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There are several ways to make the long journey to Hue from Hanoi and we decided to take the overnight train. Late in the afternoon we took a taxi through the busy and somewhat scary narrow streets of Hanoi and arrived safely at the train station. We could see the platform but everyone was held in the waiting room and not allowed onto the platform. Suddenly the doors opened and the crowd started to squeeze its way onto the platform. We found our carriage easily and piled into our four bed cabin. We were joined by a Czech couple and we all settled in for the night. As the train departed Hanoi we weaved our way through the narrow streets only feet from homes and shops. The train journey itself was smooth and uneventful and we were soon woken up by the guard to tell us we were arriving at Hue and offered us a cup of coffee. Once we were in Hue we headed into the town by taxi and found a hotel along an alleyway which turned out to be our favourite for the whole trip thanks to the excellent service, great monsoon shower and huge range of breakfast options which included a massive cup of tea.
We had a quick shower to freshen up before heading out to find some breakfast. We ended up at the Mandarin cafe whose owner has developed a free walking guide of Hue. Whilst standing on the step reading the menu we realised we were standing in wet paint much to the annoyance of the staff as the words were now dotted with foot marks, oops. We had white sticky shoes for the rest of the day. Once inside we were enjoying some chocolate pancakes when suddenly there was a large crash. At the front of the cafe a huge pane of glass had fallen from somewhere and smashed on the floor. The waitress was standing shocked in the middle of the broken glass completely unhurt. Clearly the cafe was not having a good day and we ate quickly and headed off to the north side of the city across the Perfume river to explore the main site of Hue, the Imperial Citadel, before any more incidents occurred.
From 1804 Hue was the base for the Nguyen Dynasty. However in 1945 it was handed over to the Ho Chi Minh revolutionary government and later became a scene for heavy fighting during the Vietnam War. During this time the Citadel was damaged and destroyed but it is now undergoing extensive reconstruction. We spent several hours walking through the peaceful grounds of the Citadel which contains Palaces and ponds as well as the ruins. After this we spent the afternoon relaxing in the main town.
The next day we joined a tour to enable us to explore the Tombs of Hue which can only be reached by boat, car or motorbike. We were picked up from our hotel and herded onto a full bus and then dropped off at the river front so far without much explanation. We then boarded a 'dragon boat' which is basically a large motor boat with decorative dragon figures on either side of the front. Our main aim of the tour was to see the three Tombs, however the tour decided to cram in a huge number of other sites as well including one where we were told to go to the gate, look through and then come back to the boat without actually having time to enter!
The first stop was to a Garden House which was originally built for the Emperor's son. It was made entirely of wood in a very simple design that fitted together without any nails, nuts or bolts (a bit like an elegant flat pack) however the overall effect was stunning. Outside was a large pool with lotus flowers. After a brief look around we then went back on to the Pefume River and cruised upstream to the Thien Mu Pagoda. This was a great spot for views over the Perfume River and to see various structures but the time we were allocated to see it just seemed rushed by our not so useful guide. After a very mediocre lunch (included in the tour price) we said goodbye to the boat and went to see the first Tomb and finally the tour started to improve (because of the quality of the sites and unfortunately not because of the useless guide).
The Tomb of Ming Mang was a large complex of buildings, bridges and pools and finally ended at the burial mound where his body was said to be many metres below but you are not actually able to go up to it. During his life he had over 100 wives and many children. After he died the wives were told to go back to their old homes but the children were to stay in the Palaces.
We were asked to be back at the bus to leave at 13.45 however as the bus started moving we saw three of the group running at the bus from the temple. We shouted at the driver to stop and he took ages. The people finally reached the bus and got on shouting at the guide about being left. His response was simply "I told you 13.45 it is now 13.55 so we leave with or without everyone". From then on we were always 10 minutes early when told to be back at the bus.
Next was the Tomb of Khai Dinh which is much more modern having been built in 1925 and is also the most intact of the three that we visited. Outside the Tomb is a great collection of stone statues which included guards and elephants. The Tomb of the Emperor itself was riduculously over the top and it was difficult to decide where to look due to the extreme amount of decoration and sculptures and contrasted greatly to the dull grey of the stone outside.
The final stop was the Tomb of Tu Duc and probably our favourite but to be honest by this point we were completely fed up with temples/tombs which was a shame. This particular site served as an additional Citadel for the Emperor when he wanted to go on holiday. The day that we went it was cloudy, cool and trying to rain but it was easy to see how peaceful and beautiful this site would have been on a warm summers day with a huge lake that would be filled with lotus flowers and a large wooden house on the lake to relax in.
Unfortunately we spent the remainder of the day trying to organise flights and hotels in order to get Dave home for a job interview the following week which meant suddenly cutting our trip short having been only given one week's notice of the interview date that day. We were however extremely lucky that we were able to change flights and book new ones with relative ease and at minimal cost, phew!
The next day we started our long journey back to the UK but tried to enjoy a few more stops along the way. We took a tourist bus from Hue to Hoi An which took about five hours. In Vietnam a popular way to travel is by the "open bus" system. This allows you to buy a single ticket to travel from the North to South Vietnam allowing for stops along the way. All it requires is for you to book a seat for the bus the day before you want to travel. You can however also pay to do just one leg of it which is what we did. When we boarded the bus however there were only two free seats and so Dave sat at the front of the bus and I was at the back. The bus looked like it had seen better days but seemed to drive ok. After about one hour we stopped for another pick up. This time it was a middle-aged French couple. We both thought that this would be interesting to see considering there were no seats left and sure enough they kicked off and we don't blame them really. Eventually they agreed to stand in the aisle for the next four hours having declined various offers of seats but soon enough they were sat on the floor of the aisle. Once we arrived at Hoi An we easily found our hotel and decided to make the most of the 24 hours we had to explore.
Hoi An Old Town is a UNESCO world heritage site and is full of narrow winding alleyways in amongst beautiful old Chinese style buildings which are mainly used for shops and restaurants. Some of the hotels within the Old Town would make a great luxury holiday/honeymoon location but way out of our budget for now.
We went for lunch where we tried two of the local delicacies of Hoi An. The first was Cao Lau which is a thick noodle soup topped with sliced pork and croutons and one of our favourite Vietnamese dishes. With this we also had wonton dumplings which were filled with prawns and served with a veggie salsa on top.
We then decided to stroll to the famous old Japanese Covered Bridge which was beautiful especially when lit up at night. At each end the entrances are guarded by animal statues, a monkey at one end and a dog at the other end. Throughout the old town there are also numerous old houses, temples and museums and you have to buy quite an expensive ticket which will allow you access to five sites of your choice. We decided we were now on a time limit and so admired them from a distance and headed straight to the shops instead browsing through silk lanterns (a specialty of Hue), and the numerous traders offering to make almost any kind of clothing (if you have 3-5 days to wait that is). After dinner we strolled around the streets and river admiring the buildings and laterns all lit up.
The next day we had a taxi booked to take us to the nearby town of Danang to catch a flight to Ho Chi Minh City and so we made the most of Hoi An while we could. Next stop the Mekong Delta.
Brenda and David xxx
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Deborah Moons Hi guys! Seems to us you're having a good time on your trips! We love reading your stories ;) Anyway, we hope you enjoyed the holidays and we both wish you a very mery (and late) Christmas and of course all the best in 2013!!! Greetz! Deborah & Sven xxx