Hue

This city is the old imperial capital of Vietnam. There is a citadel which I think it means it's a walled city where the emperor used to live. Here the culture shock hit a high. The 37 degree temperatures didn't help. I had to bargain down a meal to a third of the price because the guy just named a ridiculous price. So I had to do the Asian thing and pretended to hear incorrectly, laugh at the first price but by the end I think I was visibly annoyed. It's the only time it's happened to this extent in Vietnam though- I don't generally bargain for food and meals in the Asian countries I've visited.

I went for a tour by boat to visit the tombs of the emperors where they've built very elaborate gardens and buildings. This tour was really cheap, but you get what you pay for. I couldn't actually find any decent tours unfortunately. I had to resist them selling me lunch, overpriced motorbike tickets, hand- held fans and drinks. The leader collected everyone's entry tickets into the UNESCO sites at the end because I think she gets some kind of kick backs. She didn't even bother to ask for my tickets because I kept refusing her offers. This is bad because I would have given them to her but would have asked for some cash! I would recommend doing a motorbike tour instead. I didn't want to be on the back of a bike without my own helmet so that's why I didn't do the tour but ended up getting on the back of a motorbike as part of this trip anyway. Then the shop keepers ask me to buy the driver a diet coke because he's thirsty. I refused- he should be drinking water was my excuse because I know they'd just split the cash!

I managed to get an overnight bus to Hanoi. The buses are interesting. They're cheap because people pay them to stop at the particular rest stop and particular hotels. On the sleeper beds they have three rows of beds, two high.