Breakfast at the hostel yesterday. Said hello to an Aussie from Perth - Chad. He instantly offers to be my tour guide for when I get there. Very outgoing chap. Hailey and Katie arrive down, then Bobby, and John appears at 11. We wander down to the citadel, Hué's focal point. There's not a lot to see - some crumbling walls, a few stately out-buildings. We get lunch in a café where the proprietor is deaf, and mostly mute. He's excellent at charades though! Lovely squid for me. Bobby and Katie try the Hué speciality, a kind of eggy pancake, but it's rather greasy.
The rain has started, so we head to a bar for some pool (nearly won at doubles, potted all the balls myself, then Katie got the white with the black) and Cleudo! Amazingly, I got Cleudo right first time! Whoop! It ruined it for everyone else though. Chatted to two Irish girls who had been in the club last night - Cassie and Ciara. Ciara is full of passion for Bolivia.
Back to the hostel to wait with girls for their bus. They are forgotten about until they ring the bus company. Got talking to Chad again, and two Norwegians - Ingunn and Gretel. End up doing rounds of cocktails during happy hour. Joined by Dutchies - Molusch (?) and Arjen. So much sugar in the cocktails that I'm short of breath. Back to Brown Eyes again, plenty of dancing. The Vietnamese in the club are great craic, and shots appear at random in front of me. Aware that I have to be up at six, I run home through the lashing rain at about 2am.
Wake okay, get brought by moto to a café, and meet Duncan and Anita, a Kiwi couple. I'm probably still a bit drunk. 15 of us on the tour, including Timmy from Cobh, and two Dutch guys who are travelling through Vietnam by motorbike. Also two Polish girls! First Poles I've met. The Norwegian sisters always to be Polish to get discounts in guesthouses.
Tour guide has a north Vietnamese bias, repeatedly mentioning the "liberation of south Vietnam". We visit the village of an ethnic minority - the Van Kieu tribe. Feels intrusive - treating them like they were exhibits in a zoo. The children didn't really know how to act, almost being frightened of us.
Then to the remains of Khe-Sanh airbase, which now houses a small museum, and some tanks and aircraft. Finally the Vinh Moc tunnels, far larger than Cu Chi, they were a complete underground village - town hall, maternity room (17 babies born there) - and right by the beach. Almost able to comfortably walk in them.
There was a Viet child there, who had been born in the tunnels, and spent six years living there. Severely impaired, he works as a guide in the dark, showing the way with a torch. We went through one section of about 300m, unlit. Some people used torches... I'm not sure what the point of experiencing complete darkness is, if you're going to use a torch. It's like talking in the cinema - ruins your experience, and that of others around you.
***
Waiting in a dingy little café for the bus to Ninh Binh. Hope it arrives... and hope I can get off in the right place!
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| Bobby, Hailey, Katie, John |
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| Frogs coming out in the rain |
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| Katie doesn't look impressed |
The rain has started, so we head to a bar for some pool (nearly won at doubles, potted all the balls myself, then Katie got the white with the black) and Cleudo! Amazingly, I got Cleudo right first time! Whoop! It ruined it for everyone else though. Chatted to two Irish girls who had been in the club last night - Cassie and Ciara. Ciara is full of passion for Bolivia.
Back to the hostel to wait with girls for their bus. They are forgotten about until they ring the bus company. Got talking to Chad again, and two Norwegians - Ingunn and Gretel. End up doing rounds of cocktails during happy hour. Joined by Dutchies - Molusch (?) and Arjen. So much sugar in the cocktails that I'm short of breath. Back to Brown Eyes again, plenty of dancing. The Vietnamese in the club are great craic, and shots appear at random in front of me. Aware that I have to be up at six, I run home through the lashing rain at about 2am.
***
Wake okay, get brought by moto to a café, and meet Duncan and Anita, a Kiwi couple. I'm probably still a bit drunk. 15 of us on the tour, including Timmy from Cobh, and two Dutch guys who are travelling through Vietnam by motorbike. Also two Polish girls! First Poles I've met. The Norwegian sisters always to be Polish to get discounts in guesthouses.
Tour guide has a north Vietnamese bias, repeatedly mentioning the "liberation of south Vietnam". We visit the village of an ethnic minority - the Van Kieu tribe. Feels intrusive - treating them like they were exhibits in a zoo. The children didn't really know how to act, almost being frightened of us.
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| You've got SWEETS!? |
There was a Viet child there, who had been born in the tunnels, and spent six years living there. Severely impaired, he works as a guide in the dark, showing the way with a torch. We went through one section of about 300m, unlit. Some people used torches... I'm not sure what the point of experiencing complete darkness is, if you're going to use a torch. It's like talking in the cinema - ruins your experience, and that of others around you.
***
Waiting in a dingy little café for the bus to Ninh Binh. Hope it arrives... and hope I can get off in the right place!
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