We didn't go and drink snake blood in the end, for some strange reason no one else except Mike, Beth, Rory and I had booked to do it that night so it was cancelled. Went back to Gecko again though and then to Bia Hoi square and drank 12p beer for most of the night.
Friday we woke up early and checked out and caught a motorbike taxi (both of us on the back) to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum to see his preserved body. Except it's apparently shut on Fridays so we somehow ended up in Ho Chi Minh's house which wasn't nearly as good. It seems that he moved several times to the house next door to where he was, and you can now walk past all of these and see things like tables and beds inside. facinating. There were also some fish in a tank which were either very old or not supposed to be there.
Bummed about for the next bit of the day, went on the internet, Mike bought every episode of South Park, ate some beef burgers etc. Then headed off to Hoa Lo Prison or the Hanoi Hilton. Was a bit horrible in places like the tiny isolation cells and although they'd done it up really nicely some bits were still a bit creepy. Really good exhibits though. Highlight was the comparison between how awfully the French Colonialists had treated the Vietnamese in the prison with how brilliantly the Vietnamese treated the American POWs in there. Lots of smiling pictures of americans playing football and opening letters. Oh and pictures of John McCain as he was apparently there.
About 6pm ish we caught the open bus (with Hung Thanh travel - $40 Hanoi to Saigon) to take us to Hue. It was a bit more complicated than jus getting on a bus though. First we got into a taxi. Then about 5 more people were put in the boot and then we set off. Then the people in the boot started banging as apparently it was air tight and they couldn't breathe. Then the police pulled us over, so the driver refused to open the boot in case the police saw the people he had crammed in there. Then we set off again and the people in the boot were still banging and people were yelling and it was pretty bad. Then we stopped, the people in the boot were put into another taxi where they could breathe (why this couldn't have been done at the beginning I don't know) and we went to the bus stop. An hour later the bus turned up and we got on. It wasn't as bad as the Chinese train but it wasn't great. The beds weren't long enough for me let along mike and they were tilted upwards so you kept slipping down and getting even less room. But that didn't seem to bad until we set off and we realised the sides were very low and didn't really keep you and Vietnamese drive like maniacs! nobody fell out and actually managed to sleep quite well. Arrived in Hue at about 8am the next day and checked into the 'recommended' hotel because they gave us a free taxi there.
Hoem Thien Hotel was actually really nice. $10 a night for a room with a single and double bed, air con, en suite, balcony, lovely. We booked to go on a tour of the royal tombs in the afternoon so spent the morning rushing around the Citadel and Forbidden Purple City. It was so lovely though, as it was all crumbling and you could just go off and explore and find all these little hidden bits as it's so big. Good pics on mike and my facebook, although I think we may have taken a few too many of all of the scenery. We caught a cyclo ( a big seat on the front of a bicycle) back to make sure we still had time for lunch. Cyclo was pretty expensive and I didn't really like it as we went so slowly and there was just this poor old man on the back sweating and trying to cycle mike and I around. I just wanted to get off and tell him that I'd walk. Had a lovely lunch and then got in a taxi to take us round the tombs. Went to Minh Mang first and had to pay to get in and it was lovely and very pretty but not as nice as the citadel and wasn't really that exciting. Then went to 2 more tombs but decided not to pay to get in and save a bit of money. Saw how conical hats and incense sticks are made, and then had to fight off vietnamese woman trying to sell conical hats and incense sticks to us. Then we caught a Dragon boat home which made it all worth it as the boat actually had 2 big dragons made from plastic of something on the front and we got to go all the way down the Perfum River. Then had a really amazing dinner at a little place round the corner from us. They made us traditional Hue cuisine like these little rice pancakes with shrimp wrapped in vine leaves and fried beef in lotus leaves and pancakes and was all just so so nice. We went down to Bar Why Not and played pool but I was pretty rubbish and then Mike got annoyed with the football so we went home.
Had a really lazy day on Saturday and caught up on sleep and read lots. Went to Missy Roo cafe and ate lots of spring rolls and drank beer while we used their free internet for most of the afternoon. There was a huge storm so we couldn't do our origional plan of lying around by the river so just drank more beer. Went to Mandarin Cafe for dinner which was really cheap but not as amazing food as other places. The pictures on the walls were amazing though and the staff were really frinedly and gave us a leaflet on a free walking tour of Hue. Should have gone there first day, I can see why they're in the lonely planet.
This morning we left Hue at 8am and caught a bus to Hoi An. It seemed hotter in Hue than Hanoi but it's soo much hotter here! And we've just readjusted to it being cold again after Africa! It seems so nice here I can see why lots of people we've met bum it. There's a river running through the middleand it's quite quiet and just really pretty. There seem to be a lot of older tourists here so I think it's a bit more chilled. And the shops are amazing. I could spend so much money I have already seen so many things I want. That's tomorrow's job, to try and find a good tailors for my large clothes order. We're staying in the Hoa Binh hotel which is again just where the bus dropped us but it's so lovely and easy to be lazy like this. And it's got a swimming pool! And it's very central so seems like a good idea. We went for a walk earlier and had a cheap lunch (although not as nice, but everything seems more expensive here than Hue) and just perved on how nice everything looked. Not too sure what our plans are, just bumming around, buying things and waiting for Beth and Rory to turn up I think.
But just to say, although Hoi An seems lovely, we did really really like Hue, as loads of people have been moaning about it and telling us to miss it out but we disagree and thought it was brilliant. and cheap.
So that's all for now, these updates are getting quite regular! I do like fast internet xx
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