We were in a strange mood when we got to Hue. We'd just spent 13 hours mangled in a sleeping bus 'bed' all the way from Hanoi so we were both delighted and exhausted when we finally got there. The day started off reasonably well. Trying to avoid all the accommodation touters at the bus stop, we veered into a little bakery. Turns out it's a training bakery where they educate disadvantaged youngsters in the food industry. I think we are developing a highly accurate radar for these kinds of places now.
After dropping off our bags we headed into the citadel. We were casually followed by a cyclo driver shouting at us 'you from Roy Keane, you take Cyclo!' We legged it away but within 5 minutes we were kicking ourselves for not hiring him as the old centre turned out to be a lot bigger than expected.
We didn't dwell too long on it though, we just gave in and went for a drink. I think we had/have some travel weariness going on. Turned out to be good timing though as the rain started bucketing down. We waited for it to stop (about two beers each worth) and then set off to find the sights.
And then everything changed. We discovered the imperial citadel which, in reality, isn't difficult but in the mood we were in we were ready to just go camp in a cafe for the day. We were made speechless though. It's an old palace grounds that was used by the Nguyen dynasty during their 150+ year reign. It's massive but terribly damaged after the war with the US in the 60's. Such a shame it all hasn't been restored just yet but it's still an amazing place to see.
At this point the only thing I have to complain about is the constant feeling of being screwed over. And much more so here in Vietnam than any of the other countries we've been to. And while I'm at it, not even in a way I can't afford. We keep paying prices that we feel are reasonable and cheap but turns out later on we've been bamboozled. For instance, earlier in the day we were conned into paying 20,000Dong (in fairness it's less than a euro) for a 15,000Dong pizza, price written on the wall. Their justification was that they put a tiny piece of sausage on top that we didn't even ask for. Then, our ticket into the imperial citadel was 105,000Dong (just under 5 Eur) but turns out it's really only 55,000Dong. The ticket seller obviously pocketing a nice little profit for herself from the two of us. We are ever so slowly learning to ask more and more questions upfront....
Our evening was spent watching the rain teem down in a family-run Vietnamese restaurant, Lac Thanh. The owner, MR. Lac is both deaf and mute and you can see him and his family communicate in their busy restaurant in their own special way. The food is amazing and the family are extremely friendly. Of course, they are trying to sell you tours on the side but at least they are nice about it.
The last thing I want to mention then is the fact we somehow caught the tail-end of a typhoon here in Hue. The weather has been rough with extreme amounts of rain and wind. We headed out to a bar but the streets were flooding really quickly. We literally had to wade back up the street in shin-deep water without thinking too much about the rats and cockroaches scrambling for their lives along the sides of buildings. I also did a good job of not thinking about leeches. We rounded off the night watching the worst rom-com ever on a fuzzy screen munching on M&M's.
After dropping off our bags we headed into the citadel. We were casually followed by a cyclo driver shouting at us 'you from Roy Keane, you take Cyclo!' We legged it away but within 5 minutes we were kicking ourselves for not hiring him as the old centre turned out to be a lot bigger than expected.
We didn't dwell too long on it though, we just gave in and went for a drink. I think we had/have some travel weariness going on. Turned out to be good timing though as the rain started bucketing down. We waited for it to stop (about two beers each worth) and then set off to find the sights.
And then everything changed. We discovered the imperial citadel which, in reality, isn't difficult but in the mood we were in we were ready to just go camp in a cafe for the day. We were made speechless though. It's an old palace grounds that was used by the Nguyen dynasty during their 150+ year reign. It's massive but terribly damaged after the war with the US in the 60's. Such a shame it all hasn't been restored just yet but it's still an amazing place to see.
At this point the only thing I have to complain about is the constant feeling of being screwed over. And much more so here in Vietnam than any of the other countries we've been to. And while I'm at it, not even in a way I can't afford. We keep paying prices that we feel are reasonable and cheap but turns out later on we've been bamboozled. For instance, earlier in the day we were conned into paying 20,000Dong (in fairness it's less than a euro) for a 15,000Dong pizza, price written on the wall. Their justification was that they put a tiny piece of sausage on top that we didn't even ask for. Then, our ticket into the imperial citadel was 105,000Dong (just under 5 Eur) but turns out it's really only 55,000Dong. The ticket seller obviously pocketing a nice little profit for herself from the two of us. We are ever so slowly learning to ask more and more questions upfront....
Our evening was spent watching the rain teem down in a family-run Vietnamese restaurant, Lac Thanh. The owner, MR. Lac is both deaf and mute and you can see him and his family communicate in their busy restaurant in their own special way. The food is amazing and the family are extremely friendly. Of course, they are trying to sell you tours on the side but at least they are nice about it.
The last thing I want to mention then is the fact we somehow caught the tail-end of a typhoon here in Hue. The weather has been rough with extreme amounts of rain and wind. We headed out to a bar but the streets were flooding really quickly. We literally had to wade back up the street in shin-deep water without thinking too much about the rats and cockroaches scrambling for their lives along the sides of buildings. I also did a good job of not thinking about leeches. We rounded off the night watching the worst rom-com ever on a fuzzy screen munching on M&M's.
The next day we took it easy. The rain eased off and we set up camp in our new favourite cafe, the French Bakery, for the day. We missed out on a lot of sightseeing in the area but the weather was being really tempermental. Lorna booked her flight out of Asia in two weeks time (sad face) and I just started researching ideas for my 'creative Friday' sessions for when I arrive at the SCOOP/SCAO school in Cambodia. Have to say I'm feeling just a but overwhelmed at becoming a teacher overnight...hmmmm....
Right at this moment we are sitting in our hotel room in Hoi An, stocked up on food for the next day or so. Reason being that the worlds strongest storm on record is about to reach us after battering the Phillipines. Wish us luck!
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