Around Hue

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Our bus arrived only 2 hours late. I managed to figure that we'd taken a fake Sinh Cafe bus, even though I'd followed the LP directions for how to get to the real one when we'd booked our tickets. Fake company equals not on time. I, fortunately, had managed to sleep; Tom and Edward had not gotten more than two hours each, I think. It's hard to gauge how much sleep you get on an overnight bus because it's never solid sleep--instead you sleep a while, wake up, sleep a while, wake up... Bumpy roads, honking, and 3am bathroom breaks don't make it any easier.

After we checked into our hotel (really nice, but no heat!), we went in search of food. I already don't like this city. It's cold, damp, cloudy, and just depressing to look at. Fortunately, it has a lot of good restaurants. I suspect if the weather were more pleasant I'd like it but it's hard to say.

After eating we walked across the long bridge over the Perfume River to the main part of the city. For several blocks, vendors were selling trees of yellow flowers and trees with mini-oranges.

We walked a few more blocks, around some walls, through some mud, and found what we were looking for. We found what looks like an old citadel, inside which is the old Imperial Palace. The palace was sparse, with rebuilding in progress, but it's easy to envision how grand it was and will be again. (The video explaining the restoration process explained that the palace had been bombed heavily during the war, and only now are they able to restore it thanks to outside help.)

It started to rain so we went back to our hotel to rest, use the internet, and get ready for dinner. There was an Italian restaurant up the street that had more pasta choices with cheese and cream sauce than I've seen in years. And they had an amazing dessert menu. I will return!

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Comments

[Elyse]

Hue
We had the complete opposite weather. It was SO HOT we couldn't keep hydrated. Don't know which is worse: wet and cold or a scorching sun and humidity?