Hué and Hoi An

Finally some time and a good computer to write another post. Probably a bit longer this time because I´m fitting two cities into this one. First Hué. I don´t know how I managed it, but when I got there I was sick. And no, don´t start thinking `Duh Sophie, it must have been that street food...`, because it´s not. I caught a terrible cold, which by now has subsided somewhat, but it has left me with no voice. I sound like a hoarse old man that has been partying all his life and probably smokes two packs a day. But hé, it´s better than barely being able to breathe because all of the snot in my forehead, which was it was like in Hué. Anyway, I guess I´ll have to blame it all on the weather, because since I departed from Schiphol I haven´t seen a ray of sunshine, and no, I´m not exaggerating. After a 13 hour bus ride from Hanoi, arriving in Hué with a constant drizzle that would not let down the whole time I was there, was a little dissapointing if I am being completely honest. The bus ride itself wasn´t as bad as I thought it might have been. The bus was equipped with proper little bunkbeds that you could lie down in pretty comfortably. Only irritability came from the crap roads and the disgusting bathroom stalll. All in all I survived it though. No idea what the rest of my bus trips will be like. Apparently many buses aren't as nice as the I took.

Before I get to my actual stay in Hué I of course have to say something about my trip to what is probably one of Vietnam´s biggest tourist destinations: Halong Bay. Overall the tour was great and I met some wonderful people. Only downside was the weather. Though the mist certainly provided me with some amazing pictures, the cold also prevented us from sitting on the deck and enjoying the view for longer periods of time. It was still great though, night time karoke session and all. There was a Dutch guy on the boat as well, who I bumped into when I got to Hoi An. Turns out we were staying in the same hotel and now we might be meeting up Mui Ne (along the beach) as well. It's funny how small the world can be sometimes.

Then Hué. I had heard different things from fellow travelers. Some said it was worth only a day trip, other skipped it entirely. To the skippers I say: idiots. Hue's Imperial City is probably one of the most beautiful things I have seen so far. I had expected it to be big, but not nearly as huge as it turned out to be. I walked around for at least 2 hours, and I'm pretty sure I still missed parts of it. When I got back to my hotel (single room this time) it was around 12 pm, but I didn't do much the rest of the day because, as I mentioned, I wasn't feeling all too great. At night I finally got a move on...down the stairs, out the hotel and...across the street to the restaurant opposite. Had a great Pho Bo (beef noodlesoup) and the lady from the restaurant gave me hot lemon juice to make me feel better. I loved the little lady so much that I went there for dinner again the next day and this time she gave me Ginger tea and according to her I would be flying that time the next day. Though I wasn't flying, I certainly felt better and cheesy at it may sound, I'll remember that little lady forever. Overall my stay in Hue, all by my lonesome, was great. I filled my second day there with a walk to a pagoda (beautiful and very quiet) and a stroll through the local market. Afterwards I returned to the hotel and booked my accommodation in Hoi An, from which I'm writing this post...

Hoi An:
So it rained the day I arrived in Hoi An, but the past two days it's been pretty nice (still no sun though). I spent my first afternoon exploring Hoi An with my dormmate Isolde. Finally a girl in one of the dorms :P. Though I have to say my other two roommates are great as well. Isolde and I wandered around, attended a traditional dance performance, and had dinner with an interesting Buddhist American guy who we had met at the performance.

Yesterday I went along with one of my other roommates, Roberto, to go check out some tailors because he wanted to get a suit and some shirts made. Tailor-made clothing is basically what Hoi An is all about. It's almost ridiculous how many things they are able to make and how little these things cost. I've been able to refrain from buying anything so far. Don't know where I'd put it all. After Roberto and I got back to the hotel we joined a group of girls he'd met earlier and went on a bicycle tour through the country side. It was a great trip and we got to experience the Vietnamese lifestyle outside of the city. We visited several craftsmen who showed us different traditional Vietnamese crafts such as mat weaving, fishing, making incense and much more. That night a whole group of us went for dinner and out afterwards in the "Why Not?" bar, which is basically a concept in the Vietnamese backpacking circuit. Put in 100,000 dong ($5) and drink unlimited amounts of vodka+redbull. So yeah...my first party out here, and it was a good one :).