I departed Sai Gon by sleeper bus bound for Nha Trang, a beach town about 300 miles north of Ho Chi Minh. I had planned to connect there and continue north eventually to Hue where I could get transportation onward to Vientienne, Laos. What I did not know before starting on this trip was that a storm had settled in the sea between Viet Nam and the Philipines and the weather was awful and expected to remain that way for the next 10 days.
After optimistically waiting for better conditions for 2 days I finally decided that Weather.com was correct so I had to rethink my plans. Fortunately I had a delightful room on the 6th floor of a guesthouse with a balcony overlooking the South China Sea. I enjoyed sitting on the balcony sipping a few beers watching the dramatic weather conditions over the sea as I contemplated my new travel plans. I finally decided to return to Saigon, hence the rubber ball title.
The weather was at its worst the night I departed and I had to wade through knee deep water on the `street in front of my hotel to get to my bus. Two friends with whom I had endured some of the rain helped me tote my luggage to higher ground and I was so grateful for their assitance. I had my second very pleasant overnight trip on a sleeper bus. If you can imagine reclining first class airplane seats stacked 2 high, that is what these buses are like. A fairly comfortable bed and some powerful sleeping pills made for a satisfactory night passage back to my former home of Ho Chi Minh. I miss my apartment.
What is next? I will fly to Bangkok in a few days, rendezvous with my friend Tosh who will be living there by then, drop off a few things to lighten my back pack and then continue north to Vientienne, Laos, for Songkran, their 3 day celebration of Buddha's birthday. If you were reading my blog 3 years ago, you might remember that I was in Chang Mai, Thailand, for Songkran. It is an Asian equivalent of Mardi Gras and quite a party. As always my plans are flexible, so you know all this may change. But that is what I am planning for now.
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