04/04
Arrived in Hué very early this morning after a very long drive. It's an absolutely gorgeous city steeped in history, as it was once the old capital many hundreds of years ago. The weather is still pretty overcast but really hot and humid, it's not a good combination for anything apart from burning through deodorant! After getting checked in our first thoughts were food... then a tour around the Imperial city. The imperial city is basically a huge housing complex that used to act as the main palace for the emperor. It wasn't bombed too badly by yhe Americans so its nice to walk around and see original oriental architecture. Went out and painted the town red with some mates from the bus down from Hanoi; Liam and Will.
05/04
For those of you that have seen 'the hangover' films; last night was pretty much the same, that's all you need to know.
This morning we hired so bicycles with Will and Liam (the lads) and got ourselves 14km east to the beach (another one of our brilliant hangover ideas). The countryside scenery on the way was sublime. On arrival we were all blown away by the beach, it must have been the most stunning beach so far, it was incredible and we literally had it to ourselves. Played volleyball to sweat out the alcohol and then chilled that night.
06/04
Up early today to get ourselves on the bus and southbound to Hoi An. The journey through the countryside was great again, loads of fantastic vietnamese views. After checking in we had a good walk about town and were immediately impressed. The place is gorgeous, really quaint little town with plenty of markets, tailors and restaurants that are just off the chart. Certainly the some of the best chefs in asia reside here, though they may not know it, the food is so cheap.
07/04
Rented out bicycles with the lads again today as we had travelled down to hoi an with them. Headed a few km out of town to another stunner of a beach again. The waves here were absolutely huge, great fun if you like having the crap kicked out of you!
08/04
Another day at the beach with a load of friends we have made at the hostel. Went out with the lads tonight to watch them get tailored up and have suits made from scratch for them - we were both very very tempted! Definitely gonna come back in a few years with a bit of money to get work gear sorted!
09/04
Both worried after so many days monging on the beach that were not seeing enough of Vietnam and its people. So today we spent some money on a ticket which allows you access to all the ancient buildings around town. If you haven't seen it on top gear, there is a really cool Japanese bridge and many other old assembly house built by different nations for trade hundreds of years ago. Seriously, the orientals are in an architectural league of their own, its insanely delicate and exquisite. Grabbed a Bahn Mei sandwich (local meat street food) which was bloody incredible after being freshly bbq'ed in front of us!
10/04
Rented out a moped this morning ans attempted an impossible drive after picking up Josh's custom made shoes. A 40km burn across the wilderness and into charley's territory. The peds here are all fully auto 125s so the ride there was epic...the highway was mental though, we don't recommend driving on them. We finally arrived at My Son in one piece and didn't get lost once. The temples that make up the complex are amazing here, nothing quiet as impressive as india, we're fast becoming connoisseurs of temples. It must have been at least 40º here and we ran off pretty fast for cover. After making it back to hoi an we made the most of the bikes and spent the evening at the beach, before having a sophisticated meal with the lads that night.