a BUS? ME in a BUS??? ..... No other way to get to Ha Tien

10:00

I've packed all my stuff in my hotel in Chau Doc, and I'm wearing a new shirt.  CAD$ 10.55 including taxes  ;-)   

The last two days were the first real visit to Parts Unknown and now it's time to move further into the UNKNOWN.

My bus to Ha Tien is supposed to leave at 10:30 in front of my hotel. Might as well wait down in the lobby while I still remember that the hotel guy still has my passport ;-)

A guy on a motorbike shows up and I'm told to get on.
The bike doesn't actually deliver me to a bus depot.  It drops me at the side of the road where minutes later the bus becomes visible driving off a ferry ramp, LOL.

It's NOT a private bus company as I had expected but it's a public bus !  COOL!

First Stop:  Gas station (this is also where one more passenger gets scooter-delivered to us)

SECOND STOP; for15 minutes.  For What?  I have NO IDEA where the driver went, LOL

I was taking a picture of the bus and didn't even notice the tiny old lady

And then, we are FINALLY on our way.

ALL The Passengers on the ENTIRE trip :
1 woman with her daughter, 1 old lady, 2 school children who get on close to the destination of Ha Tien. 
That's it.  
I'm the only one that rides the whole distance.

The Bus Crew:   1 Driver, 1 ticket seller, and the Other Guy (The Mechanic?).  

FOURTH STOP: Pick up a bag of I have no idea what  (and The Crew)

FIFTH STOP; 20 min coffee stop in God knows where

This village is built on the High Way.  NOT Highway as in today's meaning, but High Way in the old meaning.   While the fronts of the houses are level with the 'highway', their backs are ALL supported by stilts over water.   The road is the only solid piece of ground for quite some distance around.  A High Way !

let's call it rural, LOL

those hills .... that is Cambodia 

What I LOVE about Viet buses.   The music! LOL

The bus finally drives into Ha Tien.   It only took FOUR HOURS for the 88 km.

Hey, the bus just went past the bus depot.  They're not, are they?  Yup.  They're dropping me off right in front of my hotel, LOL.

There is some confusion during check-in again. NEVER accept a room key before they have called the ONE person who speaks English, LOL ;-)

fancy bathroom !

see that innocent cloud on the left?

Yeah right. Innocent my ass !

But it's over soon and I'm heading out to explore.

MUST document new shirt ;-)

I'm out looking for an office that sells ferry tickets but have NO luck. 

a touch of Lhasa?

But I find two bottles of wine for a total of VND 170,000.   NOT bad!

Those COLOURS !!!!

LOL, I'm going to ride the 9 tomorrow !

Even this sleepy fishing village is ready for the future tourist onslaught !

Another one:  I start walking FAST towards my hotel ....

I must have dozed off around 19:00 but when I wake up at 21:00 I am confused about where I am.   Is this that China Southern flight on the way to Guangzhou on which I spent the vast majority of the awake time listening to Chinese Opera?   It shouldn't be that but how to explain what I'm hearing?????

I step out onto the balcony. OMG, there 50 meters to my left.   

Time to go get some munchies and have a closer look !  Only when I'm only 15 meters away from them, do I realize that the background instrument is NOT some bizarre Chinese instrument but simply an electric guitar.  

And is the guitar REALLY playing the FRIGGIN TUBULAR BELLS riff ??????   Or did Mike Oldfield STEAL his 70s mega hit from Chinese music??? He MUST HAVE! 
What a MIND opener !