After a wasted day in HCM City, the Editor was finally on the move again.
But not for long, he have the slightest doubt that the whole journey is
jinxed.
The night bus broke down shortly two hours after departing. The drivers
hastily opened up the battery compartment and tried their Ali-Baba rescue
method.
Without a proper torch in hand, I gladly lent them my portable LED torch.
They went on to figure out what could be done. Soon, one and another sister
buses came along.
There we had, 6 drivers trying all stunts of disconnecting the wirings,
rejoining them etc made my eyes roll up.
Sparks flew and I meant real sparks flew, I saw how they were trying to
salvage the situation and that they were even bold enough to re-wiring the
whole circuitry, trial and errof of course. I am no technical man and this
is the time that I wished my ex-company Superintendent is around.
Two hours and 6 exasperated drivers later, a relief bus came. *Cheers* And
the whole busload of Viets and myself found ourselves drifting off to sleep
soon.
Given the same situation with a same busload of Singaporeans, I fear the
worse.
"GO BACK MUST COMPLAIN!!"
" Wah lau make us wait so long!"
"Dont know what they are doing!"
would be some of the typical comments that could be expected.
Though I dont understand much of what they were talking about, they were
still rather cool about the situation. Very probably, it could be that this
is not the first time such breakdowns happen.
---
Dawn breaks early in Vietnam, probably they are in a time zone GMT+7. The
serene scenery which adorns the road trip during those brief moments of
sunrise was amazing. The bus passed through fields of salt pools where the
morning sun, in a slight lavenderish tint sky, shone its feeble rays.
Soon these scenes gave way to children peddling their bicycles to school. I
noticed some schools require their girls to wear the traditional Ao Dai,
which is an absolute piece of art, and I MEAN the dress!
But not for long, he have the slightest doubt that the whole journey is
jinxed.
The night bus broke down shortly two hours after departing. The drivers
hastily opened up the battery compartment and tried their Ali-Baba rescue
method.
Without a proper torch in hand, I gladly lent them my portable LED torch.
They went on to figure out what could be done. Soon, one and another sister
buses came along.
There we had, 6 drivers trying all stunts of disconnecting the wirings,
rejoining them etc made my eyes roll up.
Sparks flew and I meant real sparks flew, I saw how they were trying to
salvage the situation and that they were even bold enough to re-wiring the
whole circuitry, trial and errof of course. I am no technical man and this
is the time that I wished my ex-company Superintendent is around.
Two hours and 6 exasperated drivers later, a relief bus came. *Cheers* And
the whole busload of Viets and myself found ourselves drifting off to sleep
soon.
Given the same situation with a same busload of Singaporeans, I fear the
worse.
"GO BACK MUST COMPLAIN!!"
" Wah lau make us wait so long!"
"Dont know what they are doing!"
would be some of the typical comments that could be expected.
Though I dont understand much of what they were talking about, they were
still rather cool about the situation. Very probably, it could be that this
is not the first time such breakdowns happen.
---
Dawn breaks early in Vietnam, probably they are in a time zone GMT+7. The
serene scenery which adorns the road trip during those brief moments of
sunrise was amazing. The bus passed through fields of salt pools where the
morning sun, in a slight lavenderish tint sky, shone its feeble rays.
Soon these scenes gave way to children peddling their bicycles to school. I
noticed some schools require their girls to wear the traditional Ao Dai,
which is an absolute piece of art, and I MEAN the dress!
Come 0630 am and the bus finally pulled up to a stop.
---
Nha Trang - a quaint seaside town, with a mix of what Phuket and Krabi is.
A more developed market for island hopping, snorkelling and diving. The
beach is much more pristine than what I have seen in Vung Tau with slightly
more crowd.
For beach lovers, this is the place. The beach seems to stretch for miles.
The sea breeze is so much better, partly of the NE Monsoon. The waves come
crashing down with such force and you would be longing to stay around for
days.
Surfers, sun lovers would fall in love with this place.
Food is relatively reasonable, with many catering to the ang mo crowd, it is
still possible to find local eateries with the same food, at a much lower
price.
Grilled fish/ shrimps/ crabs are the highlight of the day, that is if you
are not allergic to shells. The local dip the fish in a special sauce, which
taste like a mixture of vinegar and pepper. EXCELLENT!
---
Nha Trang have its fair share of sights. With my butt on a rented motorbike,
I scooted around north and south of the town, snapping pictures along the
way.
For trigger-happy photographers, my advice is to head out and into the
smaller alleyways that you see. There are often alot of opportunities that
you see how the Viets behave when tourists are not around.
For those unaware, not all Viet gals wear ao dai everyday! It seems they are
usually in their jeans and t-shirts. Come night time, everything takes a
180-degree turn.
Many of the womenfolk tend to stick with their auntie-ish pyjamas. If you
are totally clueless, go to your neighbourhood market in the morning and you
see what I mean by auntie-ish pyjamas.
And one more thing, do not ask if I have seen pretty girls around. As the
rule of nature dictates, the pretty ones are long gone by the time I am
here. Most would be in other establishments than stay here in a small
seaside town. Am I right?
The day took a drag on the weary body. I hit the snooze button as soon as I
hit the bed. Afterall, sleeping on a moving bus HAS never been comfortable.
*snores*
---
Nha Trang - a quaint seaside town, with a mix of what Phuket and Krabi is.
A more developed market for island hopping, snorkelling and diving. The
beach is much more pristine than what I have seen in Vung Tau with slightly
more crowd.
For beach lovers, this is the place. The beach seems to stretch for miles.
The sea breeze is so much better, partly of the NE Monsoon. The waves come
crashing down with such force and you would be longing to stay around for
days.
Surfers, sun lovers would fall in love with this place.
Food is relatively reasonable, with many catering to the ang mo crowd, it is
still possible to find local eateries with the same food, at a much lower
price.
Grilled fish/ shrimps/ crabs are the highlight of the day, that is if you
are not allergic to shells. The local dip the fish in a special sauce, which
taste like a mixture of vinegar and pepper. EXCELLENT!
---
Nha Trang have its fair share of sights. With my butt on a rented motorbike,
I scooted around north and south of the town, snapping pictures along the
way.
For trigger-happy photographers, my advice is to head out and into the
smaller alleyways that you see. There are often alot of opportunities that
you see how the Viets behave when tourists are not around.
For those unaware, not all Viet gals wear ao dai everyday! It seems they are
usually in their jeans and t-shirts. Come night time, everything takes a
180-degree turn.
Many of the womenfolk tend to stick with their auntie-ish pyjamas. If you
are totally clueless, go to your neighbourhood market in the morning and you
see what I mean by auntie-ish pyjamas.
And one more thing, do not ask if I have seen pretty girls around. As the
rule of nature dictates, the pretty ones are long gone by the time I am
here. Most would be in other establishments than stay here in a small
seaside town. Am I right?
The day took a drag on the weary body. I hit the snooze button as soon as I
hit the bed. Afterall, sleeping on a moving bus HAS never been comfortable.
*snores*
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