Gosh, we're in heaven

Let's face it, Da Nang is a bit run down and not the place you can recommend to people who are looking for a fun time. Our hotel, the Da Nang Pacific, while deliberately not the most expensive in the Agoda catalogue, was about as run down as the rest of the town. Gloomy bathroom, only one bedside table (bed pushed up against the wardrobe on other side), quirky air-con, and staff who only spoke at one default volume (LOUD) when coming to work at 6 in the morning and going home at night. Apart from the silent curfew moments between midnight and six, sleep was pretty much guaranteed to be broken. Of greater affront was the free Internet computers, buggy and running on Windows XP ferchrissake! (I mention this for a reason; bear with me.) We've just checked into the Hue Orchid Hotel. Wow! Charming, fluent English-speaking hostess; cold drinks and fruit while they copy the passports; huge double bed with the towels folded up like mating swans; a TV and a DVD player; room safe; bottles of wine for sale for only 2-4 quid; and, wait for it, MY OWN GODDAM PERSONAL COMPUTER! In the room! Running on Windows 7 broadband! I'm writing this rubbish now while Linda has her shower. Before we go out and find a bar! I'm so happy I could relocate permanently!
*Sigh*
The train ride, it may come as a surprise, was also a delight. We got to the station early and so had time to work out how things work. The timetables were easier to decypher than I had first thought, and we had no problem finding our coach (Toa #1). Our seats were on the right side of a large, air conditioned, slightly rough-around-the-edges carriage which was great as the scenery on the three hour ride to Hue was marvellous. Rugged coastline giving way to unspoilt sandy coves and bays giving way to fishing villages giving way to towns on peninsulas giving way to paddy fields giving way, finally, to the Hue shanty suburbs. It strikes me that one could plan a tour of the whole of Vietnam, Nanoi to Saigon, by just using the railway to jump from places of interest. Only one thing marred the day so far and that was the idiot who insisted on targeting us as soon as we got off the train with our bags, obviously aiming to sell us a hotel room/unmetered taxi ride/mother's jewellery/whatever. He obviously didn't know he was dealing with a paranoid schizophrenic (after Saigon) but soon did when, after repeatedly telling him I wasn't interested, I lost it. "GO AWAY!", I shouted at him in front of a crowd of people. He jumped visbly and everyone else left me alone after that. Ha! Felt much better.

Well, the sun is shining down on the Perfume River and what looks like a beautiful long grass esplanade following the length of it. The hotel owner came over and said we were lucky as, before today, it had been raining and overcast. So. Best go out and do some exploring!!