Merry Christmas

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Geo: 16.4635, 107.585

I was completely relieved to reach Hue on Christmas Eve, I thought I might be celebrating Christmas on my own, somewhere in the mountains along the Ho Chi Minh (HCM) trail, but instead I used all my strength and will power to get here, it was really tough going, but I made it.

I get checked into my dorm although there is no one around at the minute so I've no idea who I'm staying with yet, grab a nice hot shower and change into dry clothes which is a welcome relief after the weather getting here. I strip everything off and put in a bag of laundry, but my poor wee bike is abandoned across in the car park where it will be secure, so once I'm all organized, I set out to explore.

It's actually a really nice place, and there are Christmas lights everywhere, and some seriously fabulous displays at the bigger hotels etc. which is lovely to see, there's a nice river and the town has a nice feel to it. There are many sites to see here and although I walk across to try and see the Citadel it as just closed up for the night, I enjoy wandering around the river, it's nice to be out at the coast again and I'm looking forward to some sea and sand time now that I'm here.

So time for the festivities to begin, I end up with a couple of guys from Holland who are great fun,we end up playing pool and to my delight I win, meaning I win a T'shirt too. One of the guys from Holland also won, and cleaned up in the final so it was time to party and by the end of the night there are a few Santa's dancing 'Ganglam style' on top of the pool table… hilarious!

Christmas Day was good fun and I enjoyed everyone's company, ended up around 40 backpackers for lunch and the beer and wine was flowing for free the whole afternoon, with special deals on after wards. I would like to thank all the staff and other backpackers who made it a real memorable day which I thoroughly enjoyed. From the games out the front of the hotel, to the Secret Santa dip, in which I got a lovely picture, to hitting the town in the evening with new friends Michelle, Kerri, Amy, Rory, Cormac plus a few others.

So here's to a Merry Christmas everyone, remember if you've any spare pennies left why not donate here for a very worthwhile cause, bringing home the true meaning of Christmas.

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