Thursday 27th March and 28th March, the journey to, and arrival in, Hue

The sleeper train was an experience.  There were six in a berth
and I had the middle bunk which was probably the worst to be
fair.  With the bottom bunk you can put your bag underneath
and with the top bunk you have more head room as the train
has a curved roof.  I hardly slept but the section that was
meant to be fantastic (between Danang and Hue over the Hai Van
pass) was with the train crawling through the mountains and
views down over the bays.  All the other people in my cabin
were Vietnamese and one sweet old guy kept waking me up from my half sleep by
grabbing my feet to offer me hard-boiled eggs.  He also seemed
to get very distressed by the fact that I was wandering around
in bare feet and not accepting his flip-flops that he tried
to thrust upon me.
I arrived in Hue at around 8AM in the morning.  I slept when I
got here and then went for a wander around the city.  The Dong
Ba market was pretty awesome and I went into the outer citadel
area, so to speak.  It was stunning, shady and green.  I've
booked a Honda Om for tomorrow to take me to some of the other
sites like the mausoleums and a couple of temples.  I've also
booked a sleeper bus to take me to Hanoi tomorrow night.  Hue
is beautiful but outside the lovely inner walls it's a bit
sparse.  I've also got far more unwanted male attention than
anywhere else.  I think it's because there are far fewer
Western females here (despite it being a popluar site on the
tourist map)and even fewer who are traveling by themselves.
It's not been a problem but, in my slightly tired and grumpy
state has been somewhat of an irritation.  I was very conscious
of dressing conservatively before going to dinner tonight
(i.e. full on trousers and long sleeves) but it didn't appear
to make any difference.  Hey ho.

One reason that I am tempted to extend my stay in Hue is the
food.  The speciality dish here is a dish called banh Khoai
which is a small, crispy yellow pancake fried with shrimp,
pork and bean sprouts and served with peanut and sesame sauce,
star fruit, green banana, lettuce and mint.  I had this without
the pork and it was divine.  One of the best things I've ever
tasted to be honest!



				
				
				
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