Packing is a movable beast. One minute we’re down to counting grams not kilos and other days, like today, it’s just been a matter of making sure we have everything and then throwing it all in the boot. Private car is a very restful way to get from A to B, in this case Hoi An to Hue via the Marble Mountain, the stone carving village (factory), the Hai Van Pass (of Top Gear TV show fame), remnants of the war, a peaceful lagoon - etc. Three hours drive time, 5 hours or so with the sightseeing thrown in. It’s not the first time we’ve done a car transfer - Brazil to Argentina at Iguazu Falls, Bulgaria to Belgrade (both one ways) and Georgia to Armenia and back for a long weekend. But it’s the first time we’ve included sightseeing so that felt a little strange, at least for me.

We actually made an executive decision that over the years we’ve seen enough caves, so went directly to the stone factory. Wow. Just wow. If ever we need a solid rock bath tub, a pair of gate elephants or a marble fountain, we now know where to go. A very canny bunch. They show you all the big and fantastical stuff knowing full well that you’re not buying. Then the smaller stuff, which could go on an amenable cruise ship say, then the ‘hand’ size carvings, then finish with the trinkets and jewellery. We were not in a buying mood (it was travel day afterall... not gratuitous shopping day) and walked out unencumbered.

Onwards to the scenic and windy roads of the Hai Van Pass (Ocean Cloud Pass) - which was very beautiful. We can see the attraction for the temporary human types (motorcyclists) of riding this 21 km mountain road with the breeze in their hair and just the exhaust of tour coaches in their lungs... Naahhh... very nice drive indeed in the back of an airconditioned car. Due to the frequent lack of visibility from mists rising from the sea, this road has always been a challenge to getting from Da Nang to Hue. We found out after the drive that aside from traffic accidents, the pass has also been the site of two of Vietnam’s major rail accidents and at least one air crash. Note to selves... no more reading up on the safety of Vietnam’s railways until after our last train ride.

We at least reached the top safely and enjoyed clambering around the military remnants at the scenic lookout (French, US and South Vietnamese) . When this spot was held by the US Army marines during the war no one was allowed to cross and the pass was known as the Street without Joy - the Vietnamese used the Ho Chi Minh trail instead - tunnels, boats and so forth. Thanks to the shiny new Hai Van Tunnel opened in 2005 (albeit with crap views) it is now sometimes referred to as The Street without Traffic.The road has always been known as a boundary of kingdoms and climate. Once over the pass we were officially in the north of Vietnam for weather purposes. It can be such an extreme divider that it can be windy, cold and wet on one side and hot and sunny on the other. Aside from weather it’s always been a strategic boundary, separating ancient kingdoms and essentially impossible for an army to cross. The only armies now seen on the pass are motorcyclists inspired by Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson’s words “a deserted ribbon of perfection—one of the best coast roads in the world”. Not entirely sure we’d agree 100% - but still, a pleasant way to get from A to B.

The trip was all downhill after the pass and we enjoyed a brief stop at a semi-peaceful lagoon with pearl farms. We are fairly well educated in the scams of Vietnam / Asia / The World and we’re still figuring out if the woman who pestered us at the lagoon was a scam artist or if she should get an Entrepreneur of the Year award. We were enjoying the serenity of the lagoon (daft westerners that we are) when she comes up to us with a lovely album and asks if we could contribute money to her money collection - from all over the world. Heck - if it was that easy, we’d all be doing it. Anyway - she showed us her album of notes - mentioned she didn’t have any from Australia or New Zealand yet. We informed her at that point that neither did we. OK then... how about just a coin for her coin collection. Nope. None of them either - we were running 100% on Dong by that stage, having been in country for a couple of months. OK then. Since paying in wasn’t our thing... Since we’d be going home soon (to presumably Australia or NZ...) how about we pay her Dong for some A$1 and A$2 coins... Obviously at a rate bearing to resemblence to the actual one and highly likely to involve mention of children and mouths to feed. Since we’re struggling with the weight in our bags as it is, last thing we’d need is a few hundred grams of coins! But, as we say... scam? or good old fashioned entrepreneurship. So farewell to the semi-serene lagoon and onwards to Hue.

We eventually arrived in Hue which was much larger than expected. Which it turns out can be said of almost every city in Vietnam - they have taken the concept of low-level sprawl to heart. We checked in and wandered off for a walk around the neighbourhood and along the river front. On our way back we tripped over a great restaurant just a 5 minute walk from the hotel which we’d both seen mentioned in blogs - Risotto! Ahhhh... you can only eat so much Vietnamese food and we’ve certainly made endeavours to try most of it, but you can’t beat a pizza (cooked by someone who may well have actually met an Italian) after a long day on the road. Perfection. Then bed. Tomorrow is a big day - an excursion is planned!