Hue

I spent one last day in Hanoi, where it got so hot that I decided to head off to a pool that was open to the public with a girl in a group I'm traveling with. It was in a five-star hotel, and we asked at the counter about the pool use and then they directed us upstairs and we had a lovely time swimming and sitting outside and didn't seem to have any place to pay (tho the rate was $6 in the guidebook, so it wasn't a really large sum), so we thought we had gotten away with some lovely facilities for free. As we were leaving, we were met by a personnel who escorted up to a reception on the floor that we hadn't seen, who informed of the actual rates and that they did not allow outsiders. I'm glad I had to book otherwise we would have looked like complete nutters. It seems that they had actually been watching us the whole time because we didn't fit with the other clientale and just waiting for us to leave. The giveaways must have been that we:

-had our cheap-backpacker clothes with us
-were actually making use of the pool instead of lounging on the side
-weren't using cellphones
-actually seemed happy

So, we were informed of the "real" rates which were $30 a day (ridiculous!!), and they tried to make us pay. We talked to the manager and explained the misunderstanding and got away with pleading poor and paying $10 and then were escorted out. So that was the ugly side of a five-star hotel. Its all plush and beautiful unless you don't pay major bucks, then you get the stern manager who is unwilling to listen.

In any case, I took a bus to Hue (central vietnam) last night on a sleeper bus. The sleeping beds turned out to be beds on the bus that are so tightly together, that you get to have an involuntary one night stand with the stranger next to you because it's impossible not to spoon. So I ended up next to a posh 20 year old english guy who didn't seem creepy, so at least I didn't have to worry about being groped during the night. Other highlights of trip were:

--Carrying our luggage in sheets of rain and stepping into a puddle on the roadside that went up to my knees (no joke)
--Peeing outside on the side of a road in the rain somewhere in central Vietnam (our "toliet break")
--Stopping at an actual toliet stop which made any gas station toliet look sparkling- it had two cement blocks to squat on with just a floor that slanted a bit backwards. And almost no separating walls from anyone.

So this was the type of bus trip that you'll always remember to try to make you appreciate normal luxuries and is pretty funny in retrospect. In any case, I'm in Hue which doesn't have much except temples (which get a bit repetitive in Asia), but I'm traveling with a group of 10 people from the Ha Long Bay trip which consists of aussies, irish, and a belgian. I'm glad to be with people since it's really hard to meet westerners right here and there's not too much to do . In any case, I'm off again on the bus to Hoi An tomorrow!