Part 68: Hue...
When the we arrived at Hue, all I kept thinking about was laying down fully stretched out on a flat bed instead of the horrendously uncomfortable chairs we just endured for the last 18 hours!!
I cant tell you how happy we were to see the back of the bus from hell - that was one tough experience!
The coach dropped us off at a random street which I believed to be the bus station, actually it was more of a hut with a travel office!
Our bags were dumped off on the floor, and then not long after the bus drove off - then we were on our own.
It wasn't quite the sunshine and blue skies we were hoping for, instead there were grey clouds and a cool misty air; Jack didn't hide his disappointment very well so I booked a cheap hotel instead of a hostel just as a reward for that journey, plus I was desperate for a good nights sleep free from snoring and smelly feet. Thankfully it was only 20 minutes away on foot, and more importantly, a steal at only $10 a night! A quick look on Jacks app and the route was conveniently mapped out directly to the hotel.
We walked over the large Truong Tien Bridge, one of the main landmarks of the city situated over the famous perfume river.
Apparently in the autumn, flowers from orchards upriver from Hue fall into the water, giving the river a perfume like aroma, hence the name.
On first impressions, it had far less character than Hanoi as well as no where near as much traffic.
Typically there was a main strip littered with the usual restaurants and cafes that we walked down with mopeds, and the distinctive local cyclo's - which are to Vietnam what tuk-tuks are to Thailand. Instead of having the driver at the front, they sit behind you and pedal.
I must confess sightseeing was the last thing on my mind right now as we just wanted to get to the hotel as quickly as possible to rest.
We checked in to such a lovely and friendly place, and were made to feel right at home. The staff handed us an ice cold drink; a godsend after the long bus journey, then showed us to our comfortable double room. Its hard to comprehend this was only 10 US dollars between us - the room was spacious and really quite nice.
I immediately jumped onto the bed laying out completely flat, fully stretching out my legs and arms star shaped - it felt great. To be honest the journey wiped us out and as we were both so shattered we did nothing the next few hours other than sleep!
After waking up I did a little research on the Hue which used to be the capital of Vietnam. It's actually a very ancient and historical place, with the Citadel and many tombs set within four ancient walls, known as the Imperial City - it all looked very pretty.
Catching up on sleep did us both the world of good but we still were not overly enthused to sightsee. Instead choosing a casual stroll along the river front to search for food.
So a lazy day ensued for us and we didn't even get that feeling like we were missing out on anything for now, instead choosing to eat and take advantage of the cheap alcohol once more.
It was here that we both made the decision to continue south in the search for warmer weather and beaches. Even though the sound of the bus horn was still fresh, vibrating my brain, and my legs still ached from the journey, we decided to head for Da Nang, a further 4 or more hours south on the sleeper bus the following day.
But before all of that, we forfeited a day of sight seeing for a heavy drinking session instead. Something inside told me we would regret this but hey, maybe a good old blow out wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.
Wandering around Hue's main strip early evening was actually quite pleasant. There were lots of coloured hotel lights reflecting on the water, dozens of restaurants and a really nice atmosphere at night - it wasn't too long before we found a bar where we sat outside chatting and watching life go by, quickly downing several cheap local beers. I was getting more and more used to drinking at Jacks pace now.
This was nice enough, but we both began to crave somewhere a little more lively as the beers began to kick in. And it wasn't long before we left for the much louder Hue backpackers hostel just in time for happy hour, quickly ordering 2 seriously strong double mojito's each, followed by another couple of beers; it was buy one get one free!!
The hostel was lively with banging dance music blaring out, and a loud, overly keen rep doing his utmost to involve me and Jack in several drinking games; we declined his incessant offer, Instead we were joined at our table by a group of friendly Australian girls. I'm not exactly sure how me and Jack were coming across, but our words were starting to slur. They all introduced them selves and despite the alcohol, had a decent conversation about travel and life in general, then staggered out to the next place.
The alcohol had fully taken over now and we were pounced on by a rep who led us both by hand to a club bar. It seemed lively so we didn't mind to much and we downed another quick-fire couple of shots.
Again the music was really loud and there were two Irish guys playing pool watched by quite a large crowd. They challenged me and Jack to a game of pool and before we even knew it, Jack accepted!
Of course they wiped the floor with us in front of the whole club as me and Jack completely embarrassed ourselves with the worse showing of pool you were ever likely to see; and if that wasn't bad enough we challenged them to a rematch. Though this time we surprisingly got it together, restoring our damaged pride in an exciting close game, with even more people in view, but sadly it wasn't quite enough as we lost on the black.
I liked this place, the people seemed friendly and it wasn't just full of backpackers either, it had a good mix of young locals too who where happily mingling with the tourists. We stayed here for quite a while drinking yet more beers and then took the short walk back to the river front where our hotel was.
And with all the alcohol in our systems we slept like babies.
The short time we did have in Hue worked out really well helping us to catch up on sleep and recuperate, even if we didn't really get an opportunity to see many of the sites.
Much later the following afternoon the sleeper bus we booked pulled up directly outside our hotel.
I know it was only 4 or more hours but the flashback to the 'bus from hell' filled me with more dread. Plus I wasn't exactly feeling great from all the heavy drinking the night before. But when it pulled up my anxiety quickly vanished. It was a brand new comfortable bus; with wifi!! Inside it was pristine, spacious - and with a big wide screen TV too.
Me and Jack sat on the two middle reclined bunks right at the front, but more importantly we were able to fully extend our legs out!
This was the complete opposite from our last experience with the bus gods taking pity on us. We were heading south in luxury compared to last time. And the big smiles on our faces said it all.
Next stop, Da Nang......