I had tried to get a berth on an overnight train to Da Nang but no lower berths were available on the date I need, so I decided to give the overnight bus a try. I went to the “bus station” for a 6pm departure. The station was actually a gas station with no place to check in for a bus. I saw buses, but nothing that looked like what I had booked. One guy told me to go around the corner and wait on the bus. So, I sat on the sidewalk with my luggage waiting for the bus.
About 5pm a bus comes up with a Da Nang sign on it. It’s a sleeper bus and the driver tells me it is the right one. I proceed to get on and a small, old man comes charging down the aisle, screaming and waving his hands at me. I think he is asking me to remove my shoes (that’s a thing everywhere), so I turn around to do that and he literally shoves me off the bus yelling “5 minutes.” It’s a miracle that I don’t fall on my face. They put my suitcase under the bus and I wait. About 15 minutes later a guy comes up to me with my suitcase, and I deduce that this is not the bus I need to be on.
So, an hour later, I’m still waiting or a bus to stop and end up going back to the first place I saw buses and found a man looking for me. So, I got on the right bus, eventually.
The bed was narrow, not completely uncomfortable, but they provided no blankets. Thank goodness a had a shawl that I used but between the cold and the bus driver honking his horn EVERY time he saw a vehicle on the road, I didn’t get much sleep, And, the bus station in Da Nang was nothing more than a bus stop.
I had booked another over-nite bus to take me to Ho Chi Minh City in a couple of weeks, but as soon as I got to my hotel, I canceled it and booked a flight. Too much drama. The bright spot of the day is that my hotel is lovely, I have a nice, serviced apartment with a bed that is the best I’ve had so far. And, WiFi works great!
I just read all your blogs. it is so amazing. I would have been on a plane somewhere else after the first bus. But you weren’t and have seen amazing places.
I’ll now be watching for all the new adventures.
Sharron
It has been a challenge at times, but the crazy times are part of the adventure. That’s about the only way I can look at it. I tell myself “you can change this if you want” just to remind myself that I’m doing this because I want to and the good times are more often than the crazy times.