After what turned into a successful jaunt to the highlands and Yok Don National Park, I had to decide whether to return to Ho Chi Minh City of go on to Da Nang. On the one hand, Da Nang was in the direction I wanted to go, but I also had this wish to go see the circus. I wrestled with the choice and couldn't decide on the evening after I got back from my elephant ride. So I decided to get up early and go in to the bus company office and decide.
The next morning, I went in to the bus company and I was just too late to get to make the decision. The bus for Da Nang had just left and I was left with either going the next hour to Ho Chi Minh City, or staying in town until about 5 in the afternoon and go to Da Nang. When I asked how long it would take to go to Da Nang, I was told it would be 12 hours. That would mean sleeping on the bus. And that is exactly what I didn't want to do. So I headed back to Ho Chi Minh City. But on further consideration, partway back to Ho Chi Minh City, it occurred to me that the woman could actually have meant it would arrive at 12 midnight. She had told me that the trip back to Ho Chi Minh City would be 5 hours and I knew from coming that it was at least eight. However that would put us back at about 5 in the afternoon. So I figured that I could have made the decision based on wrong information. But I was on the way back anyway. Initially it was not very disappointing to think I could have made the wrong choice. It wouldn't be so bad to end up back in Ho Chi Minh City. We stopped at a rest stop nestled in the middle of forest. It was nice.
And then the gods seemed to start telling me that I had made the wrong decision. The clouds rolled in. The rains started. On and off all afternoon we passed through spurts of intense rain. Arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, we had hit a period of no rain. I attempted to find a bus to the Ben Thanh Market area which was right next to the area where I had stayed before. But the bus drivers all brushed me off and gave me no help at all. It took me juuuust too long to figure out where to get a bus and what bus to take. The rains started again. And they got harder and harder. And then the last buses on the route I wanted passed by without even trying to stop. It gradually became clear that I wasn't going to be catching a bus, as no other bus came along. While I was waiting, lots of moto-taxi drivers came up and asked where I was going. It was really annoying because it was raining buckets and they didn't seem to get it that I didn't want to get wet going to find a hotel. And then they would keep at it, like I was somehow going to change my mind about going out and getting wet. I really started getting short and brusque with them.
Eventually I gave up and, not wanting to trust a cab driver, I trudged to a nearby hotel. But they didn't have a licence to accept foreigners and were unable to house me for the night. But the guy running the place got me a taxi that he said would be legitimate to take me to Pham Ngu Lao. Hoping it would be so, and thinking that I was being punished for backtracking instead of heading on to Da Nang, I got in the cab. He drove straight to Pham Ngu Lao, and it cost the same as if I would have taken a moto-taxi. That, of course, left me wondering if the moto-taxis aren't charging too much to go to the bus station.
I got a place to stay and headed in for the night.
The next morning, I headed to see about attending the circus. I found the woman who had invited me but, alas, they were not having a performance this weekend. Sigh! More indications that I had made the wrong choice of destinations. I was allowed to go and see if any of the people I had met the other night were still there. They weren't. Sigh! I did take a couple of photos of their new big tent, though.
Then I went to a coffee shop to try and get a flight to Da Nang for the next day. And I couldn't get a connection for my laptop. Sigh!! I was beginning to feel really put-upon.
I walked back through the park and met the students who had talked to me before I headed up to the highlands. We talked for a while and then someone else came along. Three of us went to another coffee shop for a bite to eat. While we were there, the new addition Genia from Belarus, was able to give me some information about how to by-pass Vietnam's censorship of Facebook. It isn't possible to access Facebook in many places, from hotels to restaurants. There are some spots that do allow access, but it is hit and miss. Genia told me about a program that I could download and use to hide my access to the internet and make it seem I am somewhere else. Thus Vietnam's controls wouldn't block me from Facebook.
And that, in the end made my return trip to Ho Chi Minh City worthwhile. I was ready to get out of here though. So while we were at that coffee shop, I also managed to book a flight out for the next day. So long Ho Chi Minh City.
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