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The night train from Hanoi and early in the morning arrived in Hue in hope of some warmer weather but it was not to be as I stepped off the train to cold and drizzly weather. Went with the first person to offer a reasonably sounding guesthouse and had a nice surprise when the room had a computer in there as well which was perfect for a rainy day. Went for a quick look around outside but in the crappy weather and it being their New Years Eve meaning most places were shut it didn't make for an enthralling trip. I did book myself on a dragonboat trip around the Hue sights for the next day.
So up early the next day for the boat trip with a huge mix of people onboard and off we went to see the local temples and tombs of some of the previous Kings. It was actually a really interesting trip to see how much effort had been put into the design of some of these places with plenty of symbology. The life that the Kings led was also pretty interesting with one wanting to take over the world and most of them having a ridiculous number of concubines (secondary wives). The most impressive was the one that had between 400 and 500 concubines and over 120 children all living in this same place and he would sleep with up to 6 a night! Another King had requested that his burial place be kept a secret so they ended up killing everyone at the funeral so that the location wouldnt be found out. It was eventually found which is how we ended up being there! Funniest part of the trip was our very enthusiastic guide who kept talking about how much I was like Tom Cruise! Yes I'm white and male but I think that's just about the only similarity between us (except of course my dedication to scientology)!
Met some really nice people in Hue so all agreed to meet up again in the next stop on most peoples trip down the country in Hoi An. Hue was an ok place and definitely glad I went there but I wouldnt feel the need to go back there although I did end up nearly having to spend longer there when I missed my bus (was eating pancakes!) but the lovely woman at the guesthouse rang the driver and he did a detour to come back and pick me up. That kind of summed up most of the Vietnamese people I have met who really try and help you as best they can and are very friendly as well.
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