shut up). We could barely stand to stay there any longer. Soon we were all packed up and ready to go somewhere else. The hotel we are in now is a lot nicer but the same price. Our room is quite small but only has one bed which is really all we need!
Today we hired a driver to take us to My Son ruins with Lindsey and Jamie. Apparently there are tours to go see the ruins but it takes ALL day and you have to wander around the ruins for 4 hours. All four of us get tired of looking at stuff, so we knew we'd only want to be there an hour. The ruins were built anywhere between 4th century AD and 14th century AD. They are Hindu temple where Cham royalties and war heroes were buried. The temple was also a place of worship for Shiva, a Hindu god. It was truly amazing to walk through the jungle and see the beautiful ruins. The nature was starting to overtake the ruins but it made it ever more stunning to see such architecture and nature blended together.
After the Hindu temple, all four of us were really craving Indian food! So thats what we went and got when we got back into town. The food was spectacular and left us wanting more! Lindsey and Jamie are now on their way to Nha Trang on a sleeper bus. We will be leaving in the next day or so as well. The weather is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow. Sunny and 30 degrees! Time to rent a bicycle and go to the beach! WOOOOT!
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