The hardest way to make an easy border crossing

Trials and tribulations, I tell you!

The day after the last post, we checked out of our (pretty nice, pretty cheap) guest house, and headed to the Vietnamese embassy, expecting to get the visa that day, and jump on a (31 hour!) bus that evening to Hoi An (in Vietnam).

Obstacle #1: It takes 2 working days to get a visa.

So, we do the other bits and pieces we need to do for the day, which takes up most the day, then head back to our guesthouse.

#2: Our guesthouse is full.

#3: Every other guest house is full.

After much looking about, we find a place. It only costs 2 dollars each, whilst most of the full ones cost up to 6 dollars each. This should have raised warnings.

Out of desperation, we take it anyway. The ceiling is being replaced (not directly under our room, fortunately), so we have to climb up the most rickety staircase you've seen, then past a load of builders & random bits of masonry. Barefoot, since we left our sandals downstairs. The room's ok. Bit hot, with a not-very-good fan, but ok. We don't notice how thin the 'mattresses' are, and that the beds consist of a small handful of thin metal slats that the mattresses sink through immediately, until later on.

We consider a shower, but after the horrors of just using the toilet (flushing using a bowl from a vat of water is fine. Having hundreds of mosquitoes swarm out of the vat when you dare venture your hand towards it is not), we decide a shower might be out of the question.

After a day trudging round sorting stuff and no shower, we go for food, not in the best of moods. A pretty lame nights sleep follows.

Next day was much better - moved back into the nice place, splashed out on the entry to the pool of a posh hotel for the day, and ate some nice food.

Around 5am the next morning, it appeared the food wasn't quite so nice. A very restless night and a day of being food poisoned meant there was no way I was getting on a bus that night for a day & a half. Luckily I had a Diane to get supplies of water, and Harry on the iPod (straight back in Marrakesh!), so got through it ok, and was pretty much ok the day after.

So we got our visas, and got the bus, but didn't manage to sleep all night, mostly through the driver's insistence of keeping himself - and everyone else - awake by playing ear-splittingly loud Thai and Laos pop songs. Nice.

After crossing the border, it was about 7am, and I probably could have slept, if it wasn't for the scenery in Vietnam. Blimey it looks great! I must have fallen asleep at some point though, because I was woken up with a start around midday, to learn we were in Hue, and had to get off.

In my dozed hurry, I got off... but my iPod didn't. And there's no way of contacting the bus company or bus station. There goes all my music and most of my photos.


Bugger. Bugger. Bugger.


Since then, things have been getting markedly better. We're in Hoi An, which is very pretty indeed, with a great beach, and Vietnamese food is *ace*. Plus the rest of the bus journey had just as amazing scenery. I think we're only spending a little over a week in this country before hot-footing to Cambodia (time's short), which is a real shame - Vietnam is incredibly lively after dozy Laos, and that energy is pretty infectious. Plus, the north is supposed to be ace.


Ah well - guess I'll have to come back here at some point :)


Oh, finally - think we're gonna get to Ho Chi Min city (Saigon) in time for my birthday on Thursday. Should be fun!


See you, folks,


Will.
Hoi An, Vietnam