Evening at a disco

The bus ride brought back memories. Long ago, we chugged along in some Korean or Russian vehicle. We started out with only 10 passengers, but as long ago, we were soon stuffed to capacity. Today was no different except that it was a newer vehicle. We started out by leaving NhaTrang around 10:30. The bus to Quy Nhon was a 15 passenger Ford Transport. We did not get even one hour into our trip when the driver decided it was time to stop for lunch. For the first time since I have arrived, I have had bad food. Too salty and way too much MSG… Seemed like I was stoned on it for a while.. We then headed out on the highway, The bus consists of a driver and a helper. The helper was always on the phone and would arrange for short rides for other locals. Here is how it works….  The bus is booked for 10 people for Quy Nhon. The helper will get phone calls from locals to pick them up along the way. The bus grew from 10 people to 30 in a short time, the driver and helper pocketing the extra cash. The 200 km trip took five hours with the stops and the delays. We were able to find a hotel with wifi for 8 dollars a night. It looks like it may be a short term hotel, but the room is OK. There was a little bit of a shower outside. At suppertime we decided to eat and then lake a look around, that is when it started to pour. We took a taxi up and down the beach area looking for some kind of entertainment. Unlike NhaTrang, there was nothing happening here. It is dead quiet. Truly not a tourist area. We found an English speaking cook at a 5 star hotel along the beach. He informed us that there was no Backpacker area and did not know of places where we could go for fun and drinks. We finally ended up at a disco that had ear shattering loud music. A couple of young and energetic girls whose job it was to keep customers entertained thus spending more money in the bar, were very attentive to us.  We were an oddity there. The whole game is to drink hard and spend money on girls. I will leave the antics of these girls to your imagination but I have to admit, it would have been pretty hard for an unmarried man to escape this place. The whole experience cost us around 15 bucks a piece.

Karaoke seems to be the thing here. There are Karaoke places everywhere. I do not know if they are legit places or fronts for other things. I will probably not find out as I cannot imagine walking into a Karaoke parlor. Our plan for today is to rent a couple of motorcycles if the rain lets up. That way we can buzz around, get photos, and find an adventure or two. There is a large shopping center near here which surprises me. Nothing like it in NhaTrang so far.

One last oddity…. There are no restaurants near our hotel. We are in an area with many hotels, but nowhere to go by foot. Even the hotel has no services to speak of….. hmmm. A person could probably make a buck or two by just offering a egg sandwich on the street.