Dalat

So I got to Dalat late in the evening yesterday and started looking for a hotel. Sadly, they were all booked because it's the end of the new year celebration (Vietnam does the same thing China does..) and everyone's traveling. I was talking to a bartender about how I was fully prepared to sleep in the park, when he said that I could sleep on his couch. I still had a few hotels that I wanted to check out, so I told him "thanks, but I'm hoping to get a room at some other places" but if they were all booked, I'd come back. There weren't any vacancies so I came back at about 11PM to find him waiting for me. I felt bad (first for taking his "couch" and second for making him stay open) but I didn't have any options. He let me in, then closed up the bar. Apparently, he didn't really have a couch, but he had a bed next to his... so... Last night I spent with him, his wife and his grandson... It was quite an experience, very awkward, but he said to me "someday hopefully you can help me if I'm in need." I felt like I'd taken part in "Pay It Forward."

Also, I met someone who was born and raised in Castleton NY... he used to deliver the newspapers so Granny/Papa I'm looking to you to remember him. He specifically did remember my uncle Tom (Tom Hotailing to those of you who haven't met him...). His name is Bartlet something or other, I was a little preocupied with trying to find a place to sleep, so I didn't get as detailed of a background check as I would have liked.