Vietnam Diaries: Vietnam, hey I mean you no offense…

Hoi an just didn’t agree with me. I don’t know why, but I don’t think the town and I are meant to be.

I woke up early to catch my bus to Hue. I waited for the bus in my guesthouse, and it arrived five minutes before 8am. From the distance it looked impressive, but as it pulled up, I notice with dismay that some windows were open. It’s not an airconditioned bus.

With a sigh I stepped into the bus, welcomed by a sea of feet and crotches. This is a sleeping bus: instead of regular seats, you get something like loungers as chairs. There are three lines of double deck loungers, and at the end, five laid out side by side like a huge bed.

I settled on my sleeper seat. Despite the heat, I enjoyed leaning back and proping my feet up on Viktor (my backpack) as we rolled out of Hoi An. The ride was pleasant enough, if not for the lack of cool air. We briefly enjoyed the cool mountain breeze, but just as it was getting much cooler, it gruffly replaced by a gush of hot wind as we entered a tunnel that goes through the mountain.

Save for the sweat and the occasion whiffs of earthly aromas from outside and human scents from within, this was a relaxing drive. There might be a speed limit in the city limits, as the bus driver never sped up, except when we got up in the mountains.

Of course, in the middle of that heat, the bus had to make a stop to have wheel fixed. Still, despite this setback, we rolled into Hue just past 12 noon.

The airconditioning gods must hate me that much, because once I got into my room, I discovered that there is no electricity. So instead of catching my breath and cooling off, I was forced to head to the nearby supermarket to seek refuge (and wifi!).

I’m liking Hue. After killing time at the supermarket, I made my way into the Imperial City. Sure, there are touts there, much like in any tourist places around the world, but the serenity you feel inside the walled city more than make up for it.

More posts about Hue tomorrow (or the next day, depends on when I feel like writing again). I’ve got to rest up before the full day tour tomorrow.

* Title is a line from Why God, one of the songs from Miss Saigon