Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An.

We're almost halfway through Vietnam. I wish I had time to relate everything to you or a journal before I forget everything. We took a local bus yesterday, because our bus south failed to show up at all. We took a local bus south of Hue, and that was an awesome experience. We pissed on the side of the road, and people were getting on the bus with shopping bags full of homemade foods, someone brought their dog (for food or companionship, I don't know), and we had a good time. But, once we got into Danang, we had a miserable time. Our last bus had already left, so we had no choice but to rent a private car, and we were hounded by touts for a while.
Hoi Anh is a pretty cool place, but it's incredibly touristy and expensive. Incredibly. I mean, we ate at an amazingly high class restaurant (a far, far cry from the street stalls in Hanoi), for only about 10 dollars a person. Still cheap by American standards, but incredibly pricey by Vietnamese. It's basically a resort town, and the people here are used to having rich Europeans come through for vacation.

There was a pretty okay bar down the street, though, called "Before and Now." Pop art all over the wall and shit. But...it felt like Conrad's "Burmese Days." A bunch of Europeans paying the locals crazy prices for alcohol, a closed-club for the whites. *shrug* I've always known that I was one of the upper class, comparitavely speaking. But, I've never felt it so accutely. I suppose it's disturbing that I'm not TOTALLY repulsed. Disturbing.