I went for a run in Hoi An again. This time was much nicer than my first run. I went through the countryside instead of on the main road, and I got to see a lot of the local life and it was way more calming.
After breakfast I went back to the tailor for another fitting. The clothes weren’t ready for me yet, so I walked over to Randy’s Book Exchange to sell my Murakami book that I had just finished (Kafka On The Shore— really good btw). Randy wasn’t there, however, so I would have to come back in the afternoon. 0 for 2 on the errands-front.
I went to a place called Cocobox for coconut coffee and to blog. The cafe is pretty cute, but it’s a bit overpriced and gimmicky.
I then went to lunch at Ba Dam Vegetarian and got the Mi Quang noodle soup for a dollar. I also ordered some take away to eat as dinner on my bus ride to Da Lat. I got a big portion of rice and whatever veggies I wanted on top. I chose pumpkin, tofu, greens, eggplant, and okra. It was a lot of food, but only cost me 20,000 dong ($0.88). I also got a veggie bao (40 cents) to eat as breakfast on the bus.
I went back to Randy’s and managed to sell my book for 70,000 dong ($3), which I thought was a good deal.
I then went to the tailor for my clothes, and finally everything fit well enough that I felt comfortable taking them home.
I went back to the hostel to wait for my 16-hour bus ride. I met a girl named Kaitlyn, a Kiwi, as I was waiting– she would be taking the same bus as me.
We were all in the van, getting ready to leave for the bus station, when Jacky asked if everyone had their cell phone, wallet, and passport. That’s when I realized I didn’t have my cellphone– I had left it charging in the wall at the hostel. I ran back to get it. It was way too close a call– I probably would not have realized until it was way too late if it weren’t for Jacky. Thank you Jacky. <3
We got on the bus and rode on for a while. Around 10 pm, we got to a rest stop. I went to the bathroom, got back on the bus, and realized there were bugs & mini cockroaches crawling everywhere. I was so grossed out. The bugs eventually went back into hiding beneath the crevasses and under the seats, and I just had to convince myself to ignore them and act like I didn’t see them.
Then I realized the blanket I had been given had old pieces of gum stretched out all over it. I had been using it the whole bus ride. I wanted to cry– I was so disgusted just knowing that I had been rubbing old gum on my body for hours.
The next morning, around 5 am, we had to get off bus at Nha Trang. We were told to switch to a new bus that would take us to Da Lat. I made sure I kept my ticket on me so that I didn’t make the same mistake as last time.
Much to my relief, this new bus was much cleaner and nicer than the last. I could sleep peacefully without wondering how many bugs were crawling beneath and around me.
The rest of the day will be in the 3/7/18 blog post!