We took part in a “battle for the bus” and came out victorious!
As we were waiting in line to get onto our sleep-over bus, we noticed some confusion in the Vietnamese dialogue between the bus driver and the ‘busboy’. Someone at the ticket office had made a boo-boo and did not send our tickets, but a least we were on the list of passengers. There were two other suckers that had tickets, but they were not on the passenger list. After much debating (and the fact that Eon and I looked a bit more fierce than the other two dumb-struck girls), we managed to get onto our bus. The poor girls had to stay behind - even though they had their tickets in hand!
And so the proof is in the pudding - the sleep over bus was not as comfortable as a train, but I still think it is better than sitting in a bus seat for 15 hours over night. I also learned something about myself - I prefer sharing a room with a snorer over a stinky, dreadlock-head Frenchman! D-E-O-D-O-R-A-N-T!
After a very long 15 hour ride, we finally arrived in Hue (pronounced like the Afrikaans word “Hooi”). Hue is situated more or less in the middle of the Vietnam coast line. It is a small little town with an amazing history. It hosts a vast amount of Universities and therefore has a similar student feel to it as Stellenbosch, SA.
Years ago, the emperor built an ‘inner city’ now known as the Citadel. The most inner part of the Citadel has its own wall around it and is know as the Imperial City. Back in the day it was the emperor’s home and the military base and now hosts beautiful gardens.
Eon decided that it would be a good idea to rent a “motorbike” for the day, I wasn’t 100% keen on this as my common sense told me that we are not totally ready for taking on the crazy Vietnam traffic. We started out slowly, and gained confidence as the ride went on, we even went the wrong way into a one way with traffic officers vigorously waving at us! On our way back to the hotel, we saw a bridge only open to moto’s and bicycles only (no cars). Just as we turned onto it, weaving into the slipstream, we realised that this was actually a pedestrian bridge used by the skilful moto drivers as well. The little bridge was just wide enough for the moto’s handle bars not to touch on either side. I did not want to breathe - too scared that any movement on my behalf may cause Eon to loose balance slightly, sending us plummeting into the river…But alas - we survived! I must admit that I am very proud of Eon’s patience and driving skills - especially with a very vocal backseat driver like me!
We drove to the Citadel and explored the entire area - got some really amazing pictures here. We then headed out to the Hue surrounding areas to get a glimpse of the pagodas. In the end we could only find one of them, but it was still great fun. Eon even managed to haggle so vigorously, that I got a fab hat for only about R10,00! (Now this hat could prevent me from getting another unsightly tan!)
I loved Hue - it is not too busy, not too touristy and the food was absolutely outstanding! Besides the fact that Hue has a vast amount of good western dishes, it also hosts many great Vietnamese restaurants that that has very cheap and delicious dishes! So, for the first time in nearly three weeks, I truly enjoyed my food. As Eon puts is “you get all emotional about good food!”
Whilst waiting for our bus to take us to Hoi An, we witnessed a rainstorm of epic proportions! I have never seen so much rain in such a short time. It rained for about 15 to 20 minutes and the streets were flooded! An amazing sight for us, but the locals seemed to be all blaze about it.
To have a look at the photo gallery for Hue click on the image below:
Maar ek’s baie bly dis 1 - 0 vir julle!