At 10:20 am the lady brought my boots. I met her in the lobby, tried them on, and paid the remainder of the money. Returning to the room...
P- Do they fit?
G- Yes, they'll be ok. If I was buying them, I'd buy them a half size larger, but they'll do. Lesson learned. Don't have shoes made in Hoi An.
P- It seemed like a good idea and after China and Tibet, you won't have to wear them ever again.
G- You know I'm not wasteful like that. Hopefully I'll find someone in Tibet or Nepal to give them to when we leave.
We carried our bags downstairs and ate hamburgers before we left. The desk clerk spoke English, but this was typical...
G- It says the hamburger comes with egg. Is the egg on the burger? Like a fried egg or is it mixed in the meat?
Lady – In.
G- Ok, that's fine. If it's a fried egg on top of the hamburger, then we don't want it.
Lady – Ok.
G- (to Phyl) Did you want all of that other stuff on it; the cucumber?
P- No, but it's always too complicated to try and get stuff removed. I'll just take it off.
The burgers arrived with a fried egg on top of the meat, just under the buns. *sigh*
The bus picked us up at the hotel and after a few more stops, we were on our way to Hue, about 4.5 hours from Hoi An. We drove along the beach, through Danang, across a suspension bridge, and climbed into the mountains. The views were incredible! Lush green mountains flanked our left while Danang sat in the valley below. We drove through a very long tunnel and emerged in the mountain tops, fog behind them and the sun sparkling on their peaks. It was a stunning scene. A few miles further we descended into a fishing village, then rode through bright green rice fields on our left and the sea on our right.
P- I had no idea Vietnam was so beautiful.
G- Neither did I. It is, by far, the most beautiful country we've been through.
We climbed again into mountains, winding our way along their edges, valleys of villages and rice fields set out below us. As usual, Phyl was freaked out while I hung out of the window trying to capture the scenes on film, or, um, memory card. The bus stopped for a toilet break and we ran into the couple we had seen at the restaurant where the little boy had pooped onto the piece of paper. They were young Germans traveling for several months.
G- Look at all of us westerners. Now I see why backpackers are always described as unkempt, scruffy & dirty.
P- The description fits and we look just like them.
G- Well, the hair on our heads is short, unlike most of these kids, but I don't think I've shaved my armpits since I had all the hairs pulled out in Cambodia.
P- I've never worn so many dirty clothes in my life.
G- It's just not possible to be otherwise. We move from hotel to hotel, have no routine, no place or time for normal grooming, and we haven't worn make up since we left home. I feel like I look 10 years
older than when I left home, and I'm happy to just have clean clothes, much less ironed clothes.
P- We don't really have any other options. At least we've been able to have clothes washed at our hotels in the last few countries we've been in.
G- I am thankful for that. I will enjoy having a washer and dryer again when we get home.
P- And having more than 3 shirts and 4 pairs of underwear to wear.
We had made a reservation at a hotel in Hue that provided free pick up from the bus station. Initially we were nervous when the bus stopped, on what appeared to be a side street, in a neighborhood, but as we exited the bus, a man stood with a sign reading Tina.
G- I guess I'm Tina.
P- I'm just happy he's here to pick us up. (once in the van, to the driver) Have you been waiting long?
Driver – (in Vietnamese) Blah, blah, blah, blah 1 kilomete.
G- It sounds like we're not far from the hotel.
Given a room on the 4th floor, we trudged up the stairs and were pleasantly surprised when we opened our door. The room was nothing special, but large and clean. The exciting thing was the bathroom which contained a bathtub and a SHOWER CURTAIN!!!! We were very excited to be able to take a bath and not have the whole bathroom get wet. We hadn't had a shower curtain or a shower door since our hotel in Bangkok.
G- Yes, they'll be ok. If I was buying them, I'd buy them a half size larger, but they'll do. Lesson learned. Don't have shoes made in Hoi An.
P- It seemed like a good idea and after China and Tibet, you won't have to wear them ever again.
G- You know I'm not wasteful like that. Hopefully I'll find someone in Tibet or Nepal to give them to when we leave.
We carried our bags downstairs and ate hamburgers before we left. The desk clerk spoke English, but this was typical...
G- It says the hamburger comes with egg. Is the egg on the burger? Like a fried egg or is it mixed in the meat?
Lady – In.
G- Ok, that's fine. If it's a fried egg on top of the hamburger, then we don't want it.
Lady – Ok.
G- (to Phyl) Did you want all of that other stuff on it; the cucumber?
P- No, but it's always too complicated to try and get stuff removed. I'll just take it off.
The bus picked us up at the hotel and after a few more stops, we were on our way to Hue, about 4.5 hours from Hoi An. We drove along the beach, through Danang, across a suspension bridge, and climbed into the mountains. The views were incredible! Lush green mountains flanked our left while Danang sat in the valley below. We drove through a very long tunnel and emerged in the mountain tops, fog behind them and the sun sparkling on their peaks. It was a stunning scene. A few miles further we descended into a fishing village, then rode through bright green rice fields on our left and the sea on our right.
P- I had no idea Vietnam was so beautiful.
G- Neither did I. It is, by far, the most beautiful country we've been through.
We climbed again into mountains, winding our way along their edges, valleys of villages and rice fields set out below us. As usual, Phyl was freaked out while I hung out of the window trying to capture the scenes on film, or, um, memory card. The bus stopped for a toilet break and we ran into the couple we had seen at the restaurant where the little boy had pooped onto the piece of paper. They were young Germans traveling for several months.
G- Look at all of us westerners. Now I see why backpackers are always described as unkempt, scruffy & dirty.
P- The description fits and we look just like them.
G- Well, the hair on our heads is short, unlike most of these kids, but I don't think I've shaved my armpits since I had all the hairs pulled out in Cambodia.
P- I've never worn so many dirty clothes in my life.
older than when I left home, and I'm happy to just have clean clothes, much less ironed clothes.
P- We don't really have any other options. At least we've been able to have clothes washed at our hotels in the last few countries we've been in.
G- I am thankful for that. I will enjoy having a washer and dryer again when we get home.
P- And having more than 3 shirts and 4 pairs of underwear to wear.
We had made a reservation at a hotel in Hue that provided free pick up from the bus station. Initially we were nervous when the bus stopped, on what appeared to be a side street, in a neighborhood, but as we exited the bus, a man stood with a sign reading Tina.
G- I guess I'm Tina.
P- I'm just happy he's here to pick us up. (once in the van, to the driver) Have you been waiting long?
Driver – (in Vietnamese) Blah, blah, blah, blah 1 kilomete.
G- It sounds like we're not far from the hotel.
Given a room on the 4th floor, we trudged up the stairs and were pleasantly surprised when we opened our door. The room was nothing special, but large and clean. The exciting thing was the bathroom which contained a bathtub and a SHOWER CURTAIN!!!! We were very excited to be able to take a bath and not have the whole bathroom get wet. We hadn't had a shower curtain or a shower door since our hotel in Bangkok.
