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Published: October 21st 2006
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Long life
drive slowly... Woken up early by the sounds of something nesting above our room. Sounded like the rat from Pokhara was back for his biscuits, but it was just a bird above the window!. Breakfast is included at the hotel but it was a bit odd. The food was great but the drinks were mad. Beckies lemon juice was hot and sweet and Paul's coffee came in two glasses (one with strong cold coffee and the other with milk) and extra hot water. You can really see the French influences in the bread and pastries - they are really good and very light.
Had a lazy couple of days booking hotels in Hoi An and Nah Trang to get the rest of our trip sorted. Have found it takes the stress out if the hotels are booked and we have a car to pick us up. Easy life!. Wandered mid morning to the Imperial Palace complex; a huge, amazing 6sq Km site for previous Vietnamese emperors and their families. It was built in the early 1800's but large parts were destroyed by the US during the '68 Tet offensive. Some of the remaining buildings have been restored and its still possible to
appeciate what it must have been like to live there.
We bought some fish food to feed some Koi Carp which were in a pool near the entrance. As soon as Paul held out his hand they all went mad rushing to the surface with their mouths open. When some food was dropped into the pool they went into a feeding frenzy with them swimming over each other trying to get to the food. Probably one of Beckies worst nightmares with her fish phobia!. The Palace was very regal with some beautiful buildings, the attention to detail even with the decay was amazing. There was a cute bush cut to look like an elephant with ears and a tail flapping in the breeze.
Had a good lunch at Lac Thien of rice pancakes, green salad, figs, shrimp, chicken and peanut sauce (really good). You made them into your own pancakes a little like crispy aromatic duck. Lac Thien is one of Hue's famous restaraunts and is really entertaining. The family all seem a bit mad and the walls and ceiling have been signed by previous customers. Can't believe its autumn here as the sun is really hot and
Beckie who is normally impervious to the sun burnt her shoulders!. Its 36 degrees - keep the summer rolling....
Had an amazing dinner at La Carambole restaraunt down near the Perfume River. The ceiling is decorated with kites and the food is amazing. Its very French and fairly expensive and full of westerners (lots of Intrepid tours!). The caramalised shrimp was one of the best meals for a long time. Also gave into the lemon sorbet which was gorgeous - we do not normally have puddings!.
Monday 16th october
After a repeat of yesterdays breakfast we hired a couple of bikes to cycle to two of the more remote tombs. We thought it would be about 12km so not too far, although the hotel staff thought we were a bit crazy. Probably to get us to take a taxi and get some kick back!. Pauls front tyre dramatically exploded after 10mins riding but luckily a local pointed us in the direction of a repair shop and we got fixed up for 15,000 dong ($1). He also managed to improve the brakes a bit but they were still shockingly bad - no down hill sections please!.
We set
Feeding the Fishes
At the imperial palace off again and slowly made our way out of town, doing fine but it was a bit further than anticipated. Along the way Beckie managed to pick up a friendly lady on a moped. They chatted for a while and as we would be passing her house so she invited us in for some tea. Unfortunately I realised early on that this would only end up in one way (with a request for some cash!), but it is really hard to say no when they are so nice. After sitting on her porch with tea for about 20 mins her husband turned up from a local wedding. They then decided it was too far to cycle to the tombs; he borrowed another motor bike from a neighbour and they took us to the temple of Gia Long and Khai Dihn. Although we would get scammed it probably was a good plan as it was well off the beaten track and we probably would have turned back before we got there.
We had to load the motor bikes onto a Sampan and cross the perfume river before continuing onto Gia Long's temple. The US army used some of the statues
for target practice and practiced helicopter manouvers round some stone columns. Khai Dihn was very different - more european and grand and good to see- probably would have missed if it was not for our "guides". We then all returned back to their house for some dodgy looking noodle soup and green tea. Over lunch they asked when we will marry! ; how does Beckie plant these people?. They even gave us their address for a photo!.
They did have a good tale and we were asked about a dictionary for their kids - but instead opted to make a 'donation' for one instead. They turned their noses up at the 100,000 dong and asked for a larger donation. We did give them another 50,000 so in the end it was about $10. It was just a bit sad really - they foisted themselves on us and although they did show us a good time and we got a 'free' meal out of it, we were just a cash cow to them. Makes it more and more difficult to trust any local people at all, as even the ones being friendly are only doing it for one reason.
We cycled slowly back to Hue and then took a dragon boat along the river to the 'Thien mu Pagoda'. It was a beautiful place in a great setting with a huge stone tower. Finally got back to the bikes and pedalled back to the hotel; a big adventure day!.
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Kev, Em and Amelia
non-member comment
looks like fun
Hi you two, We've just been reading your impressively detailed blog- and wondering where you've found the time to keep it up. It's been a great read- especially the highs and lows of losing the money belt and being reunited with your passports- what a relief! We're now learning how to prioritise on what to keep in backpacks from your experiences: - bulk supply of Imodium: doesn't look as important as first guessed. We trust that it is still intact. - two pairs of undies each: hmm. - Uno: definitely required. Glad to see you've been putting this to use. I trust that you've been adopting the super-competitive Alex rules. We expect to see an upgrade to the bulky "Uno Extreme" unit before the next trek. News from our end: there may be four of us by the time you return (we have a little one due in early March).