I hit the buses again today, this time for a short 3.5 hour ride to Hue. Unfortunately, for the two hours preceding the bus ride I was sitting at a computer with an abysmally slow Internet connection, struggling to get my photos uploaded for my two most recent posts. I got the last photo uploaded just as the bus pulled up, so I unplugged my laptop, shoved it in its case, grabbed my suitcase, and ran for the bus. What I did NOT do was go to the bathroom before I got on the bus. And about an hour into the ride I was a tad bit uncomfortable. No worries, I thought, they always stop at least once during each trip – twice on longer trips. So when we pulled into a roadside restaurant, I quickly headed for the toilets.

In almost every other instance, the bathrooms we have stopped at have been sparkling clean. In fact in a couple of places I was required to leave my shoes outside the door and don special plastic flip flops provided just for the bathroom. So I was unprepared for the level of filth I encountered in this bathroom. Any other time I would have just “held it” but this was definitely not an option in this instance. I HAD to go. The floor was wet and covered in mud, so I couldn’t put my backpack down. The stool itself was filthy so I didn’t want to sit down. So, if you can picture this, I unzipped my pants and simultaneously let them drop while trying to Continue reading →