Crash Landing - we win!

It's like being a passenger in a video game but you don't get to control what happens (keep in mind you only get one life in this kind of video game and the crashing part really hurts).

You haven't lived until you've played chicken at 100 kms per hour with a mac truck or challenged another bus (on their side of the road) while going around a curve only to smash on the brakes and swerve at the last possible second just avoiding a head on collision. I'm absolutely convinced you have to be a complete mad man to drive a bus here! Yes I know, I talk about the bus rides here alot. And yes I do notice other things, like the food and the scenery and the people and cultural differences and stuff but I will get to that part later.

**Thought: perhaps this is why my blog access is denied in Vietnam.. they hate my scary bus stories**

We just did a 12 hour overnight from Hoi An to Nha Trang and made the mistake of choosing the very back seats. In part we were trying to be selfish in hopes the bus wouldn't fill and the three of us could stretch out and get comfy.. our last few overnights have been great, we've had our own double seat and you manage to get comfy, pop a few gravol and you are in a comma for 7 hours, snuggled up in our sleeping bags, munching on peanut butter sammies. It's do-able for sure, much cheaper than the train and you save $$ on a nights accommodation.

Ah. K where was I. The back seat of the bus here is over the engine so the seats are above everyone else (you are about 2 feet from the ceiling and your knees are at the top of the seat infront). You have a clear view of the road ahead of you and every bump means you get air between your bum and the seat. I guess thats fun if your not tall. (The guy I was sitting beside realized there was a giant hole above his head. Presumably where someone had been launched upwards and crashed their head with the ceiling. Youch.. So anyway, we pictured ourselve being launched head first down the aisle for a few minutes, realized seatbelts weren't an option and tried to sleep and not stare at the oncoming traffic. I was trying to decide if I would actually fly head first over the rows of seats infront of me (kind of like bus body surfing) or if my head would crash into the overhead compartment and my neck would snap in half). So morbid. Anyway, I ended up cramming myself in between the seat infront of me, on the floor with my head on my seat. It kinda worked despite my foot falling asleep but atleast I couldn't see the oncoming headlights, I could just feel the screeching and swerving so it was less scary.. Oh, and sitting on the engine is bloody hot. I survived though.

Beach and massage time! Maybe even some snorkeling.