Now and again you have an experience you never wish to repeat. For me, the ‘sleeping bus’ was one such experience. It started off pleasantly enough – we snuggled in, the toilet was nearby and clean and we had the back 3 seats all together on the top, arguably the best seats in the house. We had a fourth seat close by which Rocco claimed. Things were going okay until the bus started moving. I now know why they refer to it as a coffin on wheels. Frank and I spent the whole night wide awake praying we would reach our destination.
The driver had a horn obsession, so to speak, and every time a vehicle or bike was in our vicinity liked to go, ‘honk, honk… honk, honk… honk, honk , honk’. In a country with 0ver 70 million people this happened a lot. I got locked in the toilet on my first of many visits and spent some time figuring out the illogical locking system. I say illogical because everyone else got trapped in there too. The minute I closed my eyes, I would hear their screams and have to decide whether to help them or let them sweat it out. Yeah of course I helped them, so my unofficial job title became ‘the toilet whisperer’. Not a position I want to take up permanently.
We arrived in one piece and desperate for some comfort walked into the Sheraton (also because we had to lose two guys following us). We had great coffee and unlimited internet access. We ended up booking into the Light Hotel. Not the Sheraton but very reasonable; clean, modern with a great view and 2 king sized beds.
The HCMC experience has made us rethink our travel plans. To be continued…
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