Day 66 1014 days to go. Distance: today 41km total 3752km. It’s 8.53pm Saturday 4/2/2012 Hue. What a cool city. Lonely planet describes Hue as the intellectual, cultural and spiritual heart of Vietnam. Hue is split along the Song Huong (Perfume) River. The south bank is about cuisine and entertainment. The north side is all about the citadel remains, tombs and temples. The empirical city was built in 1800. It’s walled and moated and has an imperial enclosure and forbidden city. The area has been world heritage listed and it’s extremely grand. Given it’s not that old it has however survived the war and is clearly treasured. It’s very spectacular to ride around the well groomed grounds. The crumbling remains of the outer old city wall has been built around by outer villages and it looks great with homes and chickens living amongst the rock wall. This is outside the touristed area but has a road all way round. Rube and I peddled it today and it was really interesting to slowly check out. Obviously the inner citadel area is mostly visited and is very grand. We got some good pickies. There’s lots of outer funky districts very arty and full of young folk and families and heaps of students. It’s still all part of the ‘old town’ so the bars and hang outs are amongst the old buildings and add to the charm. That’s a good word to describe Hue, it’s charming and very tasteful and atmospheric for a well touristed city. Boats potter along the river and you can do cruises along the river to emperors tombs which are dotted along the river side for about 15kms. So it’s definitely worth adding to the ‘to do’ list if you want to travel to Vietnam. The ride here this morning was dry after early rain which cleared and I took the opportunity to cover the 40 so kms. I found a really great hotel $10 great price with all the facilities and wifi. It even has a bath which I indulged in this afternoon sooooooo delish. Theres a supermarket about 50m down the road. Do you think I’m happy? So I’ve topped up on food supplies and bought 2 baked Vietnamese deserts for dinner with a hot chocolate yum. I’ve got a nice tummy now backing up from hoi an so the reserves are good for the next cycling stage. I havnt yet heard how the birthday party went. The family are probably sleeping it off under a palm frond and will wake thinking they are in noosa. I went to adjust Rubes brake and gear cables today as they’ve been a bit dodge traveling down the passes the last days. Both brake cables broke when I pulled at them with the pliers opsy happy it was here and not traveling down a wee hill. I asked the hotel man if there was a bike shop showing him Rubes cables and he told me to wait upstairs and he’d sort it. About 30minutes later Rubes got new brake cables threaded for $1. They still need adjusting but I can do that. A friend commented recently that Rube will tell me when she’s needing some attention so I’m taking the opportunity to get her gear cables changed as well tomorrow and give her some TLC. I also want to find an internet and see more of the city so I’m happy to stay another day and an awesome hotel and city to do so. I did some itinerary map and planning tonight and have sorted the days leading up to crossing the Chinese border, freaky hey the thought of China. For now it’s very much still Vietnam and some amazing places to check out now heading to the northern area. I also have found some camping places in Cuc Phuong National Park 45km south of Ninh Binh and on Cat Ba island in Halong Bay so very excited about that. Bonus today having a bath to wash out the wet stinky clothes and they’re hanging out on the top floor for some serious airing. The view from the top floor balcony is awesome 360 degrees of the city. The architecture is very French and I got some cool shots tonight of the city lights. You’ll be very happy to know that I no longer have the hippy hairy legs and pits and am baby bottom smooth instead with no threading needed yayayayayaya. For now it’s to bed. Talk soon x
shecyclesolo 