Beloved summer: Day 1 - Strange Case in Hotel

If an event in our life is a color then my journey is a crystal clear pearl.

If someday I fail on my life path, memories and what I have\r\nlearned from this happy land will be the motivation helping me to firm my\r\nsteps.

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Everyone coming here has their own interesting journey. Mine\r\nis one of them, a real story is told with my own feeling. 

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…

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Twenty people of us wandered to nowhere on the road full of\r\nwind and dust. A great many of kind people showed us direction where we had\r\njust come out from and couldn't turn back. 

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Twenty people with heavy junky belongings kept moving\r\nslowly. Fortunately, we saw a sign of a boarding house. It was a miserable\r\nhouse located in a small alley. A female owner welcomely came out when she\r\nsaw us stepping in. Her hoarse voice was difficult to be heard:

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- You should rent a dorm with that number of people, 30.000\r\neach.

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We were still discussing while she shouted at her staff to\r\nclean up the room. Nervously, we put down our luggage and waited in the lobby\r\nwhile some of us checked the room. A moment later, I heard a person in our\r\ngroup whispered "Go on. Hurry up!" and we hastily run as fast as we\r\ncould. As soon as we realised there were some people who still checked the room\r\nwas stucked at the hotel, we stopped and waited for them. The land lady angrily\r\nshouted and ran towards the door. It took a while for the rest of us to run out\r\nof such a scareful house. We were then told that the dorm is a miserable\r\nworship room with no fans, no mattress

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As we couldn't turn back to the old path, we continuously\r\nwalked on the small alleys, trying to find direction to the main road. We\r\ncontinued walking being suspectedly  stared at by other passers.\r\nSuddenly, a mid-age men stopped us. He looked at our suitcases, bags and\r\nstarted to ask friendly:

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“Are you looking for a hotel? Go there. My family is staying\r\nthere too. It's pretty good.”

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He showed us the room key as a proof. Some of us were happy\r\nfor finding somewhere to stay, but some started to turn away and said:  "He's\r\na broker" 

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So the journey went on. But on a strange and deserted land,\r\nwe worried about how to find an accommodation to stay overnight as it was\r\ngetting dark. 

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A member remembered there was a market near that area, which\r\nmeans there would be many hotels there. We agreed the idea and intended to look\r\nfor the bus station. Thing was not easy. After wandering a big circle, we\r\nnoticed the bus station was very far from there and we were getting tired. Some\r\npeople couldn't stand it and decided to slit up, catching a cab to a hotel they\r\nknow. The rest of us stopped on the roadside trying to call for help but it\r\ndidn't work. We had a long discussion and, eventually, decided to take a taxi.

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The rain began to fall and the journey had not yet finished.

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We had been calling for taxis and wait and wait, but none of\r\nthem came as where we were standing was a small alley and difficult to be\r\ndiscovered. It was getting darker and darker. We must walk very far to find the\r\nbus station, and heading to the market. Things again were not easy. After\r\nasking for direction and walking for kilometers, we eventually found a\r\nreasonable hotel to stay.  

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As soon as we settled down our luggage. Immediately, we\r\nrushed to the market to fill energy for a long day. Sadly, from the beginning\r\nof the trip until now, we had to endure discomfort eyes and murmurs from people\r\naround. They just assumed we are naughty kids escaped from the family for a\r\nprivate night out in stead of going to the place we should go to. None of us\r\nfelt comfortable with their gossips but we could not explain to them how\r\nexcited we were when waiting for every minute, every second passing by to reach\r\nthat land.

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We could only smile and look at the road ahead because even\r\nwe did not literally get there, but our soul always look forward to that\r\nland. 

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The first day was physically tired but it did not put our\r\nspirit down. We had good memories and were now excited for tomorrow to come\r\nquickly…

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Translated into English by Ho Truc Ly.