Huế is in central Vietnam, and during the Vietnam war - or the American war, depending on whose side you were on - it was situated right on the border between the North and South. It got pummelled by American artillery, which is a shame (as most pummellings are) because it is home to some amazing architecture. Much of it remains, and it's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
To be brutally frank, at this point, we couldn't give a shit.
We went to some really good street-side cafés and had some of the nicest food we'd had in a while, but the effort of doing anything of real cultural value seemed too much to surmount. Plus Helen was walking around with a lump the size of a golf ball on her forehead and two black eyes. I must have looked like some sort of violent monster.
None of this mattered to us any more, whatsoever. We found a cheap hotel, just round the corner from where Ed and Nicky were staying, and didn't really leave its surrounding area. The wind had been thoroughly knocked out of our sails, and into our pants. The slightest odd look from a Vietnamese person - male or female - sent a small shiver down our spines. Again, this was a horrible shame, but the horrible truth.
Just over the road from our hotel was an example, possibly the only example, of when the Lonely Planet guide actually got it right. There was a small café run by a lady called Tu, which was called Tu Wheels Café. It did nice food, cheap beer, rented motor and push bikes and had a really good atmosphere. We spent our first and last evenings in Huế here, and it lifted our spirits somewhat.
Then, one morning, rain fell like I had never witnessed before.
Hanoi was a great city. We really enjoyed walking round and got our confidence back up a lot. We went to some nice restaurants and bought some presents for the kids that we would be staying with in Australia over Christmas.
To be brutally frank, at this point, we couldn't give a shit.
We went to some really good street-side cafés and had some of the nicest food we'd had in a while, but the effort of doing anything of real cultural value seemed too much to surmount. Plus Helen was walking around with a lump the size of a golf ball on her forehead and two black eyes. I must have looked like some sort of violent monster.
None of this mattered to us any more, whatsoever. We found a cheap hotel, just round the corner from where Ed and Nicky were staying, and didn't really leave its surrounding area. The wind had been thoroughly knocked out of our sails, and into our pants. The slightest odd look from a Vietnamese person - male or female - sent a small shiver down our spines. Again, this was a horrible shame, but the horrible truth.
Just over the road from our hotel was an example, possibly the only example, of when the Lonely Planet guide actually got it right. There was a small café run by a lady called Tu, which was called Tu Wheels Café. It did nice food, cheap beer, rented motor and push bikes and had a really good atmosphere. We spent our first and last evenings in Huế here, and it lifted our spirits somewhat.
Then, one morning, rain fell like I had never witnessed before.
 |
| Jesus, bearing in mind I'm not meant to be the Son of God or anything, it's not hard to look like you're walking on water. |
In half an hour the water was a foot deep, splashing into the hotel reception and going down the lift shaft, meaning that it had to be pumped. This was an arduous task, and so I asked how often it happened. All the time, apparently. Which raised the question - could you not make the step higher?
The rain continued to pour down like it was water condensed from atmospheric vapour under the influence of gravity for the rest of the time we were there, and put a final stop to any thoughts we had of venturing much further than round the corner to go on the internet to argue with the twats on the Lonely Planet forum.
After a few days, we left Ed and Nicky in Huế and went on the bus up to Ha Noi. We did even less here, but caught up on some much needed sleep in a very cheap hotel Helen had found which had only just opened.
Hanoi was a great city. We really enjoyed walking round and got our confidence back up a lot. We went to some nice restaurants and bought some presents for the kids that we would be staying with in Australia over Christmas.
We also found Snoop Dogg's hotel room.
We had more than a little trouble with an air conditioning unit that sounded like the Chernobyl reactor in its last throes, but this place was cheaper than potato oblongs.
We got an email from Ed and Nicky and decided to pay a bit of money and go on a trip to Halong Bay with them and some of their friends. After a few days on our own, we met up with them and we treated ourselves to a superwicked (read: silly expensive) curry, and the next morning we set off for Halong Bay.
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