Getting there is half the fun?

At the Hanoi travel agency, I talked to the agent about the best way to get to Mui Ne in the least amount of time. Since there isn't any airport close to Mui Ne and I really didn't want to go back through Saigon, I was told that my option was to fly to Nha Trang and then take a local bus to Mui Ne. The agent assured me that there are near hourly buses that run from Nha Trang to Mui Ne. Great, I think. I will leave at 0900 and arrive around 1030 in Nha Trang. An hour to the bus, possibly an hour wait then a 4 ½ hour ride to Mui Ne. I anticipate arrival in Mui Ne around 5pm. Still plenty of evening left to have dinner and drinks with Mike and Kim.

But....

That isn't quite how it ended.....

Plane leaves on time. I arrived at the airport and checked in with the ticketing desk. The nice lady behind the desk tells me '29, HURRY'. Shit, I am thinking to myself that somehow I have gotten the times messed up and my flight is getting ready to leave. I rush across the hall to line #29. There are two people in front of me and I am a little nervous that I am going to miss my plane. A third Vietnamese lady pushes her way in front of me and I nudge her back behind me. No way am I going to miss my flight! I get to the counter and am told that I need line #28 if I am going to check baggage! Shit!!

I press over to line #28 and use the Vietnamese method of getting to the front of the line. Just pretend that there isn't a line of 20 people waiting. I proceed to push my way to the front of the line. There doesn't seem to be any rush from the clerk checking my bag. My boarding ticket is handed to me and I am told 'gate 10'. Thinking that there might be a wait for security, I quickly make my way to gate 10 security. There are only 2 people in line in front of me! My lucky day! I am still unsure why the first lady was adamant that I 'hurry' but I rush through security and get to my gate. Flight to Saigon is just announcing final boarding. The flight board soon changes and my flight is on schedule for 0900! I still have over an hour to wait! What was the damn 'HURRY' all about?

Luckily there is a smoking area so I grab an iced Vietnamese coffee and head to the smoking area for one last drag before my flight. My flight is uneventful other than the fact that the boarding/un-boarding process is a little different than I am used to. All of the passengers are loaded onto buses and taken about ½ km to the plane to board and we are boarded at both ends of the plane according to our seat assignment. Other than the hassle of the bus it's rather efficient. When we disembark, it's much the same although the plane is only about 1500 meters from the terminal and we are still all herded onto buses! We could have walked it faster than the time it took us to all get on the buses!

I've arrived in Nha Trang, or actually about 25km outside of Nha Trang. Again bombarded by the taxi drivers and all I want to do is smoke a quick cig before heading to the bus station. A young backpacker approaches me and asks if I would like to share a taxi into the town center and I decline (regretfully, I'll find out later). I stomp out the butt to my cigarette and grab my taxi. I attempt to negotiate a price and am told 'meter' Sounds good to me so off we go...

My taxi was $400K dong!! I find out later (too late) that the taxi only should have cost me about $200K dong from the airport per Lonely Planet!! I asked the taxi to take me to the bus station and inform him that I am headeed to Mui Ne. It takes us nearly 45min to get to the CENTER of town (now I am wishing that I had shared that taxi!). I am delivered to a travel agency...immediately I am upset and inform the driver that I need the Bus Station! Remember that travel agent in Hanoi? So, off we go to the bus station. I arrive at the bus station and they all look at me like I am an idiot! There are NO local buses to Mui Ne!! The only way to Mui Ne is to take the bus from the tourist office!! Thankfully, my driver is waiting for me. We continue back to the same Travel agency that we have just left and the lady at the counter shakes her head and rolls her eyes (not really, but that's how I feel).

I explain that I need to get to Mui Ne today and find out that the next bus out isn't until 7:30pm!! It's about 11am now..... At this point I am cursing the travel agent from Hanoi! I promise that tomorrow he is going to get a phone call and a piece of my mind!

I book the only bus to Mui Ne and wonder what I am going to do for the 8 hours that I now have to wait to head out to my destination. First order of business is notify Kim and Mike that I am going to be much later than expected. I am directed to the nearest internet cafe which smells of urine and old cat litter and send a quick note to let them know I am going to be late. Hoping that the email will get checked before Kim starts to worry....

