Crazy Train

Let's begin with one of my classic rants before I tell you how amazing my week in Nha Trang was. So big brother is flying into Hanoi, as I expected I'd be halfway up the coast by then, but he informs me it would be better if I could meet I'm at the airport. And of course it would, Hanoi is not the place I'd want to show up alone if I was just arriving somewhere, this place is more chaos then anything I've seen so far, especially where I'm staying. I must admit my map skills are through the roof these days! So, like a good sister, I make the 36+ hour bus ride(s) to Hanoi from Nha Trang. You all know the song and dance, you've heard it a million times but this one takes the cake. First off, I hate sleeper buses, I'd rather sit than try and cram myself into a toboggan like "bed" for that long of a stint. Everyone is uncomfortable except for the pleasantly tiny, Vietnamese. Not to mention the buses are insanely dirty and my favorite green dress is now covered in chocolate stains, and what I anticipate is Purple Drank. Bloody hell! They just keep piling people on and no one has assigned seating.  Also! The foreigners get to sleep at the back of the bus, right next to the toilet, and in the perfect spot for everyone to rob you. Yup! Pretty much everyone got robbed on that bus (I am now in search of my third hammock of the trip) or at least woke up to someone attempting to go through their stuff. To take the cake, the busted arsonist screams full boar in Vietnamese like we did something wrong. Do the bus drivers care? No. Do they even speak English? Of course not. The third bus I Got on managed to not have a toilet, this was the 15+ hour ride, and it only stopped once an hour and a half in. Greeeeat. But that meant no thieves were wandering about and we all slept, in and out, in between breakdowns. I think this ride held the world records. We got so used to it in the end no body looked up when we hard the bus driver pull the tools from beneath his seat. We never knew what the problem was but every half an hour he was out there ramming around...for hours! I envisioned myself not making it off that bus alive so perhaps my next post will be my Will. Fun Fact: Cody, you can have it all. But you'll have to fight my beneficiary, Marky Mark. And he is in good shape these days!