mon day 157

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After spending the last few days in Hoi An and really enjoying the experience, today I would be moving on to Hue - pronounced way! Having pre arranged for a tourist bus to take me to the train station I got picked up at 7am. Being the only tourist on the bus was quite a novelty, as we made our way to the station. Sitting in the packed waiting room I got chatting to a nice couple from Switzerland who were also going the same way, so as the train arrived we continued the journey together. Having read in my Rough Guide book about the route and how scenic it is as it hugs the coast we were keeping a look out! Sure enough the journey was very scenic as it wound its way through coastal hills and the 4hrs flew by with Irina and Tobias for company. We decided to share a taxi when we arrived to take us to our hotels - Hue is quite a small town so they wouldn't be that far apart. Swopping names we said goodbye but would catch up again via facebook. Having booked a dorm room for a couple of nights, once I got sight of it - pretty dark and dirty ( much the same as the communal area!) I changed to a double room instead. For a couple of pounds extra I got a large room with private bathroom - still not the cleanest but seemed fine for 2 nights. Popping out I headed off to find the center of town after going into a tour agency to talk about options of how to get to Hanoi. Hue sits pretty much right in the middle of Vietnam and with hardly anything being mentioned about the places in-between and with 2wks remaining I had decided to fly to Hanoi. Bus and train would both take 12-14hrs through the night, the bus was a lot cheaper at £10 with the flight being £50, but I just couldn't face the thought of being in another cramped position for that long and through the night! So, after getting my flight booked for 2 days time I headed off for a bite to eat. Feeling pretty tired and hungry I jumped into the first western style restaurant that I found - it wasn't great but it filled a hole. After, I wandered back to the hotel to relax in front of the National Geographic channel and not exactly succeed in having an early night - ooops.................

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