We have been all over the place since our last post, so much so that we have either been on the go or knocked out! We spent a couple days in Hoi An, then moved on to Hue where we have been the last couple of days. Hoi An is a beautiful city with well-preserved architecture and some rich history. It was originally a major port city, but the river sanded up long ago and if not for tourism, there would not be much left of the city. When we arrived Sunday morning after a very bouncy, back-of-the-bus night, I think we were a little too quick to let the negatives of our first moments in the city put a cast on our views. We immediately decided we did not like it much. We arrived around 7am and it was a scorching, soggy underwear long walk until we found a hotel we were ok with. We got settled and made our first round around the city. Every. Single. Street. From one end to another. With peddlers in our faces non-stop, the worst yet. I’m telling you, we just don’t know how to sit still when we should! Well, we finally could go no further so we had fresh juice at a cafe and read a little. Even after sitting there about 1.5 hours, I was still feeling overheated, so we went back to the room and I took a long nap. Oh man, after cooling down and getting some rest, the city seemed much more pleasing! The more time that went on, the more we enjoyed it, could appreciate the beauty, and the less we felt smothered by peddlers. Overall, it still was not our favorite place. Mainly because it does exist solely for tourism. The locals seemed less friendly and more directly reliant on the money we spent, therefore, it wasn’t very peaceful during the day. The evenings were much more peaceful, and very beautiful as silk lanterns hung all over the city.

We were happy that the city center was closed off to cars and we could walk a bit more freely. One thing that we did love about Hoi An – the food! We tried a few new things that were all good, but the very best was a place called Bale Well where they bring out several plates of ingredients including bbq pork, sausage, something crunchy, rice pancakes, veggies, and rice paper. You then build your own spring rolls, which was altogether fun and messy! The taste was fantastic!

We did a lot of looking and a little buying since that was the main thing to do in Hoi An. We are pretty excited about one purchase, we got ourselves a large canvas oil painting! The bus ride to Hue (pronounced Whey) was during the day and only 4 hours. We arrived in Hue at 1pm Tuesday and hit the road first thing to see the Imperial City, an old walled fortress and palace from the Nguyen empire, which only just ended in the 1940s. It is massive, and the Forbidden Purple City where the imperial family personally lived is another walled fortress within the larger. I think we got some pretty neat photographs.

The fortress did attain some damage from the US bombs, but reconstruction and restoration are now underway. The imperial city was close to being destroyed because the Nyugen empire was a fuedal society and Vietnam wanted to forget it. Maybe they were terrible, but what remains is pretty astonishing! Today we decided to rent bicycles and ride about 5 miles each way to the tomb of Emporer Tu Duc. We could have gone to more tombs but the others were farther out. It was so nice for once to be off our feet and an experience to flow with this crazy mess of traffic. Bryan had done the research on the tomb area and I didn’t ask many questions, so I was surprised when we arrived to find out it was much more than a tomb, but was also a retreat where he lived much of his time and used it as hunting grounds, to write poetry, and to enjoy the peace. It was a very large area, again surrounded by walls, and the lake was man-made with a pretty little island.

After lunch we decided to ride another 4 miles out to Thien Mu Pagoda. This was another impressive Buddhist construction and most of it is still in great condition.  The pagoda is well known for where the monk that set him self a blaze in 1963 was from [link].

After leaving the pagoda we decided to take it slow back to the hotel. That was an understatement. Just after we got back on the bikes my back tire blew – the stem of the nozel just cracked open! I’m proud to say that despite being in full sun in the heat of the day and pushing bikes for 4 miles, we made the best of it and stayed in good spirits!

This evening we are off to Hanoi!

We are coming to the end of our fourth day in Vietnam, and we’re getting into the groove of our new lifestyle.  We are really having a good time now, and I can tell that the change is sinking in and becoming comfortable because Bryan is more relaxed today, and he did a good job of bargaining today!

Since our last post was so short, I’ll give you some more detail about our experiences thus far. Friday, our first day, was absolutely exhausting. After our long walk from the airport, skipping a night in flight, and talking for a couple of hours with a crowd of locals, I laid down at 7:30pm to read my book and didn’t get as far as opening it. By the way, I NEVER fall asleep instantly. Ever. We got a good kick out of that the next day.

Saturday morning as we lazied around our hotel room, I was quite intrigued spying on the family two stories below our balcony in a tiny alley, who were all hard at work. On the floor of a tiled room that opened to the alley (open meaning without walls), a man, a woman, and assuming their adult daughter were cooking up something extravagant that took several hours. Wish I knew what it was, I would love to try it. Living spaces in this part of the city are about the size of my college dorm room, so I doubt they had anywhere but the floor to work off. A young man was busy in the alley folding laundry and washing just about everything else they owned, it seemed. Little kids were playing in the soapy water that covered the ground. It was cool to go unnoticed and watch how differently daily tasks are done.

We visited the War Remnants Museum on Saturday. The grounds contain many of the tools and machines used by the United States, from helicoptors to flame throwers. Prison walls still stand in their place, and these terrible barbed wire cages for holding captured still stick in my mind. Bryan caught some dates and numbers that didn’t quite add up, and the propoganda was a bit heavy, but all-in-all it was well worth the $.75 entry fee.

If that’s not a very good representation of our expenses, Saturday we spent a total of about $4.50 for the whole day on food and drinks.

On Sunday we took a day tour to the Mekong Delta area in Southern Vietnam. Although very touristy, we were really glad we did it because we would not have been able to see and do those things otherwise. The day included many boat rides, a bee and honey farm, seeing how coconut candy is made (much like carmel), and tasting local fruits and teas. We also enjoyed our company, including a just married couple (an American to a Vietnamese) and the family of the American groom. On our way back into the city we passed the restaurant owned by the family of the bride, and we promised we would try it out. We just so happened to arrive just as they did to have a big dinner with both of their families, and despite how busy they were with family, they took the time to introduce us to the traditional “Fire Pot” Vietnamese and showed us how to eat it. It’s a big metal pot they put in front of you on a burner, with vegetables and meat uncooked in a broth, and it cooks in front of you. Then you spoon it over rice noodles and enjoy. We also got a discount for knowing them!

Today we checked out the Cathedral, Buddist pagoda, walked past the American Consolate but couldn’t see it, and then ended up in the zoo. The zoo entry for both of us was about $.75. It wasn’t a very impressive zoo by any means, but it was relaxing.

Tomorrow we will check out a different area of the city, and then tomorrow night we will take a sleeper bus to Nha Trang. Our first sleeper bus experience; wish us luck!