Danang is a bit freaky

So we get off of the airplane in Da Nang (after seeing a lady at the Saigon airport sweeping the tarmac with a broom...and taking a bus from the terminal to the plane about 50 meters), and instead of dealing with a taxi service, find a taxi driver to take us to our airport.  "5 Dollars!" he says, and then proceeds to chat with us about Vietnam, restaurants to eat at, things that are nice in Da Nang.  Then he says "we're here!"  Wrong street, wrong hotel.

"This isn't our hotel!"
"It's very nice!"
"We have a reservation! The street isn't even right!"
"Oh, That street!  I thought you said this street!"

So he drives us to the street where our hotel is on, and then proceeds to drive past it, by about 4 blocks.  We keep asking "Why are you driving so far?"  "You passed the hotel!"  and he just basically ignored us.  I'm glad we set a fixed price, because he was intent on just driving around the city until he was done... it was nuts.

The hotel we're staying at didn't even know about the reservation, and we had to boot up the computer to get onto my email so that the receptionist (who didn't speak any English) could see the reservation.  This city isn't really growing on me..

The room is nice, but everything is falling apart (I'm not expecting the ritz, but it's funny to see so many holes in everything, hooks in the bathroom that are broken, yet the towels are craftily folded so that the hotel's logo is fully created with two towels.. not to mention the nice tea service in the hotel lobby...), but it was a place to sleep, and we were tired.

Today we relaxed a bit, slept in a tad, and went to the beach.  It was not crowded at all, and we spent an hour in the waves, with only an old Vietnamese guy who kept trying to get us to dive through the waves (Fine for me, Megan is scared of salt water in her eyes/nose).  After getting nice and sun-burnt, we walked to a restaurant for some seafood.  These nice restaurants with amazing views lined the beach, and it was hard to decide where to go, so when we saw an American biker who was walking out of one, we asked her.  It seemed like she organized bike tours of Vietnam, and came to this restaurant every 2 weeks.  Good enough for us...

So, we walked in, and were immediately ushered to her group's table, and food was placed in front of us without any questions!  They thought we were part of their group, and only by some interesting discussion we were able to separate and order our own thing... So we're sitting at a white tableclothed restaurant, with beachfront views, where fresh fish (the chef brought my grouper out to me still flapping so I could see it) was being served for not cheap (at least in Vietnam), and the waitress comes over and brings us a plate of corn-nuts.  Don't get me wrong.  I like corn-nuts, but it seemed a bit out of place...

The meal was great, and we then tried to go to a waterpark talked about in the Lonely Planet.  We take a taxi there, and the driver stops, and says "Waterpark closed."  However, it sounded like "waderbarge close."  We then tried to do some translating, figure out what he was saying (I'm glad I bought that mini-dictionary now), and it turns out that this was the waterpark, and it was being worked on... So back to the hotel, where we got showered, and are going to relax before the next big section of the trip.

So, Paul keeps asking me about this pass.. Hai Van, which was mentioned on Top Gear as being one of the most beautiful roads on Earth.  We were sitting at our guest house in Saigon, waiting for a taxi to the airport, and these Aussies came in, talking about their trip in the center of Vietnam.  We asked them about it, since that was where we were headed, and they told us they rented motorbikes and went from Hue to Hoi An (we're going the opposite way in a few days), because this drive was one of the most spectacular on Earth.. some pass or another. 

"Um, was that the one mentioned on Top Gear?"
"Yeah! You heard about it too?  It was something special alright!"
"Interesting..."

So, after some thinking, reworking, planning, I think that we're going to rent scooters, and drive the 5 hours from Hoi An to Hue with a guide, so that we too can experience this place, and have a nice fun day trip over this place in Vietnam which will make half of you want to curse me (louder than you already are). 

Don't worry Paul, Chris, Ben, Ben, Vikas, and anyone else who may enjoy Top Gear.  I'll take pictures...

=)