Brothels and Murder Hotels

Just a short 110km day along some meandering dirt roads.

We made the mistake of leaving Lak Lake without having a place to stay booked for the night. Everyone told us that we could find guesthouses all over the country if we searched for the words "Nha Nghi". What they didn't tell us was that if you're in the wrong town, "Nha Nghi" is basically code for a charge-by-the-hour love motel. 

We got into Buon Ho in the rain, right as it was starting to get dark. After stopping in and driving by several Nha Nghi, and feeling spectacularly uncomfortable, we decided to try the only hotel in town. Big mistake.

Murder hotel. This picture hardly does the creepiness justice. 

The room was out of a horror movie. Nick accidentally hit the button for the 1st floor and found an abandoned floor, completely dark, being used to store old furniture. On our way to our room, down a hallway with flickering lights, another room's door was open and we could just see rumpled sheets as if it had been left in a hurry. In our room, tiles were missing from the ceiling, the sheets were stained, the pillow had hairs on it, and by the time we left for dinner, the 6th floor window was looking pretty inviting.

We went to dinner, trying to decide whether we might prefer to sleep outside on a park bench in the rain. At dinner, we met a Vietnamese couple and managed to convey that we were looking for another place to stay. The woman excitedly told us that she had a much better hotel for us, and after a few beers, they took us to (big surprise) another love motel. 

Still, the love motel was at least less murder-y than the murder hotel, so we checked in. We spent a miserable night sleeping, fully-clothed and serenaded all night by loud, drunk men singing karaoke, on the floor of our room because the beds were too disgusting.  

Lesson learned: either make sure the town we're stopping in has reasonable places to stay, or else bring a tent.