So Christmas Eve Day. I had arranged a tour through my hotel to visit My Son. Which is not pronounced how we think it should be in English. It's kind of more like "may shan", which means beautiful mountain in Vietnamese.
I really wanted to go to My Son. I loved the site, my tour was awful and the guide was even worse. For one, they were 1/2 hour late picking up everybody. Once we arrived at the big bus, because yes were were on a bus will well over 50 people on it, I learned the worst part to come. The tour guide. The gentleman leading the tour had good English, but his voice was like nails on a chalkboard for me. And he repeated words and information over and over again.
There were two German young men next to me who told the guide that they had a bus at 130 and I wanted to ensure that they'd be back in Hoi An by then, and the guide assured them that they would be with plenty of time.
The guide made a hard sell to upgrade to taking the boat back to Hoi An which included some vegetarian lunch being that it was the 14th day of the lunar month and therefore a full moon.
My Son was about an hour out of the city, by the time we arrived, got off and on the bus a million times, we were already 1/2 hour behind schedule. Yes, we had to get off and on the bus a few times. It was crazy. Definitely could have been better planned. The first time was because the guide needed to buy tickets and wanted to give everybody a potty break. Shortly after that we had to get off the bus again to walk through a security check. Then one last time to go to the site. It would have been better just to go to the bathroom at the site as I later found out that there was a HUGE toilet center there. Maybe the guide didn't know that though.
Then we entered into My Son. Thankfully one of the other people on the tour was getting just as annoyed at the guide so she asked if she could wander around and I left with her for the mandated 2 hours at the site.
After wandering around My Son it became evident that the site doesn't really require a full two hours. The guide could have cut off 1/2 hour from the allotted time because it is a small space. Apparently he felt that he needed the full two hours though to tell the same stories over and over again 10 times according to others on the tour.
Picture break over. I was done and over with long before the rest of the tour so I went back out to the parking lot and found a large bathroom with about 20 stalls for women, plus it was super clean and well lit.
Eventually the rest of the group returned. At this point it was 12:30. Remember the two gentlemen who needed to be back by 1:30? And the guide gave the group another 10 minute toilet break, except he doesn't send them over to the large toilet, he has them use one closer (by 20 meters, big deal).
Back on the bus we go. It is an hour drive to where the rest of the bus is getting off for the boat. As the guide leaves to go with the boat people he vocally indicates that Vietnamese people like tips. Well, there went any thoughts I might have had of tipping him (which wasn't happening regardless).
As he left the bus he also said that the bus would stop three places and help people get to the bus station. It was allegedly another 10 minutes to the city and it took longer than that and the bus didn't make its requisite stops.
I stopped to get another fitting at the tailor's and then returned to the hotel.
After freshening up a bit I went to check out the beach, which was more just looking at the water.
Then it was back to the hotel. The proprietors had made sure we knew to be back by a certain time as they wanted to have a BBQ for us. All I will say is it was an amazing experience. Love these people! Plus getting to know the other guests was wonderful. Of note was a Vietnamese born woman who had left Saigon in 1975 and was coming back for the first time. I asked her what she thought and her reply was that she loved it and was already planning her trip for next year.
I really wanted to go to My Son. I loved the site, my tour was awful and the guide was even worse. For one, they were 1/2 hour late picking up everybody. Once we arrived at the big bus, because yes were were on a bus will well over 50 people on it, I learned the worst part to come. The tour guide. The gentleman leading the tour had good English, but his voice was like nails on a chalkboard for me. And he repeated words and information over and over again.
There were two German young men next to me who told the guide that they had a bus at 130 and I wanted to ensure that they'd be back in Hoi An by then, and the guide assured them that they would be with plenty of time.
The guide made a hard sell to upgrade to taking the boat back to Hoi An which included some vegetarian lunch being that it was the 14th day of the lunar month and therefore a full moon.
My Son was about an hour out of the city, by the time we arrived, got off and on the bus a million times, we were already 1/2 hour behind schedule. Yes, we had to get off and on the bus a few times. It was crazy. Definitely could have been better planned. The first time was because the guide needed to buy tickets and wanted to give everybody a potty break. Shortly after that we had to get off the bus again to walk through a security check. Then one last time to go to the site. It would have been better just to go to the bathroom at the site as I later found out that there was a HUGE toilet center there. Maybe the guide didn't know that though.
Then we entered into My Son. Thankfully one of the other people on the tour was getting just as annoyed at the guide so she asked if she could wander around and I left with her for the mandated 2 hours at the site.
After wandering around My Son it became evident that the site doesn't really require a full two hours. The guide could have cut off 1/2 hour from the allotted time because it is a small space. Apparently he felt that he needed the full two hours though to tell the same stories over and over again 10 times according to others on the tour.
Eventually the rest of the group returned. At this point it was 12:30. Remember the two gentlemen who needed to be back by 1:30? And the guide gave the group another 10 minute toilet break, except he doesn't send them over to the large toilet, he has them use one closer (by 20 meters, big deal).
Back on the bus we go. It is an hour drive to where the rest of the bus is getting off for the boat. As the guide leaves to go with the boat people he vocally indicates that Vietnamese people like tips. Well, there went any thoughts I might have had of tipping him (which wasn't happening regardless).
As he left the bus he also said that the bus would stop three places and help people get to the bus station. It was allegedly another 10 minutes to the city and it took longer than that and the bus didn't make its requisite stops.
I stopped to get another fitting at the tailor's and then returned to the hotel.
After freshening up a bit I went to check out the beach, which was more just looking at the water.
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