28th May - Hoi An to Hue

Out of the hotel and on my way by 7am in the hope I'd get to Hue in time to spend the afternoon there.
Headed out of Hoi An on Highway 1 and before too long was climbing over the mountains on the Hay Van pass. This is the road that Jeremy Clarkson described as "a deserted ribbon of perfection" in the Top Gear Vietnam special which pretty much nails it. A tunnel was built a few years ago which bypasses this section of road so there's very little traffic and it winds its way up the side of some fantastic mountains with a great view of the coastline on the way up.

Before too long I was in Hue and once I'd found a hotel I headed out into the old town. I hadn't had anything to eat this morning so looked in the Lonely Planet for a recommendation. It suggested a small cheap restaurant near the citadel walls that was owned by a blind, mute guy. It sounded interesting so I made my way over to the street, only to find there where a few restaurants claiming to be the original blind, mute restaurant. This seems to be the norm in Vietnam; if something becomes popuar or gets a good reputation, suddenly a whole load of places open up with the same name on the same street so you struggle o find the one you're looking for. Anyway, the food at the place I went to was good and the guy I paid didn't seem to be able to hear me or speak so at least it seemed authentic.

Once I'd entered through the citadel walls I realised that the town was too spread out for me to really see on foot, so I debated going back to get the bike but decided on a cyclo tour. I'm not sure why I keep doing this as they always turn out to be rubbish. Anyway, this time I agreed the price up front in full detail so there would be no surprises and away we went.

First my guide took me to part of the citadel wall where we could get up on top for a view of the city, however the road around the entrance was being dug up, I assume to fit new sewer pipes or something as the hole wa pretty deep. This didn't deter my guide though and we clambered over some loose scaffholding planks, dodged our way around the moving JCB bucket and climbed up the stairs to the top. The view was fairly underwhelming to be honest. The old town walls are well preserved but apart from that most of the city is just a normal modern vietnamese city that was heavily destroyed during the Vietnam war. The guide explained that the citadel was around 250 years old, which I was really disappointed with for some reason.

We got back on the cyclo and rode on for while until we came to Tinh Tam lake where I alighted and had a quick wander around the lake and gardens.

Next was a "pagoda" although it appeared to just be an "ancient" artifact shop, followed by a quick stop at a military museum where I was instructed to climb through a gap in the fence, take a few pictures of the tanks and quickly leave. After this the end of the hour was quickly approaching so we stopped near the Imperial Enclosure and I paid up. I had a walk around the enclosure and the flag tower before sitting down in the shade for a bit of rest from the sun.

A vietnamese girl of around 6 years old came over to me and asked my name in pretty much perfect english and then ran away before returning with her brother and mum to introduce me. They didn't speak any english but it was fun to try to talk to them. The brother gave me a caterpillar then grabbed it from my hand, threw it to the floor and stamped on it. I think this was to prove his superiority.

Took a walk along the river before returning to my hotel room for a bit of a nap. Woke up fancying Ice Cream and a beer so wandered until I found them and then back to bed for an early start.