Sunday.
First things first -- Happy Father's Day
But just as, if not more importantly, Happy 30th Anniversary Mom and Dad (see, I remembered)
Sunday was supposed to be a travel day for me. I had a 2pm flight from Danang (the closest airport to Hoi An, about a 30 minute drive) to Nha Trang, a beach town between Hoi An and Saigon which also has the best diving in Vietnam. Well, as often happens when traveling, the best laid plans of mice and men often fall awry.
I started off the morning with one of my favorite travel activities - negotiating. I was trying to get some odds and ends and had a fun time trying to play several merchants off each other. I think the primary reason I enjoy negotiating is that it makes me feel like I acquired an applicable skill at Wharton -- since it was the I spent half of my bidding points on (Prof Diamonds class was well worth it too!). My main difficult with negotiating while traveling is that I had a hard time telling if I really got a good deal or still got ripped off just having paid slightly less from one merchant than another. In the grand scheme of things, it's literally only a few dollars anyway.
Walking around Hoi An is truly an experience because there are so many clothes shops, restaurants, art galleries and merchants that want you to come into their establishments. They all have young women outside who ask people as they walk by "what country are you from?" and then "you come into my store?" A no to the 2nd question is followed up with the ubiquitous "you have girlfriend?" And that happens several times a day -- you have girlfriend? Now as a Western guy in his 20s, that question could be asked from several directions:
1) "will you come into my store if I make you smile?"
2) "will you marry me, take me to America and give a shot at a big house, nice car and everything I've seen on those real-life American TV shows like Baywatch and Melrose Place I see on Vietnam TV?"
3) "you want to go to Madam Boom-Boom's room?"
And with a big smile on my face, I mutter the most frequently stated 3 words heard out of tourists in Vietnam "No thank you."
The Madam Boom-Boom is actually a quote from a driver of a moto who asked me if I wanted to buy some pot and then if I wanted to go see Madam Boom-Boom. I don't think there was anything lost in translation there.
Back to Sunday. I find out at noon that my 2pm flight was cancelled from the travel agent I booked it through (she actually hunted me down throughout all of Hoi An). She booked me on a 12-hour bus to Nha Trang, which while cheap ($5) and air conditioned, had me nervous. I asked her if it was a tourist-only bus, and she said yes. I had read about the Open Tours bus in Lonely Planet and assumed it was that one -- which had a pretty good write-up. She said she would pick me up at 6pm to take me to the bus station. So I headed back to Cua Dai beach for a little day in the sun. On the way, I ran into 2 guests from my hotel that they were able to re-book and are flying through Saigon with Vietnam Airlines putting them up in a hotel for the night, as the flight to Nha Trang wouldn't leave till morning.
I went by the travel agent's office, but no luck, she wasn't there. So I just headed out to the beach, realizing that I was going to spend a night on a bus -- I thought it would be cheap sleeping accommodations. Fast forward a few hours and the agent picks me up (a little late) and I mention to her that other fliers got a deal where Vietnam Airlines was making arrangements for them. She said it wasn't possible. We get to the bus stop, and while waiting for the bus, she goes to check again -- same story, not possible. Bus comes and it's not a nice Open Tours bus -- it's one of those you'd expect to see chickens, goats and sheep in the aisles -- and my jaw drops. 12 hours of hell I'm thinking. And since the plane flight was cancelled, now all 45 seats are taken. I get one in the last row. I'm sitting there, sweating to death because the A/C is negligible at best, thinking I might actually melt before I arrive.
And then an angel appeared... or at least that's how my travel agent looked, halo and all. She said in her best English as a 2nd language that she yelled at Vietnam Airlines that they were making deals for other people, so they should do it for her passenger. And they relented! So I got on a 10pm flight to Saigon with a 1:30pm flight to Nha Trang booked for Monday. Vietnam Airlines put me up in a nice hotel for the night in Saigon -- king sized bed, A/C and tons of cable channels. It was funny -- the only people who were re-booked and given hotel rooms were white, western tourists. I don't think it is in the nature of the Vietnamese people to question authority -- such is life under communism. In contrast, the Westerners were raised on questioning... Or maybe we just have a large sense of entitlement? Or more likely, we are used to the games the airline industry plays.
Even though I lost about a day and a half of travel, things worked out for the best. I went to sleep on a very cushy pillow... at least I think it was because I was out before my head hit it!
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