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Published: November 1st 2013
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So we stayed in Hanoi for 2 more nights and checked into the same hotel we stayed in before the boat trip. webboth said though that 2 more nights was too much and we could have managed 1. We did a bit of exploring though went to the part of the city where all the workers were, there were lots of big banks like Citibank based there which were surrounded by all the designer shops, so I of course had to have a little look. It was just the same as home though really, nothing special to report on.
We managed to go see the Water Puppet Show though which was really good. The musicians were amazing and sat right in front of us so we could hear it all really well. It was really clever to see how they did the show all of the puppeteers were behind a screen and you only see them at the end when they take their bow, otherwise you wouldn't know how they were doing it. The only downside was that it was obviously all narrated in vietnemese so we couldn't really follow what was happening other than a leaflet that told you
the name of each act. It didn't really matter though as it was so interesting to watch.
We had an evening flight to Hue the next day so had a walk in the morning and then got a taxi to the airport in the afternoon. As soon as we got to Hue we knew we preferred it, it was a bit like going from Bangkok to Chaing Mai from a really busy mad city to one that wasn't as mad. The hotel were really helpful and booked us in on a tour for our main day there, a bus in the morning and boat ride in the afternoon. We got on the bus and straight away realised it wasn't really 'a bit of us' us Brad would say. We were on a bus full of people having to follow a tour guide and stop and meet whenever we were told. We have definitely realised we enjoy doing things at our own pace a lot more. We stuck it out though and saw some interesting museums, however by the third we were slightly bored. The best part of the morning though was getting to visit a marshal arts school and
see the students put on a performance for us. Again this reminded me of Grandad, growing up me and Luke used to watch Karate Kid with him all the time and we always had a thing about 'wax on, wax off' so it really made me smile watching them in action. Half way through the day was the lunch stop, we pulled up and walked into a restaurant with a buffet lunch set up, and when I say it was vile it was vile!!! Now I wouldn't call me and Brad snobs (ha) but we literally couldn't stand it in there, Brad had to pretend I wasn't well so we could leave haha so actress Kate came out to play lol. We got out as fast as we could and went to find our own place for lunch. We found a little local restaurant and both ordered chicken dishes. Well, what can I say other than it looked like DOG MEAT!!!! I refused to let it pass my lips! So our lying came back to hit us on our faces lol!!! The poor waiter felt so awful though he knew we didn't like it but we didn't have the heart
and just had to say we were full!! The lady at reception noticed we cut the trip in half too do again, had to tell them I wasn't well!!!
After recovering from the god awful lunch we headed out on our own to royal palace where we were meant to go with the group, and it was so much nicer going just e 2 of us!! We got a boat across the river, it was so surreal it was a families boat and we literally hopped on with them all. They dropped us on the other side I'm what I can say was like a jungle, I even stood in sh*t (sorry for swearing mum and dad) but it was gross, you can all imagine how much I screamed and over reacted to that though, I can see you all laughing. We finally got to the palace and befor getting to the entrance were stopped by a group of school kids asking questions for a project, it was the funniest thing 1 girl asked it all and then turned to her friend to ask a question and she was staring at Brad in awe, I think she fell in
love at first sit haha, even he noticed it!
When we got in We strolled around for ages reading about the emperors and making up our own stories of what went on in each wing lol. The grounds were massive, too big to do it all but what we did see was beautiful. Then we had to head back and it was the scariest way home ever, we walked over a bridge, thinking we'd be safe walking on the path, but no, not here, there were road world so the bridge was rammed and bikes were everywhere, even driving on the pavement meaning we were literally amongst them all, oh and walking on the wrong side of the road!!! I can gladly say we made it across, just! We were in shock for ages it was unbelievable!! We went for a quiet meal in the evening and then went and bought our new baby!!! An amazing canon camera that I used my birthday money to buy! So thank you mum, dad, Granny, lukey, Julie and Shirley and George your birthday money has gone to great use, we love the new toy and have named him Sonic lol.
We are now in Hoi An so I will update you all ASAP
Love B&K xxxxxxx
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