Thrill ride on Nha Trang bus trip
It was late at night as Nga, my girlfriend, and I jumped on the bus at Gia Dinh Park and embarked on an
adventure to Nha Trang.
By the time we departed from the city with a packed bus we were only nine hours from our destination, nine hours… how did I get talked into this one? It was also my first time on a bus in Vietnam. Normally I keep a close distance on the mean streets of Saigon.
This time, though, we were up above the streets wincing every time some crazy motorcyclists with a death wish took a chance, I don’t even want to remember the trucks and buses whizzing past us with only the space to swing a mosquito between us. I learned the best thing to do on a road trip, don’t look at the road, it’s not good for the blood pressure.
So we were off. The compere/bus organizer/singer Pham Dang Nguyen decided to get the ball rolling with a ten minute speech in Vietnamese, fair enough, 51 members of the bus tour could understand, I was in the minority not that for one second did I feel an outsider – this is Vietnamese people we are talking about.
Nga translated what she could. Then Nguyen burst into a sad song, of which all Vietnamese songs seem to be, stories of lost loves and soldiers going off to battle and leaving their beloved girls behind.
The thing that struck me was how a group of strangers immediately bonded, only the Vietnamese with their em (sister) anh (brother) community feeling extend their friendliness to westerners including myself. Nguyen announced a couple had just got married in the city that very day and they got a free night’s stay in the hotel as a present. Nga piped up and told Nguyen it was my birthday. Fair enough, thanks so much. Then a young girl handed the mic to me and I was forced to belt out some Frank Sinatra.
I felt sorry for my new friends having to listen to my rendition.
First stop was somewhere in Binh Thuan where we got to stretch our legs and go to the toilet before heading back on the bus.
As we drove around the dead of night it was strange to see the small plantations of thanh long(dragon fruit) lighting up numerous fields around Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan.
Next up and it was breakfast time in Phan Thiet, not the most glamorous part of the tourist resort it has to be said but it had a nice backdrop.
We were on our way onwards and upwards and within a few hours we reached Khanh Hoa Province and the beach.
Cam Ranh Bay’s Ba Ngoi beach was certainly fresh at seven in the morning. The weather was too cold for a swim but it was okay to have a bit of fun in the water and go for a nice stroll.
Then it was time for more food, that’s what I most love about the Vietnamese always eating. Crab and tiger beer was a good call for a second breakfast and a banana treat pizza-style Banh Chuoi Nuong topped it off.
After having no sleep at all the whole journey now it hit me hard but the bumpy roads put paid to my chances of catching some shut eye. Still the compere duo’s singing and what appeared to be good jokes judging by the laughter all around me, kept us in good spirits for the end was in sight.
A nice eaterie in Nha Trang for lunch and at noon we finally reached our holy grail…the hotel.
source form: thesaigontimes
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