Hoi An to Hue - 7th July 2009

I had a lovely hot shower this morning, after discovering that my previous cold showers had been a result of my own stupidity of not knowing how to turn on the hot water (move the lever to the right, not the left!) - Typical!
I tried the avocado and finished off the lychees I'd bought the previous day, as well as having a few more peanuts. The avocado was really quite soft, and it needed salt on it, so unfortunatly I didn't enjoy it as much as I maybe should have.
I popped downstairs, and collected my laundry which smelled lovely, thank heavens! I then popped out to get breakfast and to tie up loose ends with the travel agent. Once I got everything sorted, I just sat in a cafe reading, waiting for my bus to take me to Hue to arrive.
The bus finally arrived, and I fell asleep for most of the journey, listening to music at the same time. There were lots of whites on the bus, one of them I recognised as the girl from the Hoi An hotel.
We stopped once, on the 4 hour journey, at a cafe by the side of the road. The prices were complete rip-offs, and I didn't want to risk my ever so slightly dodgy stomach.
At around 6pm, I arrived in Hue. We all were dropped off outside a certain hotel, which I thought was bound to be excessively expensive. I did however, get talking to the girl I'd seen in Hoi An, and we decided to share a room together, costing only $15 altogether, breakfast included. We were only planning on the staying the one night, as I was heading up to Hanoi the following day, and she, unsure of her plans herself, was thinking of heading south to Nha Trang. Her name is Anja, a german, travelling her way back from 6 months in Australia.
We got to our room, which was very nice. We unpacked a bit, and did a bit of talking. We decided to both book the full day trip at reception to see some tombs of deceased kings, and various other sites for the following day. The receptionists were wearing very beautiful traditional dresses, and were very eager to please. They were very polite, and it was a nice change from the arrogant men I've met so far!
After much talking, and not much persuasion, Anja decided that a beach was a beach, and she'd do better if she headed north with me to visit Halong bay, and then down to the Mekong Delta to the floating markets. I didn't need to convince her much, although I was quite glad of the company for a short while.
We had a meal, and then had a quick drink in a pub, although decided to sit outside in the heat, as it was way to noisey indoors. We met a lady from Denmark, along with her partner, and enjoyed chatting to them both for a while, swapping stories about our travels.
Thankfully, Anja is a sensible type, and we both enjoy peace and quiet and an early night, so we headed to bed not too late, reading for our busy day the following day, with our tour, and then the night bus up to Hanoi.