A long way to Hue

Louise with her Motorbike driver
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Not wanting to hang around Hanoi for too long we decided to do the overnight bus the same day we returned from Halong Bay. We were taxied to the bus and got on what we thought was going to be a tourist bus (because we bought an open ticket to Saigon) but definitley was more local (maybe they had run out of places on the tourist bus...??) - it had the usual plastic stools down the middle of the aisle and we were actually lucky to get a proper seat, only about 1 left after we sat down. Wouldn't fancy 12 hours overnight on a plastic stool! Anyway we all settled in for the long journey hoping we'd sleep after the previous late night in Halong Bay. The journey went grand except for poor Caz who had a rather amourous Vietnamese man sitting beside her who thought they could snuggle under her jacket! And the guy sat on the plastic stool next to Louise decided to use her arm as a cushion for 6 hours...bless! Checked into the guesthouse in Hue (pronounced ""Weigh") and headed out for a wander to get a feel for the city. Much smaller than Hanoi and so so so much calmer. None of the manic constant beeping! The Perfume River runs through Hue and was so called because years ago lots and lots of flowers grew in the river and gave it a lovely aroma,,,that lovely aroma doesn't really exist anymore but the river is quite impressive!. Across the bridge from where we were staying was the citadel and the imperial city. We visited one of the local markets which sold mostly fruit and vegetables but also some clothes and other bits and bobs. Didn't buy anything...no more room in the bags really! On our second day we hired some bikes and decided to head towards Thuan An Beach 14k outside of Hue (Too long on this trip without seeing a beach!) So we set off on our rickety bikes. And when we say rickety we really mean it! You had to cycle full throttle to get the bloody things to move at all! We had heard the cycle was quite nice but the reality was a bit different. Vietnam is such an incredibly dirty country, there is rubbish absolutely everywhere and lots of it! The people just aren't educated about the effects of dumping on the environment but also in alot of cases they have no alternative but to just throw rubbish where ever they can. So even though we were passing by some lovely paddy fields and villages, the piles and piles of rubbish everywhere kind of spoilt the picture! Anyway, besides that it was lovely to meet and wave to lots of local villagers.....but somehow we managed to miss the turn off for the beach and because it was hard to gauge how fast we were cycling we'd no idea whether we'd cycled 4 or 14 k! We kept going anyways in the anticipation that the beach was around the next corner! When it never appeared we stopped and were instantly swamped by local kids who were so excited about the 3 foreigners stopping in their village - it was surreal and quite cool! We managed to communicate that we wanted to get to the beach. They all had a great laugh - apparently we passed it 10k ago! So we started the journey back, laughing and kicking ourselves for being so stupid! When we did eventually get to the beach (about 3 hours after we set off!!) it wasn't very nice at all, totally filthy with lots and lots of rubbish all over the place. Still, we sat and relaxed for an hour before hitting the road back to Hue. It was a funny day but not to be repeated. We all had very sore arses from the lovely saddles on our bikes! That night strolling along the river we were treated to some Vietnamese singing which was going on in one of the pavillions. We also bumped into Stefan and Camilla who we'd been on the Halong Bay trip.

Us trying traditional dress at Tu Duc's Tomb
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On our third day we booked a motorbike tour around Hue with a company called 'Cafe on Thu Wheels'. Thu is the woman who runs it with her 10 brothers (1 coconut & 10 bananas!!!)- all of the guys drive the bikes. It was our first time on the back of bikes in Vietnam and for the first few minutes on the road it was pretty scary. Road rules don't exist! Going round a roundabout is kind of like Russian roulette - go whichever way you can and hope that somebody doesn't run into you. But after a few minutes you realise that everyone on the roads is a really really good driver and there is method to their mad driving! We were all thankful for the beeping now though! The 3 of us plus another guy from the Uk all drove in convoy. We drove out into the countryside, through some small villages and streetmarkets and past lots and lots of pretty paddy fields. Firstly we visited a pagoda (can't remember the name of) where we sat and listened to the monks chanting, singing and presenting their offerings to Buddha. It was very peaceful. We also visited Thien Mu pagoda which is outiside town on the banks of the river and looks like an octagonal tower. There is a special sort of "shrine" here to one of the former monks of the temple. At one end of the cells is a sort of car-port in which a old rusty Austin sits on blocks. It was in this car that one of the monks from the temple drove to Saigon in 1963, got out, and set himself on fire in protest to the Diem regime of the time. Stop two was Tu Duc's tomb where we got the chance to dress up in traditional dress and basically make a huge show of ourselves. Even the Japanese tourists were taking pictures of us! We then continued to see women making incense and conical hats, bunkers from the Vietnam war, Japanese Bridge and various other points of interest. It was great fun and a really good way to see some of the sights! That night met Stefan and Camilla for some food and lots of beers. Unfortunatley, Hue has a closing time of 11pm and we were still drinking with Thu in Cafe on Thu wheels at 11.30 so the guards came, threw us out and fined Thu. Apparently in the communist country, neighbours are jealous of each other so her neighbours who dont like to see her doing so well call the police and report her for staying open late. Regardless of this, we still had a great last night in Hue!!!