Patience, Thrift, and Brief Goodbyes

Today began in Da Nang, as it ended last night; Hung and I shared a room, and the girls shared a room down the hall. I've talked about the hotel, so I think I'll not say a whole lot more on the subject.

Hung and I woke up sometime around seven, and got out on the balcony, and then roof of the hotel, to take some photos of the city. It was a beautiful sight from up there, early in the morning. The architecture in Vietnam consists in large part of buildings which are deep but not wide, and then a few stories tall. Hotels (and other buildings) exist like this everywhere, some only like twelve feet wide, but maybe fifty feet deep, with four or five stories.

We went down for breakfast a bit later. Getting up was hard, as we'd both been up until after one, but
breakfast was a pretty good incentive. I didn't know for sure what to expect, but given it was a "buffet breakfast," I'd had high hopes for some continental sort of breakfast options. I was largely disappointed, but I honestly should be pretty okay with Vietnamese food 24/7 as I've spent so much to get here. A good continental breakfast can wait another month.

Speaking of another month, I checked my bank account and current funds, and I'm pretty sure I'm within budget, if not slightly on the surplus side of things. Problems still arise, though, from my bank back home; transactions are limited to six a month. I looked up the federal regulations, and it seemed like they would allow me to withdraw from ATMs and banks without limit, but the fact is that I'm getting letters back home warning me of the $15 fee and limit to transactions/withdrawals. I'm pretty tired of my bank at this point, and for traveling, I've found much better options (from what I've read).

Anyway, I ended up eating chicken soup (pho ga), a couple pieces of toast (I only said largely disappointed), some green beans and a cup of orange juice. It was good, but I'll admit at this point I'm missing eggs, pancakes, waffles, and biscuits and gravy.

After we ate breakfast, we spent an hour in the room waiting and very ineffectively communicating with the girls, and then we packed up and went down to the lobby, paid for our room, and continued to wait for another hour down there. We were...frustrated...at that point, and decided to leave and eat while the ladies had their day. With spectacular timing, once we'd been out of the hotel for about fifteen minutes, they call, saying they're headed back to the hotel to pack up and join us for lunch.

I loved hanging out with them, I really did, but when all three of them have iPhones and spend so much time on Facebook...just how can it take two hours for them to reply? I really don't understand.

Girls, if you read this, you're awesome and I love you, but...I'd love to communicate, so we can all have fun...

Anyway, we ate our late lunch, and I had two whole bowls of the stuff, one crab, one pork. I guess I was hungry. I also wanted to stay hydrated, so I really finished both bowls (Clean Plate Club 2005 represent!).

We had ice cream at a Baskin Robbins in Da Nang, which I learned only then was an American company and brand. I realized I didn't know it because it's a California thing and may or may not have made it to my home state yet. Anyway, we enjoyed some ice cream and it was delicious, and then, within the next five minutes, we walked to a more main street, said very quick goodbyes, and Hung and I jumped on an intercity bus. The price was better than to take a taxi all the way, by far.

The bus was pretty full, so I got to sit up front on top of the engine. It was hot. Da Nang was hot to begin with, but I sat on the back of a perspiring, hardworking ox of a machine. Anyway, despite seats freeing up elsewhere in the bus, I decided to stay there. I was taking photos and video out the front of the bus. I believe I've told you about what buses are like already, but let me reiterate, and maybe introduce some new detail.

All vehicles in Vietnam somehow manage to get in places they never would elsewhere. I've been observing traffic and everything in Vietnam for a while, and I honestly think that the way Vietnamese drive isn't really dangerous, but incredibly risky. I think the greatest threat to you on the road is a westerner on a motorcycle. In Hoi An, I've seen a number of more sporty motorcycles, the sort of thing you'd see in the US, doing 70 mph on a 60 mph highway. And this is pretty much what happens in Vietnam, except the speed limit is typically 30 kmph, and the motorists usually go closer to 50 or 60 mph, I would guess. They certainly make more noise than the typical Vietnamese rider.

My point (not necessarily connected to the above example) is that Americans and other westerners drive in a way which may be safe in the right context, but which is pretty dangerous here in Vietnam.

I should digress. I hope to get up tomorrow, as ever, and do something useful in the early morning. However, Hung and I went out later that night and felt the breeze, once more, on the bridge with no name. We agreed to have different perspectives (meaning I on one side of the bridge, and he on the other, as illustrated in the picture above of Hung), and I experimented with long exposures and flash, in combination and apart.

I almost never shoot with flash, as I detest the abrasive nature of the resulting image. However, using that same coarse character can be artful, especially in combination with a long exposure image. The result above was created by triggering the flash at the beginning of the exposure, and then continuing the exposure for another second or two. This makes the initial moment vivid and clear, and the remaining seconds of the exposure blurry and faded.

Later on during our time on the bridge, a man walked up to me, and eventually I asked him if he wanted me to take his photo. The first one wasn't to his liking, but this second one was better. He made a show of his (apparent) martial arts skills, and posed like this the two times I shot.

I wanted to check out the tie shop to complement my dress shirt, but by the time we left the bridge, the one I wanted to visit was closed. There were a few other shops selling ties, but this one had a much greater selection, and while it didn't have any bow ties, the prices were much better than the alternative. I will hopefully visit the place tomorrow again.

As we were riding home in the night, I continued to take long-exposures, but left out the flash for reasons of safety, and one of the shots in this post is the result. I tried enough that I succeeded a few times. I was rather calm despite being on the back of a motorcycles with both hands on my camera.

I am well, and today I actually submerged myself in the ocean for a bit in the late afternoon. I got enough salt water in my nostrils to get my nose running like crazy. I think that's a good thing.


!Noah!