Walking out of the internet cafe and heading toward the beach (certain that there will be food to be found along the beach-front), I run into Eddie Murphy! You know the african american comedian? I am certain that you have heard of him and probably seen some of his movies at one time or another....

Ok, it really isn't Eddie Murphy...It's Eddie Murphy II or so he calls himself. He is a riot! Has me rolling with laughter (much needed at this point). We chat for a few minutes as he tries to sell me an 'Easy Rider' tour. After he finds out that I have already taken a tour, he gives up on the sell and I ask him where I can find some good food, with only one cup of coffee this morning and a couple of M&M's on the plane...I am starving! He offers to drive me a couple blocks down the road for free (yeah...nothing is free). I'm dropped off at a local Vietnamese restaurant with a great view of the ocean. Well, it's a great view if you squint real hard and turn your head just the right way to see through the trees. I ask him to come back in an hour and give me a tour of the city and we negotiate a price. Lunch is good, not great but good and filling. Mr. Murphy returns promptly in an hour and waits for me to finish my lunch.

We stroll around town and stop at the Cham tower. I am feeling like a cheap-skate and don't pay to go inside the grounds. Next we go to the Temple. There is a HUGE white Buddha at the top of the hill and I find another traveler sitting and listening to some local women verbally fighting with each other. This is the first that I have seen anyone angry in Vietnam It's interesting to watch the interaction. They are nearly screaming at each other. I chat with the other traveler about the culture and what we are seeing and our travels. I have nearly forgotten that I have a paid driver waiting for me. I say my good-bye and head back down the hill. There is another Buddah part way down the hill. It's a reclining Buddha and is Huge also. At the temple, there are a group of children chanting/singing/praying and it's mesmerizing. I have now been in two different Temples where there is (I think) praying occurring and both times it has had a very calming effect on me.

My hour is nearly gone and I don't want to pay for another hour so I suggest that Mr. Murphy take me somewhere close to where we started that we can have a good Vietnamese Coffee. The Green Cafe is our destination and the great discovery is that they also have free wi-fi! I'll be back here later....

Mr. Murphy suggests that I take a hotel for a few hours of rest and a shower. I guess I must smell? I think that this is a great idea! After coffee, we head a few blocks away and negotiate a great price for a few hours hotel room. I pay Mr. Murphy and he heads his own way. I relax for a couple hours, stretch out and have a wonderful hot shower (only wish I had some clean clothes with me).

It's now pushing 5pm so I head out to the Green Cafe again for a Pineapple drink and some spring rolls to hold me over for the bus ride to Mui Ne. The internet is great and I'm able to get one blog posted but the spring rolls are a little tasteless.

At 6:30pm I start walking to the travel agency to catch my bus. They told me to return at 7pm. I'm there by 6:45pm. I sit and chat with one of the agents (different from earlier) named Chau. She is very sweet and at 29, she is married to a Vietnamese man living in America. She dreams of going to America to be with her husband and it seems that it is quite a lot of work to get accomplished. She tells me that with an attorney, she should be able to be in the states in 12-18 months. She is very excited and asks me all about America. At 7:30pm, someone calls and states that my bus is going to be late and will arrive around 8pm. At 8:15pm I am still waiting. Finally at 8;40pm, a moto-bike driver arrives and after a few minutes of Vietnamese I am told to go with the moto-bike driver to the bus... I lug the big backpack and hop onto the back of the bike. With my eyes closed, we rush through the street traffic, me nearly falling off the back due to the extra weight! Ahhh...my bus, finally!

It's currently 9:27pm and we are finally on the out-skirts of Nha Trang, hopefully headed to Mui Ne! I was told that Mui Ne is not a scheduled stop for this bus (after I booked it) and am hoping that the conversation that Chau had with the moto-driver was transferred to the bus driver. None of them speak any English so I cant confirm my plans with them. I'm nearly out of battery power and the bus is totally dark so I am going to end this now. I'll update on the outcome soon....

Life is good....

Update: Arrived in Mui Ne at about 2am. Mike and Kim were awake and waiting for me...love them!! Chatted for just a few minutes then off to bed...