08 Dec. 2011: FROM BUNGALOW TO CAMEL RIDING #4 of 5

Despite the drizzle, the bungalow beach was unique and pretty cool. About 300 sq.ft. on stilts (the tide rolled in below), it had full washroom/hot shower, table and chairs. There were about 14 darkwood units and more being built ---- I wanted to join in on the framing! Walking the grounds takes about 3 minutes because the frontage is ocean and the back is sheer dragon hump. Ingenious how they hide the water  and sewage lines. Dim light from an erratic generator. Whimsical use of pavers, bamboo, and bougainvillea. Oh, and the cook did culinary miracles with a couple of pots and a charcoal fire.

Next morning we had to return to the mainland, drenched in rain, but also in wonder at what we'd seen. This time, the diversion was a cooking class on board --- how to make the perfect Vietnamese spring roll with rice paper so thin it was transparent. Pat got an A from the perfectionist instructor. I got 5 or 6 light veggie rolls. Somebody had to eat them, right?

(By the way, Vietnam is a very cheap country to travel in, as all the backpackers have figured out. For example, the trip I have described to Ha Long Bay. Included is bus return to Hanoi, the classic boats roaming among the UNESCO site, caves, sleeping on boat one night and in bungalow on the other, all the great meals, cooking class, and our guide/English mangler Hero. $48 each!)

We wanted to move on from Hanoi so we had booked a bed on the "Camel Sleeping Bus". The ads had shown roomy comfy individual sleepettes and even a shower on board. The reality was something else. 25 short fold-down bunk units in 3 rows. For 14 hours I felt stuffy, grotty from the day, and mostly claustrophobic. Like being in a group MRI tunnel. Others had sleepmasks, earplugs, Ipods, DVD players, and Kindles. I had coughs and hallucinations as the bus grinded gears southbound. Pat made the best of it, down on the lower level.