The Barf Bus

Thankfully, the tour that had kept us up the night before had left the hotel and we had a peaceful night sleep. We were packed and in the lobby by 8:00 AM, and Phyl ate a breakfast of yogurt and strawberries. I bought a baguette and 2 pieces of spreadable cheese. Several motorcycle drivers were in the lobby trying to drum up business and tourists came down for breakfast. If they spotted someone walking past the hotel, they would take turns jumping up and running out the door to yell at them.

Men – Hello!

Tourists – (Ignoring them.)

Men – H-E-L-L-O!!! Motorcycle tour?

Tourists – No, thank you.

Men – All day. Beautiful!!

Tourists – No.

Man – (sees Phyl's fleur de lis pin on her day pack) You give to me for souvenir?

P- No. A friend gave it to me as a gift.

Man – You want motorcycle tour?

G- We did a tour yesterday. Your friend there should remember us, he refused to give us directions.

Man – You want different tour today?

P- No, today we leave.

Laila came downstairs for breakfast and we chatted with her for a little while.

P- (to Gina) You see those 2 women over there? I wish they wouldn't do that in here while I'm trying to eat breakfast.

G- They're always plucking each others gray hairs. I think it's their favorite hobby.

P- It's one thing when they're sitting along the street, but it's disgusting to pick in a restaurant and put the picked hairs on the table. Someone will eat there later. That is just so nasty!

G- Blech! Stop looking at them.

The van came at 8:30 and we went around picking up several more people before being dropped off at the bus station. The driver went inside and got a ticket for everyone. We were very pleasantly surprised to see our bus which was new and very clean. There was a garbage can on the floor next to my seat, which was the last before the long row across the back. A Buddhist Monk got on and sat behind me, just over my right shoulder.

P- That's a good sign. Maybe he'll keep us safe.

G- Are you still worried about plunging over a cliff?

P- Yes. I hate buses!

G- I love this bus. It's so clean and I like the free bottle of water and the little garbage bags in the seat pocket.

P- It is very nice, I just hope the bus driver doesn't drive like a lunatic.

I took a motion sickness pill because I knew it was going to be a winding ride through the mountains and because of what the girl from Singapore told us yesterday about all the people puking on her bus.

We went in the opposite direction from yesterday's tour, into a pine forest. At times some of the forest had been cleared and asparagus & strawberries were growing. The road climbed and wound around the mountains. It was very beautiful!

G- You smell that?

P- It smells minty. What is it?

G- I'm not sure what it is, but I think they're pumping it in to prevent motion sickness.

P- I hope it works because if someone pukes and I have to smell it, it might make me puke. You feeling ok?

G- I'm fine. I took a pill.

An hour after leaving Da Lat, a boy around 8 years old puked on himself in the front of the bus. In the aisle, his mom helped him change his clothes while his dad cleaned up the area. The bus attendant, a guy in his early 20's, had a garbage can and was helping clean up the floor. He brought the dad a handful of the small garbage bags.

G- I see now that they're not garbage bags, they're puke bags. Poor guy. Makes me think of Bryce.

P- Hasn't Bryce puked several times on car trips.

G- Yes. I wonder if Todd & Alexis are giving him motion sickness pills yet.

P- I sure wouldn't want the bus attendant's job. It would suck to clean up people's puke everyday.

G- True dat!

Fifteen minutes later a girl in her early 20's barfed into one of the bags. It was much less of a production, and she was as discrete as possible, but there is no mistaking that sound on a closed bus. We were 1.5 hours into our trip and and the road was really snaking back and forth. We were climbing, so the driver couldn't speed if he wanted to. Somewhere in the front of the bus we could hear 2 more people barfing.



P- You still feel ok?

G- I'm fine. You ok?

P- I'm fine too, but you'd better watch your bag because the lady across the aisle from you looks like she's gonna hurl.

G- Great!

I picked up my day pack and put it on my lap. I pulled some of my barf bags out of my seat pocket and offered them to her. She waived me off, but continued to hold her head.

G- Hopefully she just has a headache.

P- I hope so, because if she pukes this close to me, I'm gonna lose it.

G- Please don't get it on me. Hold a bag.

P- And I hate to tell you this, but your guardian Monk is green.

A few minutes later we crested the top of the mountain and began our decent. Phyl went into panic mode because now the bus driver could go fast, and he was taking advantage of his new found speed.

The girl next to 'headache woman' had the grip of death on the seat in front of her and craned her neck to see out of the front window. She looked more panicked than Phyl who told me every 2 minutes that the bus driver was an asshole for driving so fast on these turns and she wished he would slow down. Thankfully, or not, the decent didn't take long, although the views were breathtaking, and we stopped at a “restaurant”.

After using the bathroom, we sat watching people eating their white rice and vegetables. A dog wandered into the restaurant looking for scraps. A few chickens soon followed him, and they squabbled over a few crumbs.

P- Look! 3 little black pigs.

G- Damn! My camera is always packed away when something like this happens.

P- They are moving much faster than I would have expected.

G- Maybe they're being chased by the big bad wolf.

P- You stupid!

Back on the bus, we drove through a few towns before we started seeing shop awnings that gave a Nha Trang address. Just over 4 hours after we began, we pulled into the Nha Trang bus station. While I got the bags from under the bus, Phyl negotiated with 2 motorcycle guys. When the deal was made, we were back on motorcycles headed to a hotel. We didn't have a reservation, but had learned to research the area where many hotels were located and get a ride to that area so we could then walk around and look at our options. We were successful at our first stop, a room with a large bed, mini fridge, wifi, and a nice bathroom, with a tub, for $10.00. Yay!

Starving, we went in search of lunch. We were ecstatic when we found a restaurant, albeit an expensive one, on the beach offering a plate of hummus, pita bread, olives, and 3 nuggets of cheese. After savoring every bite, we walked along the beach. Nha Trang is a big beach destination and has a very long stretch of parks, with walking paths, separating the beach from the road.

P- The beach here is just ok, not as nice as Otres Beach, and the waves are much rougher.

G- Yes, that's what I had heard. The water was rough, but a beautiful color and the islands create a gorgeous view.

P- Let's sit at a cafe and have a beer.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon at the cafe on the beach, then had a very yummy dinner at a roof top restaurant. Like in Can Tho, a grill and hot charcoal pot was brought to our table, and we grilled crocodile meat, fish & vegetables. We really enjoyed it, and had a pleasant conversation with 3 young Canadians (a fireman & 2 nurses on a month long trip).

P- This may be the most touristy place we've been so far in Vietnam.

G- I think so too. It's nice, but I'd be disappointed if this was our 'beach' destination.

P- Me too, but we're spoiled. I still think the Caribbean beaches are the most beautiful in the world.

G- Agreed.