The Cramped Nightbus and An Afternoon in Huè

We eventually got on the nightbus at around 1030 last night; and boy was it full; we somehow managed to barter to get the four back bottom beds, with windows either side. However, with little to no aircon and only the highway blasting it horns through a small window to cool us down it wasn't exactly a great night sleep; it had been 38'C during the day and didn't drop much at night so it was a sweaty bus of mostly english, tired backpackers, when it arrived in Huè.

We jumped on the back of some scooters that volunteered to take us, bags and all, to a cheap, good hotel. They seemed faithful to their word and by midday we were booked into a nice room for the four of us.

We headed down the road towards the Perfume River and found a bargain restaurant where Ben and I managed to grab a brunch of steak and omlette with fresh bread - not bad for about £1.50 and it was a welcome break from the noodle soup that is a standard Vietnamese breakfast.
From there we continued into the city centre, as always having a laugh over the constant babble of sellers trying to flog anything and everything. We crossed over the river and found the Dong Ba market; it was far less tourist driven than most of the markets and we enjoyed a fair bit of browsing before Ben and I eventually managed to blag two huge, beautifully ripe mangoes for 7,000dong (28p). We went down to the nice park by the river and very messily ate them; much to the amusement of the girls. From there we walked slowly back across the river; had a bit of fun bartering for a boat trip, before deciding that really we were too tired to fully enjoy it. So, we headed back to the hotel. We're now looking forward to a nice meal out. Before hiring yet more motos to explore the citadel and pagodas of Hue tomorrow.

Today was certainly a day of experiencing a few different flavours of what Vietnam has to offer.