That morning we got up early, sunned by the pool and made plans for Hoi An, then poped out to pick up some optional snacks for the bus, which was at 1330.

It was really late and we were ready early, so we just sat in the sun and I popped my pomphlyx (which had become SO bad in Mui Ne). When it eventually arrived and we were hurried on, the driver insisted we take our flip-flops off and stick them in a carrier bag. We were then greeted by this dreadful scene of 3 rows, with 2 isles running front to back and each row had a high level and a floor level, with chair-beds lined up along them. You kind of had to cram your legs into this little box which was underneath the bum of the person infront and then lie back awkwardly in the chair. Extra issues being that the supports in the middle column were such that whenever the driver turned a corner, you felt like you'd tumble straight out. The odd bed was a foot shorter than the rest too, and many, like mine was a foot well full of food because the Vietnamese people are so short they could happily use that bit as a bin. I moved beds 6 times, then settled down for the 18 hour journey over the worlds most pot-holed road.

The bus was actually quite new-ish as buses go, and I noticed that all the Vietnamese people on it looked like they had money, so I think we were traveling in style. There was a toilet but it was out of order. I liked the fact that the bed nearest the toilet was given a complimentary air-freshener. We all had blankets, and Abi and I had temazepam.

After 5 hours, it turned out that we had to change buses, which we didn't realise, but which wasn't too much of an ordeal. Though we did loose a bottle of Vang Dalat, which was a great loss and lowered team morale. Unfortunately Julia invited an American girl called Nikki to eat with us, and 20 minutes later we were planning how we'd get rid of her.

Whilst our food was coming, we had to validate our tickets in the travel place for the next bus and then also load the bags onto the next bus and get our seats sorted out etc, and then restaurant manager (both of those terms used very loosely) was going schiz thinking that we weren't going to pay for or eat the food she'd had made at super speed for us. Eventually I communicated takeaway to her, and the plates were tipped sideways into polystyrene boxes. So dinner was fine.

As we finally went to get settled on the second bus, Abi spotted her bag on the pavement outside and rushed to get it put in, just in time. Meanwhile Lydia was undergoing a strange arrangement ritual to make herself look as uncomfortable as possible. We were all on the top level, and American Nikki was across the isle from me to my left, Abi to my right. After lecturing me for hours about America, she started making less noise and I took a slight lull in the completely one-sided conversation to jam in my iPod ear phones as that wonderful social signal that says "stop talking to me now, this is my space". She didn't get it at all.

Around 2100, Abi and I took the temaz, with a slight gamble on the dosage. We had bought the stuff from a pharmacy in Saigon for a bargain. At this point, the bus screeched to a halt, we all slid down our seats and folded up in the little foot box thing in-front as 2 Vietnamese men sprinted down the isle armed with screwdrivers to faff around at the back on the ceiling - I invented a drama about there being stowaways on the roof, though it was probably just an air-con vent that was loose.

RE the temaz, for 20 minutes, nothing happened. Then we blinked at it was 0630 the next day and we'd slept through all the trauma of the bus journey that Lydia and Julia were complaining about, including the bumpiness reaching extreme levels. Excellent. We also slept through American Nikki not sleeping, another massive bonus.