Lofalitsidwa: 08.11.2018
And the wild ride continues. It was finally time to head north. Or rather, finally to the beach. So Mui Ne was our next destination. We chose the sleeper bus to get there. We had to sacrifice a day for that, but it wasn't dramatic because it was supposed to rain all day on Wednesday anyway. Tran kindly booked the buses for us and wrote all the information on small pieces of paper so that NOTHING could go wrong ๐... or so we thought...
Wednesday morning at half past seven, we were supposed to be picked up. And that's what happened, only we were taken to the wrong terminal. Because that's where it didn't go to Mui Ne, but even further south. Luckily, a new driver came right away and off we went to the right terminal and the right bus. This bus then took us to Saigon. There we had to wait 1 1/2 hours to continue. That wasn't dramatic, because we desperately needed an ATM and something to eat. Somehow we had the bad luck with the last ATMs that they didn't give out any money anymore. But Tran told us that some banks here don't work together with the European ones or only give out limited amounts of money. Well, to make a long story short... at the bus station in Saigon, he again didn't accept our card... shit happens... So let's try our luck in the next town. The bus is already paid for and the food doesn't cost anything...
By the way, we had Pho to eat ๐๐๐๐
Time flew by and our next bus rolled up. I was supposed to / had to / needed to show the bus driver a note about where we wanted to get off, but without even looking at it, he made it very clear to us that we should shut up and just sit down on the bus. This was the first time I experienced unfriendly Vietnamese people, otherwise they are a very very very nice people and help where they can. Well, the bus started and it was supposed to be a 6-hour ride. But you can just lay around and relax the whole time, look at the scenery and listen to music. Every few hours there is a toilet break and off we go.... Until someone has to throw up on the bus ๐ I'll say it right away, it wasn't me... I repeat... It definitely wasn't me. A little kid apparently didn't want to anymore and let it all out. The family was quickly thrown off the bus and air freshener was distributed, but it didn't make things better. Now it smelled like a toilet with a puke note. Well, somehow we survived that too and finally arrived in Mui Ne. It's exactly as you read everywhere. Tourist hotspot that specializes in Russian tourists. Everywhere you read everything in Russian and you are also greeted in Russian. I had booked a backpacker hostel to make new contacts. When we arrived at the hostel, we were first upgraded and got a fancy hotel room with a huge bathroom and a big balcony overlooking the sea ๐... What more could a man want...
In the evening, there was Beer Pong by the pool and you immediately met a bunch of new people who have the same plan... Which is no plan ๐ Tommy was the sensible one out of the two of us ๐ and went to bed earlier... I chatted and drank with an Australian Vietnamese gin and we stuffed each other's pockets. When I wanted to go to bed later, I saw a hammock on our cool balcony and I thought, haaa you can just lie in there for 5 minutes... What can I say, I didn't wake up until morning ๐ 'It wasn't smart but damn cool' fits quite well here.
Today is beach day and let's see what the evening brings. We will definitely extend our stay for one more night.