| Jun 17, 2005 - A funny thing happened on the way to Hue (Hway)...
| (click to enlarge)
 |  | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | Having some kem (ice cream) by the Perfume River in Hue | | The second gate going into Imperial City | | Women in the moat around Imperial City |
| After Ha Long bay we arrived back in "Hotnoi" to catch our train to Hue. Our travel agent -whom we booked our Ha Long Bay and train tickets thru for a package discount- told us that we were instead booked on the 11pm train in first class (we were supposed to be on the 7pm.) Given our dubious experiences with the Vietnamese travel industry professionals to date, we were somewhat skeptical but decided to roll with it anyway. Now we had more time to kill in one of our favorite cities before catching the train (sarcasm.) Luckily it had rained in Hanoi and was a bit cooler so we hung out in a comfortable westernized cafe to play some rummy.
On the train, to our surprise, we had a small air conditioned cabin with four bunks (it seemed pretty clean too.) Fully expecting to have a late night playing some cards and drinking some beers with other travelers, we were surprised to see a Vietnamese family of 9 (yes nine) show up for the other two bunks! We continued to play cards whispering through gritted teeth. Luckily by the time the train departed there were only two adults and four children left to share our cabin (the others were staying behind or seated elsewhere.) It was still pretty tight but everyone was pretty well behaved. So much for first class!!
Hue was a leisurely little town, used to be the Imperial City. We thought we would check out the walled former Imperial City, paid about $3 and set aside a day for it. There was a grandiose outer gate with huge Vietnamese flag floating above followed by another stately gate to the "inner sanctum" of the city (this is where we had to pay.) We passed thru two buildings that were interesting architecture resembling what we had seen in the Forbidden City. Then the Purple City where the former ruler and his concubines lived (the real climax of the tour) was essentially an open field with a plaque telling us how those french bastards ruined their pride with the bombs. Needless, to say this was a bit anticlimactic. Hue in general was a bit anticlimactic. |
| |
| |
