Wednesday 2 December 2009

Vietnam So Far...

So, today we're in Hue, having had another day in Nha Trang, shopped till we dropped in Hoi An, and then bussed it up and over a mountain to make our way to Hue.

The mudbath in Nha Trang was great, and fun experience was had by all. We also met another English couple there, who followed us on our scooter up there. Yes we had a scooter, it was a great way to see the town and get around, as the traffic wasn't too bad there. That said, there were a couple of moments when going straight on at a roundabout seemed the easier option than going left, even though I was then going the wrong way. Anyway, these guys were doing a similar trip to ours but without the South American leg so we got their details and might see them in Oz, NZ and possibly Koh Phangan.

From Nha Trang, we got the night train up to Danang and transferred to Hoi An. This train wasn't as swish as the fist one by any means, and needed a bit of TLC all over. It had the added bonus of a direct link between the smoking area and the air con system which gave a pleasant working men's club aroma to our cabin throughout the night. Stinky as it was, I think our tickets are first class - we saw the same cabins with 6 bunks further down the train, and even further away were simple high backed wooden bench seats. This trip does make it easy!

Hoi An was tailor town. We both got made to measure suits, shirt, and dresses...only Sara got dresses. We went to a few different tailors, choosing fabrics and styles and then getting measured up to come back tomorrow. In the morning, we had fittings, where the clothes were further adjusted to our liking, they knocked the suits up over night! The second day we found our way to the cloth market, where I got 2 shirts tailor made for $5 a go, and Sara got a lovely white cotton dress. They had them ready in 3 hours, it was incredible. The one error was a yellow shirt I bought. It's not yellow, more mustard/cack brown so I'm not sure what I'll do with that! It was a great experience, and they've got our measurements so we can email them for more and they'll send them back. For the price it seems a shame not to!

We left Hoi An this morning and for Hue on a smallish bus. We stopped an half an hour in to go up a mountain to see a temple. It was incredible, there were these caves in the mountain which housed Buddhas, one of them absolutely huge but smoky with incense. From the top of the mountain
were great views of the coast, and some noisy kids that wanted photos with us but didn't really say thank you and generally were a bit annoying and rude - we told one off for throwing stones off the top of the mountain!

Hue itself seems smallish, it used to be the capital city in the c19th and we went round the Imperial Citadel which was a bit of a let down to be honest - it's quite run down and not that impressive when compared with the way Ankor Wat is kept. On the way there, we had a kickabout with some school kids, sly scamps kicked the ball into a slippy bit and guess who ended up in the mud...

Heading out tonight for Sian and Signe's birthdays tonight, 21 and 22. Was thinking about whipping the suit out but it's started raining...maybe next time...

1 comment:

  1. "Good Morning Vietnam!" (had to get that in at some stage before you move on). Fascinating to hear your experience of a country that for my generation was only associated with horrendous warfare and some of the most emotive images of our young lives. Gives hope for the current troubles in the world..

    Enough of philosophising - back to the 21st century! - suggest you contact Gucci and recommend that 'cack brown' would be excellent new look for the 2010 season! co-incidentally have just been for a mudbath myself - out with the dog - not quite the same in driving rain and temperatures close to zero!

    Re previous posting - anyone who can start the day with chilli soup for breakfast has my respect!

    ReplyDelete