The bus trip to Hoi An was a right balls-up. We bought an "open tour" ticket designed for tourists (although with a few back handers to the driver, the bus soon filled up with locals). The trip was supposed to consist of two legs, both on a "sleeper" coach. Unfortunately for us the company we booked with hadn't bothered to phone through our booking for the connection, so after 10 hours on the first bus we arrived at the half way point and the connecting bus was full and unable to take us. We finally got a seat on a non-sleeper bus - the last two seats - right at the back. The suspension was suspect, and we bounced along like five year olds on a trampoline.
After about an hour we passed the sleeper bus on the side of the road. It had broken down. Oh, how we laughed. I couldn't help indulging in some schadenfreude at that one. We never saw it again. Our coach finally pulled into the back of a hotel in Hoi An where the gates slammed shut behind us. We were supposed to be good obedient tourists and book into that hotel (so the bus company could get it's commission). I don't think so, mate.
Hoi An was a breath of fresh air after Saigon/HCMC. It was a lovely little river side town with old yellow-washed buildings, much less traffic and much less hassle. The only slightly worrying thing was that every night the streets closest to the river flooded as the tide backed up the channel. The locals, never to miss a trick, had marked the high points of each rainy season's flood on the inside walls of their houses and showed them off to tourists.
It was also here that we discovered "fresh beer". Locally brewed, no preservatives, delivered daily and only 4000 Dong (16p) a glass. The quality was far from consistent though and each night was tantamount to spinning the roulette wheel. A good day would be a fantastic tasting drink and a fun evening. A bad day could mean a head in the pan and a stinking hangover. Loved it.
We had a tour on Tuesday to an old ruin called My Son which was nice. None of the ruins in Vietnam seem particularly well looked after, but that doesn't stop them charging you to see them.
The short trip to Hue ran more smoothly than the trip to Hoi An, although still took four hours. The hotel is reasonable and dirt cheap, and there's the usual mix of tombs 'n religious buildings to see. Generally a pleasant place, although the Lasagna I had last night was more like a beef noodle soup than anything of Italian origin.
Today it's been raining all day. We went to have a look at the Citadel where the kings of Vietnam used to live and got wet. My mother would call this sort of rain "wet rain". It rains lightly so you don't where a coat, yet still get soaked because it's actually raining quite hard.
Don't ask.
Tonight we brave the sleeper bus to Hanoi.
Rich.
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