Cool bus ride, very comfy seats, good ac, even good wifi. But very Vietnamese... Constant unexplained stops, random travellers getting on then being put off 10 mins later, internal bus lights turned on for no understandable reason, constant honking by the driver (thank god for noise cancelling headphones), and of course on some of the stops the engine was turned off, shutting off the ac and turning the bus into a sweaty tin can!!
Arrived into Hue to change bus for Da nang, but the bus was full, the next one was 4 hours away, but was offered a motorbike tour of Hue while we waited. Went for it (as we had nothing else to do) and it was very good, went to Thien Mu pagoda and the Imperial Palace, then things got interesting...
So the guys who had picked us up obviously had an agenda (to get into our wallets), as everyone does! They ran a motorbike tour service which was pretty good (and we have heard that the motorbike tours are the best way to see the country from r an j), and we were up for it. So they took us to a hotel, which was actually surprisingly nice and reasonably priced.
Then we ended up going back to one of their houses for dinner (at 3pm!) and lots of drinks. They have an interesting drinking style, not just sipping pints as at home, but everyone drinks together, you say 'yo' and clink glasses then drink half the glass (250ml glasses) every time you want to have a sip. The family: 15ish people, were all around as well, and we were well fed, too much food for us! And then bartered a price for a motorbike tour to Hoi An tomorrow, although the mood soured a bit when they realised we weren't going to pay them the whole amount. Then off to another place in the suburb where they lived for more beers. Tight streets and lots of animals and children wandering about, absolutely amazing to see it.
Then back to the hotel where we chilled for a bit to let the beers settle! Sophie started feeling rough so wasn't tempted to go out, so I went for a wander in hue for 1:30. It was very nice, walking around with headphones in