What Could Be Better Than Spending 17 Hours on a Bus?

We once again climb into the now-familiar sardine can on wheels — this time for the long journey from Mui Ne to Hoi An, with a stopover in Nha Trang. Distance: 750 kilometers. Estimated time: long enough to question your life choices.

How does one fill 17 hours on a bus?

By untangling the knots of Estonian and European society with your travel companions. By listening to audiobooks. By staring out into the dark as heavy rain pours down and distant fishing boats flicker on the sea. By enjoying the occasional refreshing splash of water spraying through the window frame. By massaging your slowly dying legs, tightly wedged into a space clearly not designed for adult human proportions.

There are many possibilities.

In Vietnam, business efficiency seems to depend largely on how densely you can pack people into a vehicle — and business is something the Vietnamese understand very well. Every inch of space is utilized.

We spend about two hours in Nha Trang, just enough time to stretch our legs and wander through the local market. The city feels lively and coastal, though our stop is too brief to truly explore it.

Somewhere along the way, ice cream becomes a recurring theme of the trip. Marek’s unofficial travel motto has been: “Three ice creams a day keeps a man in shape.” Scientific backing remains unverified.

Our bus company, Hanh Café Open Tour, has collected no shortage of colorful online reviews from fellow travelers — many of them less than flattering. But despite the cramped conditions, questionable suspension, and general unpredictability, the bus does what it promises: it gets us there.

Seventeen hours later — tired, slightly stiff, but still in good spirits — we are one step closer to Hoi An.