It turns out that the coach is a "sleeper", which is going all the way to Hanoi, and has these half-seat / half-bed thingies - which was a bit strange. There were three rows of these in the bus:
After a while, we arrived at the Marble Mountains. I'd been expecting that we'd stop for pics on the way, but they drove right up to the biggest of the outcrops and stopped for 20 minutes.
On the trip to My Son, I'd met Mel on holiday from Oz, and we decided to explore inside the Marble Mountain they'd dropped us off at.
It was really nice - although I think we could have done with another 40 minutes or so.
As you walk in, there are Buddhist shrines inside, and a set of stairs leading up, and a set leading down.
We decided to take the stairs leading down, and as were going further and further down into the ground, there's all of these weird statues of people having nasty things done to them. Like this:
Or nasty chaps like this:
There was another one of someone being cut in half, which I didn't take a picture of, but which was particularly graphic. We were trying to work out what was going on, when suddenly, it was obvious: we'd descended into hell, and here were (for our example) people receiving their just deserts (metaphorically speaking - there wasn't a piece of cake in sight).
So we headed back up the stairs - out of hell, to the main shrine:
Sadly, there wasn't enough time to take the Stairway To Heaven, so I'm not able to report on what awaits those who take the upward path - but apparently the views are incredible.
I can of course now genuinely claim that on my trip I went to hell and back :-)
From there, it was back on the bus, and into Danang.
There's really not much in Danang. It's a full on working city, but they do have the Cham museum, which is said to be pretty good - and actually it was.
I managed to leave my bag at Sinh Cafe (the tour agency I'd booked the bus ticket with), and agreed a pretty good deal with a Moto driver to take me to the museum, back to Sinh Cafe, and then on to the station.
Theft of historically significant artifacts is a major issue in SE Asia. People can sell them to private collectors who've got bags of cash, and it's big business. So to try and save what they can, the best stuff tends to go into museums. Not that it helps that much.
Museum visiting here is a tactile experience, and it's not uncommon to see people touching priceless carvings. At the Cham museum, I even saw a tour group (Vietnamese I think) climbing up onto one of the platforms and putting their arms around one of the statues and having photos taken. And while all of this was going on the security guard sat in the corner looking totally board.
I did manage to "acquire" a few pieces - so if anyone wants some for their garden - let me know :-)
I'd have to say though, it's a pretty good museum, and they had great explanations in Vietnamese, French, and English. It was entertaining for an hour or so:
The Cham Museum - Danang. The building is worth going to see on its own:
8th Century Novelty Postcard - stamps available separately:
Something or other:
From there I caught the train to Huế, and spent the whole time listening to music and watching the incredible view out of the window as the train meandered it's way around the coast.
After arriving in Huế I dropped off my bags at the hotel, and went for a wander. And then the weirdness begins.
As I'm walking through the old part of town, a guy pulls up on a moto with his wife and two kids on the back, and says he's an English teacher and would like to practice his English - and I had to go to dinner with them.
It all felt a bit weird - so I gently decline, then he says, OK but lets go to a place for one beer. And I thought, OK, it's one beer.
So I set off walking to the place, which was across town.
When we arrive, they keep pressing me to have food, so I had a look at the menu, and guess what: no prices.
So I thought, I bet this is some kind of scam, so I said I didn't want to eat, and they started acting really weird and kept talking in Vietnamese. So much for practicing his English.
They kept trying to get me to keep drinking beer and were topping my glass up every time I took a sip. So in the end I said I'm not having any more.
And then the wife says - do you want to go to Karaoke for an hour. Which is not a good idea, as they are either scams or fronts for brothels.
So I said no. And then the guy starts talking about having all these girlfriends and how ugly his wife is and how nice the waitress is, and how he knows these really nice girls (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). This is a proper restaurant mind - not some dodgy place. And then his wife starts acting all weird, and off they go in Vietnamese, and then she starts making obscene gestures with the chopsticks (honestly, this is not made up).
And then the guy suddenly goes: "I'm a Buddhist, and I can see in your eyes that your single and have broken up with someone in the last few years, I can see all this in your eyes".
Which is no surprise, as he'd already asked me umpteen times if I was single and whether I'd been married.
So it gets so weird that I decide to get out of there, and say I have to make a phone call to the UK. So the bill arrives, and it's about four times what it should be, and he pushes it towards me and says: you pay. So I thought, it's a couple of quid, and then I can get out of here.
So I paid, and the next minute he's: I was going to pay for that, and if you want to eat I'll pay - have whatever you want, I really wanted to pay for the beer.
So I get up, and as I'm walking away, he goes - do you want to come to my house after your phone call. And I'm like, no way man (I was a bit more diplomatic) but I got the heck out of there, and legged it back to the hotel.
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