Dong Loi Hotel Hue

... show was blaring out the speaker above my head and I was having a hard time drowning out with my iPod and trying to sleep. Dave was having an equally miserable time as he couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep.

Just as we had finally started to nod off there was a 'yelp' from the driver as he slammed on the breaks. We all went sliding towards the front of our beds and the bus skidded to a halt.

We had hit a motorcyclist.

I looked out of my window and ...

... laugh, he was just so old, and when I laughed, so did he..I guess you had to be there, but it was a nice moment.

I had intended to head North, up to Hanoi and Halong Bay, then Sapa, but like a doozy, I've left my camera charger and walking shoes back at Sarah's, so am going to return there for a couple of days, then make sure I pack more thoroughly for my next little expedition!

... is that Pierre seems to have kicked his cold (after graciously dumping it on me) but on top of all that, I'm getting some sort of allergy and sneezing my brains out all day. Good thing we're no longer in Hanoi, would be visiting the Hilton by now.

Today is hotter than the pit of a BBQ roasting a pig and poor Pierre is sweating like one. Hue is much quieter than Hanoi, there are much less people and motorbikes and we actually have sidewalks on which we ...

... owner is a deaf very friendly older man who communicates with his
customers and staff through hand signals. There we eat Banh Khoai
(fried rice pancakes stuffed with bean sprouts and shrimp) and nem
lui (grilled pork in rice paper served with peanut sauce). After
stuffing ourselves while watching drama unfold between two adjacent
shop owners in the street the owner of the restaurant presents us ...

... HILARIOUS for wanting to sleep outside, despite the elders offers of a wooden hut (no mozzie protection), we managed to have a peaceful evening, and cooked egg and bacon over the fire (amazing).

We crossed the border into Vietnam at 1200 (after having to beg and plead with the guards to let us through. They wanted to close for lunch), which was situated high up in the mountains. We then flew down into the valley with the bike switched off, for nearly 20km!

We finally ...

... it turned out to be one of the tombs that I had heard about. It was interesting, a tour group of French people got there right after we did. They made the experience of walking around the old palace less than it would have been it was only dampened a little. Afterwards we rode out into the hills trying hardest to get lost. Well, we did. And no one spoke enough English to get us back to where we needed to be in an hour. The bad thing about being lost in SE Asia is that everyone makes ...

... the next shuttle wasn't due for several more hours so we had some time to kill. These are the things we accomplished in the interim: We made tour arrangements at An Phu International Travel Company to visit some tombs and pagodas the following day; we saw two more rats, one of which made a big production of sniffing a lady's foot before being kicked away; and Bill bought a $25 fake Rolex watch—which only works when he wears it and spasmodically shakes his arm.

Hue, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Vietnam lisabraz

... meanings of some English words--"but" was the example, and when discussing the various ways this word could be interpreted, we both pointed at our rear ends, which resulted in giggles all around. The rest of our day was spent having a beer at the DMZ bar; catching the shuttle back to the resort; falling asleep to the gentle sounds of pounding rain, heavy-artillery thunder and lightning; and briefly waking up when a large tree toppled over outside our front door.

... into the free happy hour again (it is much harder to avoid drinking every day when you are on your own because often the choice is either to drink or be alone!). Ultimately we ended up at a food stand for Pho for a late dinner and then ended up at another bar where we played pool and enjoyed a free welcome drink (common here for the first drink to be free). We didn't stay out late becuase we had to be up at 8 a.m. for our motorbike ride.

Wednesday was the official one-month mark of ...