On Thursday lunchtime, we left Saigon and South Vietnam without seeing one single bike, taxi, car, bus, motorbike, scooter, or pedestrian collide, or even touch each other. We decided that it’s a bit like watching insects buzzing about and never falling out of the sky. I think I’d train them up as Formula 1 racing drivers, because they certainly know how to weave about and keep going forward without incident. Saigon really is a hot, sticky, crazy, frenetic city with its 2 million registered motorbikes and scooters; I was wondering what Hue and Hanoi would be like….
When we landed there was a man waiting at Hue Airport with our name on a card and he drove us to The Century Riverside Hotel in an ancient Toyota Crown. I wanted to believe that I was getting used to scary driving, but no, I still wasn’t. The trip in to Hue was up there with the worst. The driver managed to speed for a fair bit of the journey on the wrong side of the double white line. If he couldn’t overtake in the fast lane, he would slip past in the motorbike lane. At one point, he only moved back to the correct side of the road just before a large concrete barrier divided the road. I found it felt safer to sit behind the driver and never look ahead. Meanwhile Rodney, normally the slowest safest driver I know and normally quite fearful of bad drivers, seemed to be getting a bit of a buzz out of watching the incessant road duelling!!!?!!!
The ‘four-star’ hotel is situated right on the banks of Song Huong, The Perfume River, and the swish foyer looked very impressive, I couldn’t wait to see our room. But, as stated in our Lonely Planet book, the rooms are very spacious though a little dated and tired; in fact, I would say it was exhausted. It was a huge room with hardly any furniture and what furniture there was, was in the wrong place. The wardrobe was tiny and there was no chest of drawers, so we bunged the suitcase on the tiny desk. The pink bathroom suite was straight out of the seventies and the towels had seen better days as rags. One little door on the far side of the room opened out on to a tatty old, standing room only, balcony. We had booked a river view room and we did have a view of the muddy, rubbish-filled river, but it’s not the most attractive view and it included all the massive billboards on the opposite bank, though we have to say, they looked pretty impressive when lit up after dark. It was darn cheap for a “4 star” hotel, so we had a good giggle about it and kept rearranging the two chairs and little coffee table; probably much to the annoyance of the maid, who kept pushing them back against the walls each day. Oh, and on checking Trip Advisor on our last day there, I was very glad that we hadn’t had a massage in the hotel’s spa, apparently the girl gives the boys more than they expect, one report was from a chap who was obviously very shocked and disgusted. We had a bit of a giggle about that too!
On Friday morning we promenaded along the south bank of the river and crossed one of the bridges to the north bank. We paid our 80,000 dong (about $4 or £2.35) and we entered the Hue Imperial City through the Ngo Mon (Moon) Gate. The two-hundred-year-old Citadel walls and most of the buildings within the two- metre thick walls are crumbling away, or were damaged or destroyed in 1885 by the French and in 1968 by the American ‘Imperialists’. Inside the ten fortified gates and the 10kms of walls, the Vietnamese are slowly rebuilding it and the area is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
There were several ‘districts’ inside, all set within their own courtyard walls, unfortunately only about 20 of the original 148 are currently standing. We wandered through temples and palaces, across gardens, along galleries, past cannons, highly decorative gates and residences of the Emperors family.
On the way back from the Citadel we stopped for a yummy late lunch at a Japanese restaurant and then popped in to a silk shop, where I was measured up for a silk dress. Best to do it after eating a meal so that the waistline is at full expansion….. The service was amazing, choose a style, choose the length, we can add sleeves, choose a colour, put a slit in the back, move the neckline, add some embroidery? We left a deposit and were told to come back at 5pm the next day. I left the shop with my fingers crossed.
Prices in Vietnam are really whacky, not at all what we’re used to. Like in France, the beer is cheaper than a soft drink and the previous night’s mango mint tea actually cost more than my meal. And how a personally made silk embroidered dress can cost only $20 (about £12.50) is beyond my comprehension.
It was a relief to have some cooler weather in Hue, after the intense heat down south, but when we jumped in the hotel swimming pool, the water was freezing; we didn’t stay in there for long. ‘Why Not’ was the name of tonight’s restaurant and as we couldn’t think of a reason why not to eat there, we took a table outside at the front. I had a local speciality, a crispy pancake folded over a muddle of pork, prawns, beansprouts, egg and goodness knows what else. Our tiny waitress was hilarious. When we sat down, she was doing a palm reading for a French lady who was sat at the next table. Apparently she was going to meet a very good looking man, not sure what her husband, sitting opposite her, thought of that !!! By the time we left the restaurant I was teaching the waitress how to make origami cranes and ‘Carmen’ boxes and she was teaching me how to fold napkins into butterflies and boats. We considered going back there the following night for some more lessons, but then we thought, why not try a different place.
On Saturday morning we decided to make our way to the Thien Mu Pagoda, about 6 kms up the river. There were various options: walk, hire a bicycle, pay a taxi, hire a scooter, or pay for a dragon boat ride. We opted for the boat and strolled firmly past all the rickshaw drivers touting for business outside the hotel. At the riverside, we were immediately pounced upon by a girl wanting $20 to take us one-way up the river. We managed to barter her down to $10 for a return trip. I was looking forward to a bit of watery relaxation away from the busy streets, but we were hassled by the girl’s mother, trying to sell us clothing, pictures, cards etc. during the whole journey! Like the citadel, the previous day, the pagoda was in a sorry state of repair. In Vietnam it seems there is a combination of weather conditions and a lack of care that combine to make the buildings very shabby and mouldy. On the way back in the boat, for a bit of peace and quiet we bought five cards from Mum, they’re rather lovely, but we were probably ripped off…….
At 5pm I went for my dress fitting; I love saying that, as I’ve never been able to say it before in my life. An hour later, we went back when all adjustments had been made and the dress fitted perfectly. I was prepared to be disappointed, but now I’ll only be disappointed if I put on weight and it stops fitting me !!!
The alarm was set for 5:20am on Sunday morning, we quickly finished our packing and crept quietly down the corridor and stairs for breakfast when the restaurant opened at 6am. As we reached the restaurant, we both took a step backwards and gulped. The place was already packed; there were no tables available, the buffet platters were near empty and there were hundreds of Chinese tourists, plus a couple of monks in their orange robes, piling up their plates with food. Some of the diners had already finished and were leaving the restaurant. I have to say, our sleepy heads and bodies were suddenly wide awake!!! We plonked a couple of bread rolls and pineapple jam on our plates and found a table out in the hallway. When we checked out of the hotel at 6:30am, the reception area was like Grand Central Station and our taxi looked swamped by all the people and the four coaches parked outside. I had to giggle and agree with Rodney’s comment “I think I’m glad to be leaving that place”. Funnily, the taxi driver then played The Eagles – ‘Hotel California’ and we both laughed at the line- “‘you can check out, but you can never leave”……. The driver then proceeded to play a selection of karaoke classics, sang along to some of them and drove us back to the airport on the wrong side of the road at regular intervals…..
