The road to Hue Part 2

Ok so I'm finally back to finish my post about the trip Tim and I took to Hue. After we wandered around the Imperial city we walked over to the big markets where you could buy pretty much anything. I took a photo of all the shoes. If my feet had been a little bit smaller you would never have gotten me out of there!!

After that we went for a beer on a floating restaurant. It was here in Hue that I discovered what remains my favourite Vietnamese beer... Huda!!! And at about 90 cents AUD a bottle, the price kept me happy also.














I stupidly told Tim I would buy him a cocktail at the swankiest hotel in town, because Lonely Planet had told us it had an awesome rooftop bar. We did get the opportunity to explore the rooftop however it being cold and wet, there was no table service on the roof. The cocktails were uber expensive and not that great, but the view was awesome so that was ok.

Sunday morning we were woken by drumming and Chinese dragons in the parking lot. Apparantly there was going to be a wedding at our hotel. There were people and motorbikes.













On Sunday we spent the day on a boat on the Perfume River that we had hired. For about $15 AUD each, we hired a boat for about 6 hours and it took us by river, to some of the sites along the river. We felt pretty cool because all the other boats that passed us on the river had lots and lots of people on the boat. And we were chilling out on the river in the sun with only two of us on the boat!

Our first stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda. This place was gorgeous and is known as one of the most famous landmarks in Hue. Therefore it was crawling with tour groups, however I stalked a group whose guide was speaking English and got to learn some of the history of the place. There is a big bell tower and a number of monks still reside here. It also has a seven tiered monument at the entrance. It was quite spectacular!





























Next stop was the Tomb of Tu Duc. It was the final resting place of the Emperor of the same name. There is a lake, a pavillion and a theatre on the grounds of the tomb and it was quite spectacular as well. It was a long walk away from where our boat docked and it was really hot and humid but it was definately worth it.


























After looking around the tombs we went to another pagoda and then headed back to the hotel for a rest. We went for some dinner and spent the night in. Monday morning we headed back to Da Nang on a bus that left 30 mins late and then mysteriously made an unscheduled stop for food at 10am in the morning and then continued to stop along the highway after the bus made some mysterious smells. Eventually we arrived back in Da Nang about 3 hours late, tired but happy to have seen Hue.






























Housewarming post coming up next. Stay tuned


Amy xoxox

the last few days - some observations

So I finally have a minute to myself so I thought I would make another blog post. Life has been crazy with a lot of social stuff, 2 hours of language lessons, 7 days this week and a little bit of pre-work work as well. I officially start work tomorrow so thought I would get this one in before life gets even busier.

So this week I have been told I am beautiful which is nice. I have also been asked in the street if I am pregnant (!!!) due to being a little rounder than your typical Vietnamese person. I have been told I look like I'm Indian as well!!

I have ridden three people to a motorbike, I have carried a bunch of flowers and a birthday cake on the back of the bike, I have ridden up to the buddhist monument on the coast of Da Nang and took some great photos off the back at about 50kms an hour. I have carried a porcelain sink (no really!!) on the back of the bike.

I also had my first minor scrape tonight (literally). The bike I was on the back of, with a work friend driving scraped mirrors with another bike and my arm got a bit grazed on the other bike in the process. No biggie, but it is a reminder that little (and big) accidents can occur very easily.

Today (Sunday) was spent on 2 hours of language lesson (9am to 11am) this morning. Then I checked out another house to rent (cheap but a share house with an older Vietnamese woman and I think I want to be closer to the Beach) and then spent 2 or 3 hours swimming and having a couple of beers on China Beach. It was a beautiful day and with the minor flooding and torrential rain we've been having lately, you take any chance you can to hit the beach. I'm going to have to test my Vietnamese language skills and translate what the sign says. I am told it is referring to a rip (called a whirlpool here) and identifying this section of beach as not a safe place to swim.

Tomorrow I am off in search of a bag for my laptop and then heading into the office for some planning and admin (setting up work email account, mapping project plans and background reading etc).

Looking forward to hearing from you all (subtext - comment more!!!).

Amy xoxo