Once Bob was on board the bus, we were off, hurtling through the frontier streets and winding our way up switchbacks which cut a swathe through the mountains. Soon were arrived at Khe Sahn, well known to all of my generation through the Cold Chisel song of the '70's, although Bob was able to fill me in on some details which went beyond the chorus and beat.

As we descended to the plains near the river, cemeteries, both of Chinese style monuments for civilians and war cemeteries with thousands of small headstones started to appear in islands of land where burial was possible. By the time we reached the junction of Quing Tri, the number of cemeteries increased to an almost blinding frequency, dotting the bright emerald green rice paddies with their stark grey stones, and forming islands on higher ground of friable sandy loam.

It had been tiring, however we were approaching our destination and the kilometre markers started to appear for us to countdown our arrival in Hue, 33km, 32km, 31 . . . then a shuddering stop with the engines turned off as a procession of loud trucks, buses and motorbikes, all with their horns blaring came past. We were told to get off and to have lunch here. It was 11:30am, 27 1/2 hours since we had left Tad Fane, and our destination was agonisingly close. A 'fast food' restaurant, Vietnamese style was there with the usual bad taste and worse quality souvenirs and knick knacks. Of the food, there were only one or two options, none of which appealed. We decided to wait until Hue and had a drink each instead. The bus was unloading it's cargo of charcoal at the roadside and there was nothing to do but wait.

Ultimately, we moved again and headed to the outskirts of Hue. With little fanfare, the four Thai women and Bob and I departed, grabbed our bags from under the bus and were left standing adjacent to the river as a bevy of motor taxi drivers vied for our attention. Having selected a short list of options for accommodation from the Lonely Planet, before I had a chance to sling my bag over my shoulder I was flung onto the back of one Kamikaze motor bike, as Bob mounted another and there was a race between the riders to see you could get to our destination first.

We arrived at the Binh Minh Sunrise Hotel and were shown a couple of rooms, at USD$20 and USD$25. The $25 room was more spacious and luxurious than we needed, and we were soon registered and in room 407 , where there was hot water and even better, a BATH! I was soon wallowing in the hot water and scrubbing off the grime of 30 hours of travel. It was getting late, and being (Good) Friday afternoon, we needed to get some dong, find out about the trains to HaNoi from Da Nang and grab something to eat! After a while, we found an ATM which accepted Australian cards. After the tricky kip situation in Laos, it was great to see a bevy of ATM's. As we left our hotel for a walk, it started to rain, leaving visibility poor and and it difficult to get around the mad rush of traffic which screeched and blew their horns continually.

We had a nap and woke later than expected, wandering out into the gloom to find dinner. This was not so successful, and in my sleep deprived state I found the noise and relative aggressiveness of people after the gentleness of Laos quite overbearing. Bob and I went into a beer shop where once again the Garmin drew many admiring glances and provided the opportunity to start communication with the locals. Bob enjoyed a Huba Beer, and was pressed to try some Festival beer as a friendly guy poured out some of his bottle into Bob's glass. I settled for a couple of baguettes sold on the corner, warmed and crispy over a brazier, and we stopped by a restaurant on the way home run by Mr Chu and had a fruit salad and break from the weather. It was full of falang, but Mr Chu was an exceptional photographer of the Vietnamese people and landscape, he restaurant was comfortable and the prices were good. We slept well that night.

More rain on Saturday thwarted much activity, although we walked along the river to the railway station in an attempt to buy our tickets from Da Nang to Ha Noi, only to find that these could only be purchased from Da Nang. We bought tickets for today (Sunday) to Da Nang, where we will then get our overnight tickets to Ha Noi. The train will leave at 2:30pm on Wednesday and get into Ha Noi at 4:30am! With naff little plastic sheets over our bodies like everyone else in town, we walked over to the citadel, and around the town and to the markets in search of lunch. The aggression of the stall holders was difficult for us both, with our arms being grabbed and held onto. We retreated up the road and stopped by Mr Chu's again for some fruit and excellent Vietnamese Tea. Dinner was better, although it was a slightly frustrating in day in not having any succesful internet access.

We do however have local phone numbers now; Bob has just recharged his SIM card from last year and his number is +84 912749650.

Mine is +84 906567690.

Now, to Da Nang and 3 nights in Hoi An, taking in the ancient port city of My Song.

Onwards and Upwards!