Good morning SE Asia!: Hue

Day 1

After a long good night's sleep we woke up feeling refreshed. Downstairs the breakfast room was already busy and full of travelling backpackers who were ready to explore the city. Breakfast was awesome, we got unlimited coffee and toast with jam, juice and fruit.

The weather didn't look to promising but we really wanted to see the Citadel, the major tourist attraction in town, and decided to venture out by bike. We cycled round the city the long way round to find the entrance and also in search for a bike shop (my rear mirror was snapped off while we were at the hot spring place. No idea how that happened?) and contact lenses. We eventually got there around lunchtime after we a quick coffee stop. The little security guys were adamant for us to park our bikes at the dedicated motorbike parking, probably because they then charged 5000 dong per bike.

The weather got worse and it was now raining on and off. The Citadel, also know as the Imperial City, was a huge complex of building of intricately carved structures and vibrant colours of red and cold. It was only build in 1804. During the war, it had been heavily destroyed and out of 160 buildings only 10 major sites remain. There is still a lot reconstruction work at the moment.

Before we headed back to the hotel, we had a quick look at the outside of the Hue Military museum which is right next to the citadel. We didn't bother paying to go in, as it is apparently not worth paying for. You can have a look at the pictures below.

That night we went to the famous DMZ bar, a well-known backpacker hangout in Hue. We just wanted to have a Pizza, a couple of beers and a game of pool. Eventually, however, we met a few people (a couple from Scotland who were on holiday and two English blokes) and ended up playing pool and getting drunk until 2am in the morning. Just before closing time, Greg started playing with the kitchen staff, a girl who played very well. Despite feeling a bit wobbley on the old legs, he was still able to hold the cue and win fair and square. We got back to the hotel and the front door was closed, but we woke up the reception staff and got let in. Fun night!

Greg looks so small

Kois in the pond outside the main entrance of the Citadel

In the old days this was how it all looked...

Cyclo driver interested after I told him we we cyclists

Waiting for better weather

More tourists pouring in...

Day 2

After a fun night usually comes a not so funny morning! We woke up with a big hangover, but the thought of nice, unlimited Vietnamese coffee made us get up for breakfast. We also had to move rooms, as we decided to stay two more nights than we had originally booked. The room we moved into was okay and also cheaper, but it was tiny and right next to reception, kitchen and hangout area/breakfast room.

The weather was now even worse than yesterday. It had opened up the heavens and was pouring heavily. We didn't fancy walking around more sights in the rain, so we decided to go to a nearby 5 star hotel to use their swimming pool and spa that Greg had researched online. It was a 20min taxi ride through flooded roads. The hotel was very nice. Big complex with a nice big swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam and sauna which Greg made the most of swimming in the pouring rain while I was enjoying a facial in the spa.

The hotel offered a free bus service back to town. The hangover had even more kicked in by then though, so we were very pleased when we finally got back to the hotel and closed the door behind us. We thought about going out for dinner, but it was still heavily raining. We stayed in and ordered a tasty Pizza to the room. The reception girls at Hue Nino didn't like us having it on the bed in our room, but there was no stopping us.

Day 3

It was raining heavily all night. There didn't seem to be an end to it. We were glad we decided to stay another day in Hue. We still missed being on the bikes and decided to brave the weather to look at Thien Mu Pagoda. After breakfast we walked to a little shop around the corner and bought two ponchos.

We set off and got the first glimpse of some serious flooding. The bridge across the river 500m near our hotel was no more and the main road was closed. Some locals jumped at the opportunity and started fishing.

Thien Mu Pagoda is a historic temple was about 5km cycle from our hotel and not the most comfortable ride. The Ponchos keep you dry but not cold. Usually tourists take a dragon boat up the Perfume river to visit the Pagoda but the boats were struggling to get back up the flooded river.

The original temple was a simple construction built in 1601, but was later expanded and refurbished. There is a giant bell inside the pagoda which apparently weighs about 4000kg and is audible for 10km.

Greg was interested as he saw a car which he said was an Austin Ambassador which seemed strange in a temple but turned out to be the car that the famous burning monk drove before he set fire to himself in protest. You can see the car in the back of the very famous picture below. Quite shocking how devoted these monks are.

For dinner we decided to try a local speciality called Banh Beo. It's some sort of rice jelly things on rice cake or in little bowls decorated with fermented shrimps or pork scratchings. It was okay, but I wasn't too sure about the snotty consistency of the rice jelly. Also it wasn't as filling as we had hoped, so we went for a second dinner ;) Long 4 wet days in Hue, but tomorrow it's time to leave.