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...After 8 days of relaxation and new friends at Jungle Beach it was time to move on. I left, in some sense couriering to Hoi-An a notebook left behind by a a fellow in the Press Association (England's AP). Taking the much dreaded overnight bus along the hills of Vietnam's south central coast I arrived in Hoi-An at about 6 in the morning, checked into the hotel, got some rest and met up with the brits later.
Hoi-An was perhaps the most enchanting town I'd been to so far - quiet French colonial backstreets, a labyrinthian clothing market with seamstresses every 4 feet, amazing food, and best of all, the freshest and best beer i'd ever had in S.E. asia - a local home brew at 20 cents a glass. The tailoring shops really are a sight. You can have an extremely well made, fitted suit for under 50 dollars. SIlk pajamas, bed covers, or even a Versace Oscar gown replicated. This left me wishing I had done some more research back home and had something completely ridiculous made. i did end up getting a couple of suits, 3 shirts and a pair of denim jeans.
The only real scare I had in Hoi-An, was in my hotel bathroom. After getting extremely stoned on some "gear" the brits left before catching a flight, I heard a loud pop and spark in the bathroom. I went in to find the front panel of the hot water heater open along with a few wires exposed and some smoke. Hot condensation droplets from the heater were falling to a puddle on the bathroom floor. I was too scared to even take a piss in there. The next morning I turned off the heater and abandoned hot showers for a while.
A few days later, with two suits in tow I may never wear, I was Hanoi bound on an overnight train. I got a soft sleeper but upon entering the cabin noticed no sheets or pillow, just a crusty bed, and regretted losing my united airlines pillow and blanket somewhere along my journey. After fashioning a pillow out of a bag of dirty clothes I dozed but was awoken moments later by a train attendant with fresh linens and a pillow - what luxury!! Sharing the cabin with a very well dressed, old Vietnamese man, I looked out the window as the train rolled along the coast, following a rocky and expansive coastline inaccessable by car. Although I've had some complications travelling in Vietnam, I thought about the landscape, and with all its diversness, it is one of the most impressive I've ever seen.
The train followed the South China Sea for several miles, following rocky cliffs, meeting dense jungle, and then over several steep bridges. I was scuffling about in the train compartment when the old man grabbed my attention and pulled me back to the hallway window to look at the train wreck from two nights prior. Several train cars were mashed together, contorted and stuck in a lake bed below our window. There must have been over 20 guys in blue outfits trying to tear apart the wreckage. It was an outdoor steel mill and metal scrap yard all at once and in the water. The train, following the same northern route I was on, had derailed - 13 "officially" dead and over 200 injured. With this in mind, the ride still felt safer and more comfortable the the maddening overnight bus rides I'd already endured.
No more bus travel from here on out....
paul
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