Beds on Wheels 2

A home stay is one of the cheapest and most native ways to see Vietnam. Homes with extra rooms are given license to house people as long as certain conditions are met. I am not sure what the standard is as I have seen very basic conditions. In the country the bed can consist of a simple mat with mosquito

 netting. Dinner will be included and person will get the unique experience of dining with the local family. In the towns they generally are more comfortable offering beds and sometimes air conditioning. The home stay in towns also usually include a meal. When you get into the cities, the

home stay can consist of a small cement room with a bed and a fan or air conditioner, but often do not include food. These accommodations are used by a lot of transients and students as a cheap way to house themselves while working away from home. When traveling in Vietnam, a home stay can be a fun and inexpensive way to go. 

The coffee shop was deserted in the heat of the day. Hau plopped himself down into a hammock, and I took a chair close by. There were a couple of very attentive ladies that came to pay attention to us. Hau and I spent some

time declining their advances and settled for a couple of coffees. The coffee was pretty good. A little more playful banter and we were on the way again with the photos in hand as I wanted. We drove via the old highway back to Saigon ant to the hotel. Ken was there feeling a whole lot better. We relayed the days events over cracked river crab and boiled conch, then Hau returned home to his family and the Mekong Adventure was over. I have to tell you all that you could net get a better guide to help with your Vietnam adventures. Give him a shout. Is email is info@visitindochina.net .

It was my last day in Saigon and I had arranged for a sleeper bus to go back to NhaTrang. At 7:30 I headed down the street and around the corner to see a large double decker bus waiting in front of the office where I had book from. As usual there was havoc, with people running around trying to rush and please the passengers, and riders, who not speaking the language calling out to try to confirm this was the correct bus, or what to do with the bags. Travelling very light, I threw my single bag into a small compartment and boarded the bus. The bus contained as many seats as a regular bus would, but all arranged into 3 isles. The beds themselves were pretty comfortable as long as you are not over 5’10 or 11. I talked with a few fellow travelers and then settled down to sleep. I took a pill called Zypoclone that I

 know from experience will give me a solid 7.5 hours of sleep. I laid there reflecting on how I would need to return to Saigon soon to work on drumming up business. I was woken up three times by the rough road to NhaTrang, but all in all it was not a bad trip. I recommend this mode of travel to those on a budget and have the ability to sleep easily. A light sleeper may have difficulty on this service. The trip from Saigon to NhaTrang is about 7 US dollars, bit during New Year it is doubled.

Today’s blog is a little late. Halfway through this blog, I had to run and do an errand. On the way home I blew the rear tire. Did I mention that New Years is in 2 days. Well, All the stores are closing down, or all the road side services are disappearing. I was forced to push L’ill Sissy for more than a kilometer before I found a roadside mechanic that had a hand pump and a tube. An expensive 80,000 Dong later, I am now here finishing this blog…

By the way….  Mai and I Celebrated our 11^th wedding anniversary last night by going out for A big steak and a rack of ribs at the Texas BBQ. Have to admit that it was one of the best western style steaks I have had. Today is New Years eve…. I think… Let us see what happens