Conquer the Hai Van pass, reaching Hue like an emperor, Sunday Oct 27,

After being dressed like two gentlemen in Hoi An, we stripped naked and jumped into our ordinary road clothes again. We drove versus Danang on the coast way in order to find the famous China Beach. To ours and most likely everyone else disappointment, only minor parts of the beach are  made public. The big companies, Hyatts etc, have bought the land, put walls in front and guards the area. Inside, yes we tested at a few places, not too many guests are present. So the whole beach is almost unused. Damn these protected areas and long live the "allemansrätt" we are used to in Sweden. 

As a contrast to this access disappointment, the Hai Van pass was excellent. Nisse found the place for his favorite part in "Top Gear goes to Vietnam", I found myself driving slowly just to make it continue forever. The highest point is at 1469 m and it slowly brings you there with so many nice turns. The pass is a natural climate border and we expect to face colder and less humid weather from now on.

We reached Hue during late afternoon, and noticed that the Sun went orange also at very high elevation angles. Most likely it is because of all exhaust products and I guess we inhal quite a lot. Before dinner one is definitely forced to wash hands, arms, face and glasses as they are all black. But if you are too rapidly and untidy, the towel will be spoiled. 

Another disappointment was found in the late opening clothes shops of Hue. Having so many fine tailors nearby, I think they could do better than import everything from China. But so they do. Copies of clothes wearing famous designers name appearently sells better in Hue than silk from Vietnam. What a pity, how sad. 

Besides this, everything is great!

//Stefan