Hue
The bus ride was miserable for me, of Vietnamese size, let alone Dave, and we were glad when we arrived into Hue mid morning.
Hue was the imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty between 1802 and 1945, and suffering considerable damage from American firepower and bombings during the Vietnam (American) War due to its central position placed very near to the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam (Hue was located in the South).
We arranged a couple of motorbikes to take us around the Citadel, the Thien Mu Pagoda and a few of the many tombs of past emperors. The trip was eventful to say the least. We were riding on narrow paths through local villages and our motorbike riders were absolutely nuts.
The Citadel, although clearly damaged considerably during the War, was amazing and we rushed around to see as much of it as possible. It is similar in design to the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Minh Mang's tomb was very pictoresque (especially for a tomb), but the ultimate had to be our visit to Emperor Gia Long's tomb. It resides across a narrow river. We ended up paying a random lady some money to take the bikes and us across the river. When we arrived at the tomb it was clear that not many people visit this one, and the local dude let us into the inside of the tomb for a small 'discretionary fee'.
That evening was equally eventful. We headed to DMZ Bar and met up with a couple of random Aussies. After some recreational pool, it became very competitive, especially when the locals got involved. They play every day of every week and are pretty amazing. However, I managed to keep my cool and beat them, to the delight of other travellers. We also had a couple of absolutely twats (one Canadian and one American) who decided to get drunk and act like idiots in the bar and on the streets, including running onto the top of a moving car! Just when we thought out night was over, we headed to a food stall across a river. By this time, it was fairly late and we had no idea where the motos were taking us. The ride was fun though - I decided to sit on the moto (which also had Dave and the driver on it) backwards! After some pho (noodle soup), we headed to Brown Eyes, where we were briefly before walking back to our hotel. Before we could go into our hotel, the moto demanded we pay him 300,000 dong, about 6 times what we should have paid. When we refused, it got messy - foul language, phoning his boys to come over and sort us out, and other threats. WE survived.
We headed on a tour of the DMZ the following day not feeling so good from the previous night and lack of sleep, where we visited the Vinh Moc tunnels. The tunnels were built to shelter the people from the intense bombing in the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. The complex grew to include wells, kitchens, rooms for each family and spaces for healthcare. Around 60 families lived in the tunnels; as many as 17 children were born inside the tunnels as well. Dave is very claustrophobic and decided not to come in. I went in and could not believe how tight it was. No more than 50cm wide and 120cm in height. On the return journey, I was not feeling great and yacked up ... in the minibus.
We headed back into Hue and missed our shuttle to the bus station for our bus to Hoi An. So we had to get on the back of a moto. It was a 30min+ journey and very painful - I was carrying my backpack, daypack and tube while on the bike!
Hoi An
I was still not feeling all that well as we got into Hoi An, but was still out until the early hours. The weather was shocking - constant, heavy rain. However, not surprising given it was the monsoon season.
Hoi An has a river flowing through it and the banks either side are heaving with restaurants, bars and numerous tailoring shops (for which it's famous for), all of which can turn around garments in a day or two copying whatever you choose from magazines and catalogues.
However, given the weather, much of our time in Hoi An was spent playing pool, for fun, but also challenging both locals and tourists, moving between Tam Tam Cafe and King Kong Club. We ended up most nights in Salsa Club, where I would be the resident DJ, making the most of the music on iTunes and the laptop. By this time, I was on fire and winning almost every game with flawless pool, such that when Dave drew 2-2 at the appalling table at King Kong bar, he made a note of it with a marker pen on the wall.
We got off our backsides on our final day in town and headed to My Son, a Hindu temple complex, built between the 4th and 14th century, and heavily bombed by American B-52s during the War. It was a pleasant outing out of town and definitely worth the trip.
We returned to town, headed to Treats for a quick game of pool, followed by Tam Tam to watch the Liverpool game, King Kong for more pool, and finally Salsa Club around 2am. A couple of Swedeish guys were travelling with their musical instruments and we had a jam session around 4am when there were only a few of us left in the bar and the bartenders.
At around 5am, we spontaneously decided to get motos to Cau Dao beach for sunrise. It was great (not for my cold though) as we went for a swim and played football with the many locals there.
After a few hours kip, we got a car to Da Nang and an onward train to Nha Trang.
Nha Trang
The weather was now worse than before and it was pointless spending much time in Nha Trang, a seaside town. We got in late and headed to Crazy Kim's for food and then more pool at Why Not bar. Somehow, we ended up being out again until the early hours. The next day, we decided to leave for Saigon, but there was major disruption to public transport due to the tropical storm. Our train was delayed until early evening. We decided to pamper ourselves at Crazy Kim's spa - full body massage and foot massage - great!
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