Sluggishly, we got ourselves up and out of the hotel by 4.15am, and were waiting as directed on the corner in the dark at 5.45am, and whaddya know along comes a bus for Danang. After bargaining the price down we hopped on the empty bus and went on our way, and hoped that we wouldn't be dropped off in the middle of nowhere as experienced by other travellers in Vietnam we have met so far!
We soon realised that this wasn't going to be a speedy trip as we coasted down the roads searching for passengers, and before long we were packed to the brim with all the produce and their growers that were making their way to the markets in nearby towns. This was wonderful, as there was excited chatter even at this ungodly hour, and the bus soon filled with fresh aromas of freshly cut corriander and other herbs and veges. It was cool to see friends get together for their daily adventure, and we even witnessed some on-bus trading between a couple of passengers. One of the many older ladies even gave us a taste of her specialty: honey and ginger popcorn balls! Mmmm mmm!!
Around 8am we stopped for some breakfast of the Vietnamese staple of pho and baguettes (soup and bread!) and after 6 hours we were desposited at the bus station in the Danang. Here we had an even harder time bargaining down our fare to the nearby town of Hoi An to the correct price. We had been to the ticket office and asked the price (7,000 dong) and it even had 7,000 dong written on the side of the bus - so of course we hopped on the bus and gave them the right amount for the both of us, when they suddenly decided that the price had gone up and was now 16,000 dong per person! We pointed out the writing on the side of the bus but the conductor and driver wasn't interested.
Acting like we had tonnes of other options up our sleeves (which incidentally we didn't), we started to hop off the bus, but were met with a quick "ok, ok" from the driver. We once again began to worry where we would be dropped off. However, the traumatic bus ride ended at the Hoi An bus station, and we happily disembarked from the most ear shattering bus ride ever! Once at our hostel we learnt that other tourists had been asked 30,000 dong per person for the same bus ride, and had paid it - this left us with no doubt why everyone seems intent on getting every penny possible out of the 'foriegn ATMs': because if they try, chances are they'll succeed.
We headed off to lunch in the beautiful, but touristy, Old Town of Hoi An, but afterwards headed back to our room to escape the rain. We did venture out briefly for dinner too, but the even heavier rain soon sent us running home for cover.
Adlibing it, the local way, for the local price!
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