Da Nang

Left Pleiku last night On a sleeper bus. Thanh had bought the tickets at the post office but we weren't sure about our seats, only promised that they would be good seats! We arrived at the bus station early and it looked like a brand new bus. Mai Linh bus company is the biggest in the country and it pledges to be Eco- green, which is good. At first I didn't think it would be full but at 9 pm departure neared, it was full. A sleeper bus has a bed like seat which reclines about 45 degrees. Inside the bus, there are 3 rows of seats, one row on each side of the bus, and one row in the middle. And each row is doubled, like a bunk bed. the back of the bus is composed of 5 beds across. And two of these were ours. You take off your shoes as you get on the bus. Then you maneuver sideways down the aisle to the back. Our seats were no. 2. & 3.
Of course you can't see much in this bed, but I planned to sleep anyway. No matter what position you are in, after a short time, it becomes uncomfortable, so you try to just ignore it. Lucky me, I also had one guy next to me that decided to talk on his phone the first 4 hours. I keep hoping his battery would die. I did sleep some in spite of all this.

After 9 hours, we arrived in Da Nang at 6 AM, on time and safe. Thanh talked to a taxi driver who agreed to take us to a budget hotel area. After a few minutes, we were dropped off at a decent hotel but in checking the price, Thanh went to check others while I had coffee. He found another one for $5 less. We checked in and rested some before going to have lunch. The hotel is near a nice walking area and a river.



In the afternoon, Thanh got a call from his mom who said that his grandfather had died. His grandfather was 94 and he had just visited him but still hard. I knew Thanh was torn between staying with me or going back to Saigon for the funeral. For me, it was no question, so I told him to go. It might be harder for me now, but I will manage. So Thanh is taking another long bus ride- about 15 hours - and we will reconnect in about 10 days.




I visited the Cham museum which was within walking distance from my hotel. unfortunately, it has been raining all day. This museum is the finest in the world for Cham architecture. It opened in 1913 and has added lots of pieces over the years, dating as far back as the 7th century. Many tour groups come here but it was not crowed and quite interesting. I think it has a connection to Angkor Wat.