Moto Riders

I have motion sickness. To clarify, I believe that is when one's insides erupt into a queasy churning mess when placed in a moving vehicle. I shared this information with H when we were discussing our travel plans in Melbourne. We agreed we'll carry some 'anti-motion sickness' pills i.e. sleeping pills on our trip. So I helped myself to one on the bus to Cat Tien National Park (destination # 2). This will remain my excuse for what followed.

The bus dropped us off at Highway No. 21, halfway between HCMC and Dalat (destination # 3). I was visibly disillusioned as the pill had just taken effect and I was seeing double. Double vision plus heavy backpack was not the combination I was going for. At this inopportune moment, a swarm of moto riders rode up to us and started haggling the price to the entrance of the national park. My orientation was messed up, my camera kept slipping off my shoulder and H wanted me to walk north (I think?). The pudgy dude kept yelling 500,000 dong in my ear and I thought about taking a shot at him but knew my vision would fail me. As if I did not hear him the first hundred times, he brought out a sheet of paper in which he scrolled 500,000 dong and stuck it under my nose. The poor piece of paper was soon converted into a battleground of numbers. I started with 30,000 dong ( less than USD 3) and was quite impressed with my decipherable handwriting. The pudgy dude and his cronies apparently found this funny and the 'crowd' which had now surrounded us, roared with laughter. I made a mental note to not combine migration with a backpacking trip next time.