The Indian Contractor visits Vietnam and China on a Shoestring

I woke up the next day at around 9. Feeling a bit groggy from last nights ordeal, I staggered to the balcony and was shocked to find the street completely dry. The flood waters had vanished! Not adrop in sight. Talk about quick evaporation. I cannot say the same for my wet clothes though. They were still soaking wet. I wrapped them into plastic bags and completed teh final check out procedures. We left our bags at the hotel and decided to take one last walk before departing for Danang by flight that evening.

We were approached by two cyclo drivers who offered t otake us around the city for a handsome fare.We negotiated the price until it came to about USD3 per hour though from the lonely planet we were to pay no more than a dollar per hour. But the guide was 4 years old so I let inflation reduce my bargaining power.

Now for those who have not been to Vietnam, the cyclo is a Vietnamese version of the rickshaw except the driver sits behind the passenger. This adds to the fun of the whole journey. Now, the traffic in vietnam, inspite of all its chaos has a semblence of order in it. While crossing roads its wise to cross slowly and allow the motorists to get a full view of you so they can make the appropriate manouvers to avoid you. Rush across and you'll confuse them and get hit atleast twice. But i digress.
Now imagine sitting, completely exposed with no seat belts, in a seat with the driver behind you and watch the traffic race by you. It was an exhilirating experience especially when the driver made those sudden split second turns to avoid oncoming vehicles. For a moment, you feel that you might be claiming your insurance money soon, then all's well. To think that all this happens in a vehicle that moves at a top speed of 20km/h is difficult.

Our first stop was a pagoda(cant remember what the name was). It was a quiet place and the absence of vendors made the place a good stop for relaxation. we hopped on our cyclos to the next stop in china town called the cholon market. Now this market had nothing but clothes. And it was a market for locals only so there was no pestering and shouts of "You buy shirt? You buy this/ that?..." so we got a good look at completely local place minus the tourists. A pleasure for the amateur photographers and their cameras. A particular sight of interest here was the way the large bindles of clothes were transported up and down the market. They were just bundled into huge balls using massive rolls of duct tape and plastic bags. After which they were just rolled down the stairs and into the waiting hands of the traders below. so visitors were constantly reminded to walk along corners of the staircases.

We left the market and took the cyclos once again to the cau bac market(yes the one with the leaky roof). My companion needed to have her lighter refuelled and wanted to purchase one of those bullet shaped lighters. Now I dont know what is it about me and the market but it began to rain again. This time we bought the poncho from the vendor and battled the rain once again and managed to reach the hotel before the flimsy ponchos split.

We picked up our backpacks and made our way to the bus stop to board the bus for the airport, stopping by at the roadside restaurant for a bowl of pho khong tit (pho (rice noodle) without meat). It was tasty. We reached the bus stop slightly wet and waited at the packed area for bus 152. It was chaotic because everyone was trying to get into the shelter and away from the rain that was neither a drizzle, nor a downpour. In all this chaos, one bus conductor stopped in front of me and greeted me with a warm smile and practised some of his english by asking me a few questions. It was nice that people actually made an effort to communicate rather than give me the cold stares I got at the airport.

My bus finally came and the one hour trip to the airport was comfortable as the bus was more or less empty all the way.

The reason I took the flight to Danang and not the train was time constraints. The train ride to Danang would waste two full days but the flight journey took only an hour and a half and cost only $32. And thus began the Danang Dilemma...