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Published: October 24th 2005
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Hi all,
Well last entry was from Hoi An, the little old colonial city of South Vietnam.
We grabbed a bus from Hoi An to Hue (about 4 hours drive) and it cost the awsome amount of 3 bucks US ..... I'll have to get a second job when I get home :>
All the travel info we have read about this trip stated it was the most majestic trip over the mountains. We guess what. They have constructed a huge tunnel through the mountain range and now all you see is concrete, road and tunnel. (Took us about 10mins to get thru so it's a fair distance).
But I suppose it did save us many hours on the journey. But then on saying that, the bus conveniently broke down at a Cafe on the way, where there were 3 other busses that had "Conviently broken down) WHAT A SHOCK.
About an hour later we arrive in Hue, grabbed the first hotel closest to the bus, we were just beat and the price was right and the hotel clean.
That night we hit a pub local to our hotel and played the most pool I
think I've ever played in one sitting. We must of had over 20 games, one of the barmen was an absoulte shark and had us all on our toes.
Funnily enough the bar tab came to only 10 bucks each and well lets say in sydney, we would have been pulling out the 100's
Next morning feeling nice after a sleep in, we headed to the Palace of Hue, this was a site of the bloody battle of 1968, North Vietnamese attacked the city and took control. You can still see all the bullet holes in walls, floors and celings around the palace.
Cam and I decided we have a time issue and wanted to get to Halong Bay, so we grabbed a train ticket the same day for 3.45pm and rushed back to the hotel to pack.
And am I glad we rushed, we turn up at the train station 30 mins before the train is to depart and are told there will be a delay, flooding has caused issues on the tracks in the south.
A nice Cafe owner (Mr. Pho) takes us under his wing and we dump our luggage in his
establishment (a little front street house with plastic chairs and tables), we were going to head out and visit the Pagoda (another of Hue's monuments that we missed) but the Rain came a pouring in.....
So we thought what to do, grabbed a few brewskis, some food and played blackjack and Texas Holdem poker for 6 hours straight. There were big stakes on the table, over 30,000 dong was on line at one point (Bout 2 bucks US)
Mr Pho started to tell us about the attack on the city in 1968, and how he got thru it. He was only 7 at the time and when the North vietnamese attacked, they rounded up everyone and put them into a building to guard. American B52's rained bombs onto this building and his father and 3 sisters were killed.
The Train station that we were sitting across from was the site of the building where his Father and sisters died, and he works every day outside this place helping tourists on thier merry way. He didn't seem angry, sad or hurt while telling us this, I suppose everyone who lives in Vietnam of his generation had similar experiences
and it was just somthing that happened and they have had to move on.
Mr Pho listened all night for the announcements of our train, as we had no idea and so glad he was there, otherwise we would have been sitting in the station with all the other saps bored out of our minds.
Around 11pm the train arrives........ but what can u do but smile and jump aboard, our poor old compartment had a smashed window as you can see in the photo, but it was fine as it was double glazed......
And 13 hours later, here we are in Capital city, Hanoi. We met a nice Finnish couple on the train and had lunch with them, Tony and Senna are headed to Sydney for new years, so we said we'd try and catch up and show them the sights.
Well, we are headed to Halong Bay tomorrow for a night on board a chinese junk boat. 25 US it's cost us each (Includes return transportation, 3.5hrs, Food, accomodation on the boat etc) this place I tell u is just too expensive !!!!! hehehe
Anyways, I'm tired and have to hit the hay
for an early start..
Were leaving our luggage at the hotel we are staying at, just taking our day packs to the bay.
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Daz
non-member comment
Hi Guys, Great to hear your enjoying yourseleves. I'm just catch'n up on all your journals and am really enjoy'n reading about your adventures, I almost feel like a tourist myself. Looking forward to hearing more as the trip continues. Daz (Holiday'n in Aus =D )