Motorbiking around Hue
Trip Start
Sep 20, 2004
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83
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Trip End
Mar 30, 2005
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Hue, Vietnam
Wednesday, March 9, 2005
After recovering from my Dengue fever episode - which had a few relapses and meant Sapa was blown out (boo or should I say brr aparently it was near freezing) we caught the overnight train to Hue which was a cool experience (bunked up with a cool Ozzy couple P and D) and certainly beats the bus any day even if it is more expensive (oh well apart from the train crash problem several days later).
Hue, itself did not rock my world however after pit stopping at our hotel we decided to sign up for an afternoon tour on motorbike. I went on the back of a guides and B decided to go for it and ride his own. Whilst I am now officailly a hells angel after Vang Vieng, I didn't fancy the traffic in the city centre much so didn't feel too much of a pansy by sitting on the back and soaking up the view.
The tour turned out to be prety cool even though B's bike was a piece of sh@t. We started off on the main road (Vietnam roads read motorbike and horn frenzy) but almost immediately turned off down a country track through villages and along to a Japanese covered bridge over a small river. The whole thing was beautifully carved from wood and dated back ...well I can't remember right now but a good few years.
From here we zoomed back through the paddy fields and along the beautiful Thien Mu pagoda overlooking the river which is also home of the car (what's left of it) that the monk Thich Quang Duc burnt himself alive in to protest to the goverment in downtown Saigon in the 60's - quite a disturbing sight.
From here we whizzed though the green fields and along the river to one of the emporers tombs an impressive complex partly in ruin and partly still in some of its origonal glory
with many building which are specifically for the emporers concubines or for reading and mediating over the pond. Thsi website has got some more of the history of Hue to give you some background. http://www.vietscape.com/travel/hue
The rest of the trip we flew from one temple to another and then finally to a spot to watch the sun over the Perfume river before heading home. We lost B on the way back which was a bit worrying especially as it turned out to be rush hour but luckily he had managed to keep up with one of the other guides and made it back all in one piece. Phew ! We all made it into to Thu's place for some much needed beers..
We spent the next day walking around the city, having lunch by the river and exploring the citadel and taking it easy before attampting to sign up at the last minute for a DMZ tour the next day.
TBC
