Hue

Well, I survived my first all-night bus ride pretty well, I would say! Right before walking to the bus station (which was a block from the hotel I stayed at), the very nice owner walked around the dining room where we were all waiting to go to the bus, and gave us "Ninh Binh water," which was actually my first taste of Vietnam's rice vodka. It was not good at all, but at least I tried it, and for free! I was the last one onto the already mostly-full bus, and was happy to see that this one was an improvement over the one a couple nights earlier. I settled into a window "seat" at the front, and was promptly pointed and grunted at to move to the upper bunk in the middle. Initially, I did not go because I wanted the window seat. So he started driving but stopped after about one minute, got up, and once again pointed at me and then at that bunk. I tried to ask why, but to no avail. So, I obediently moved to where I was told, which meant no air flow control for me, and no window view, as well as frequently inhaling a good amount of the driver's cigarette smoke throughout the night:( Overall, the ride was pretty much what I expected - bumpy, uncomfortable, hard to sleep, only occasional air conditioning, and other people snoring around me! I woke up many times throughout the journey, the last time being around 6 or 6:30 a.m., when we were stopped. I wasn't sure where we were, but people were starting to get off. I tried to ask everyone who walked by what city we were in, but no one spoke English. Finally, I got down and went to the front steps of the bus, and asked three men that were standing there staring at me what city we were in, again to blank stares. So I said "Hue?" and got "Hue!" back from all of them. This didn't seem right, since we were supposed to arrive around 9 or 9:30 in the morning, but I got off to find my bag already unloaded for me - at least someone knew I was getting off at this stop! So, groggy and discombobulated, I disembarked and pulled out my Lonely Planet map to try to figure out how to get to my hostel. Amazed, I realized I was actually let off much closer to it than I had thought I would be, so I set off to try to follow the map and find it, along with some other travelers who had also gotten off and were equally confused at the strange arrival hour. They followed me as I made about two wrong turns, and we eventually ended up at Hue Backpacker's Hostel, where they were awesome and let us partake in the free breakfast, which includes the 3+1 instant coffee (or at least something similar) that I always loved when I was in China. Also, there was a bathroom to shower in while we waited to check into our rooms. Two of the people that had followed me to the hostel and I ended up talking at breakfast and deciding to rent bicycles for the day and explore Hue. We rented bikes at the corner shop for about $1.50 for the whole day! They were actually pretty nice, although my brakes were equivalent to the nails on a chalkboard sound! So we first went to explore the huge Citadel, which was heavily bombed by the Americans and it continues to crumble. The Imperial Enclosure is within that, and the Forbidden Purple City is within that.

Then we went in search of the Dieu De National Pagoda, where people were crowded inside praying. This pagoda was once under the direct patronage of the emperor. After that, it was time to head out of the city to try to find at least one of the Royal Tombs. We quickly realized why most people get to these either by motorbike or taxi or bus, because we felt like we just kept going, and there were not signs letting us know we were going in the right direction. On the way, we stopped for what was for sure my most ambitious street food yet. I took a picture and will post soon.

 We were unsure what most of it was, and didn't get an option to order. They just put a plate of food in front of each of us. The only thing I recognized was a very small octopus, which I did not eat! Overall, the rest of it was pretty tasty! Once we got to the basic area, we kept asking people, and it felt like they would all give us different signals for which way to go! There were some rolling hills in this area, so we definitely felt like we were getting our exercise! Also, it was the first sunny, hot day for us so we were working up quite a sweat. Eventually, we found the Tomb of Tu Duc (Emperor from 1848-1883). A funny little side box in the Lonely Planet about him is as follows: "A Right Royal Food Critic - Emperor Tu Duc expected 50 dishes to be prepared by 50 cooks to be served by 50 servants at every meal. And his tea had to be made from the dew that accumulated on leaves overnight." The complex itself was beautiful, with a small lake and decaying buildings. It was neat to try to imagine what he did there while he was Emperor! After wandering through the complex, we were told to sit and have a refreshing drink as a thank-you to the guy who watched our bikes for us. Sarah, I had a Fanta in a can, reminding me of Kenya (not as good as from the bottle though)! Then we began our journey back, which went much quicker than the one there; I think it was downhill more of the time. Once back at the hostel, it was time for a shower and then free beer hour, which really is just free beer! A guy just keeps handing out 500 ml bottles of Huda beer. I had a nice time talking with my two new friends from Prague, as well as others. I already have offers to stay with them when I am in Prague! This hostel was a party place last night, as I was forewarned of via reviews online, so there was no complaining from me. I think the noise really did settle down around 10:30 p.m. or so. I will spend one more night here, and head on to Hoi An tomorrow morning - this is the place where they make clothes for you, not Hue as I formerly said. Today, I walked to Dong Ba Market, on the other side of the Song Huong (Perfume River) from the hostel, and wow was it interesting! They had a ton of really good-looking produce, as well as raw meat in various stages of preparation, as well as all kinds of things I wasn't even sure what they were! I would not be able to stay in there very long, no to mention all day, for the lack of air movement and the stench, that's for sure!

Now I am back here to take it easy for the afternoon. I will try to get some pictures posted if possible. There are only two computers to use here, and one of them currently has no internet, so we will see. I have obviously been hogging this one for a long time! I am looking forward to getting to my next city, Hoi An, which is supposed to be pretty great, and is about 2 hours from here. At least this time I will be traveling during the day, so I can pay more attention to where I am and hopefully not be confused about the stopping place and time for once! Will write more soon:)