Back in Vietnam - Day 2

Hey...where did the sunshine go?

Woke up this morning to overcast sky, that spit intermittent showers. So this is the way things are going to be for the next day. How ironic, I've been purposely avoiding the beach for the past 40 days, saving it for the last 2 weeks...Oh well. To think I could have gone to the beaches in southern cambodia, or the reknown islands off the coast of Thailand. Mother nature is a bitch :) But again, I can't say I would have done my trip any different.
As with mornings, I start my day with a cup of coffee, when I can find it. Turns out there is a nicely appointed coffee shop directly across the boulevard from my hotel - Apple Coffee complete with the macintosh apple logo. I sit down and am presenty with menu completely in Vietnamese. I must say I prefer vietnamese over lao, thai or cambodian, at least I recognize the letters. I don't see anything that resembles an americano, my favorite stateside drink. So I ask my waitress for a coffee. She doesn't understand, and brings someone whose english is minutely better. Long story- short. What arrives at my table looks nothing like any coffee I've ever drank. It comes in a metal containter with a lid, sort of like a melitta drip coffee maker, but nothing is coming out except maybe a drop or two. At this rate, it will be well into the evening before I get anything close to a cup of coffee. I say something, and my waitress comes back with this glass with about one once of this very dark drink half full of ice...so much for HOT coffee. I'm sure there was coffee in it, but it tasted more like chocolate, and was very sweet...but I will tell you this...I got one heck of a buzz...wrong drink...right effect.
Once I left the coffee place it was now time to plan my escape, as 18 hours of another big city, Da Nang, was enough. I decided to take the public bus and was told it was only 1k away. I could walk that easily in 10 minutes. I decided to walk there, and check it out before the bus left at 3pm. One hour later I still didn't find it. I decided to bite the bullet around 1pm, hire a taxi and get a lift there...save the frustration for later. The taxi driver takes me there, half way across town, for twice the price he quoted me...still cheap. Turns out the bus leaves probably every 15 minutes and drove with a block or two of my hotel. While on the bus I witnessed my first motorcycle accident in 40 days. Three motorcylces were involved. It must have been serious as there was an ambulance just leaving.
Back to the bus- this bus must have stopped 30 times by the time it left Da Nang picking up anyone and everything...bikes, motorcycles...and I swear the contents of a studio apartment, maybe minus the fridge. After about an hour i get to Hoi An, a tourist trap about 30k south of Danang. There are more tailors on one block then all of washington...might be a good place to replenish my aging wardrobe.
One thing for sure, there are plenty of farang (foreigners) so I'm no longer gawked at like a one-eyed eight foot martian...I'm a little sad..I was just starting to get used to it.
As I write this, I'm sitting in an internet cafe with mostly teenagers playing games...very raucous...and now I'm off in search of a beer.
Oops...almost forgot to mention - motorcycle accident number 2..this time I had a front row seat, turning my head in the direction, just as there bikes collided, all hitting the pavement. Fortunately this time...no one was hurt. I'm one of those people when they see an accident... I run...the other direction...blood and me don't get along well.
Ok...so long for now...I'll try to stay out of trouble...here it's pretty easy here in Hoi An