Wahey íts Hue

Hue (about half way up Vietnam )... the old imperial and cultural capital of Vietnam situated on the perfume river with a citidel within a citadel within a citadel at the centre. At the heart of the three citadels there was a purple kingdom where the emporer lived with his 500 wives and eunuch servants. Sounds pretty good to me, i move in next week. We took a boat tour round some of the sites in Hue today, a few tombs and bagodas and gardens etc, not bad but extremely hot all day (37 degrees) which kinda took the life out of it a bit.

Ás a city Hue hasnt really captured my imagination like Saigon ỏr Hoi An đid. It just doesnt seem to have the character that thóse cities do, it all seems to be background noise with very little substance. The history here ís the main reason why travellers stop but thếse are all very individual pieces located in different párts òf the city or (as in most cases) about 20-30 km outside the city. Hue í also known to have some of the best food in Vietnam and we put off our decision to book a cookery class until we got here. However, we've actually found the food to be quite disappointing compared with the other cities where even the street food was very reliable and tásty. On the first day we followed a recommendation from the hotel receptionist for some of the local 'Banh Bot Loc Boc Tom Thit'. Thís was pork and shrimp steamed in rice pastry wrapped in a banana leaf. Sounds ok right? But it actually looked like a đodgy shrimp wrapped in see through jelly. Didnt finish it and went out looking for some pho instead (always reliable).

Went out for japanese food lást night with an english couple we have met, funny night with stories òf  tattoos, travelling and the ripping apart òf the other snorkelling participants (where we met them), plenty of beer and cocktails sat on the street cỏrner, we got in about 1am with the tour bus departing at 7.30am. Yeyses.

Booked on the 5.15pm sleeper bus to Hanoi tomorrow.

Hoi An

Arrived in Hoi An yesterday after a 12 hour sleeper bus north from Nah Trang. Only 6 bucks for the entire journey and took twice as long as the train but we're on a budget and trying to save a dollar here and there (put that handbag down Tash). Bad decision all in all, people sleeping everywhere including the floor and the damp patch near the toilet. Vietnamese pop music played at top volume from 5am onwards (not sure why, even the Vietnamese seemed to be unimpressed...there was definitely nobody singing along). Beautiful city though, probably one of our favourite so far, incredible french/european architecture in the old town which drops down to the river where a million red laterns light up the bridge, restaurants and the river banks. Had a romantic stroll down the river, a few beers and finally ended up back at the hotel which is set back from the old town about 10 minutes walk from the river.

Hired a scooter today and saw a bit more of the city, found a tailor and spent a small fortune (we're on a budget yeah) on tailored suits, shirts, skirts and playsuits. Will be ready tomorrow apparently so no doubt a whole family will be up late tonight making it all up. Tash also had her first scooter less today, almost ended up in the river but turned out ok...thinking the easy rider tour up to Hue might not be such a good idea afterall.

Another great meal last night...beef with lemongrass, garlic and cooked over a barbecue wrapped in a banana leaf. Amazing tastes. $15 with 4 beers

Just about to finish No Country for Old Men. Improved the more i got into it and now finding it to be a real page turner. May move onto DJs recommendation The Quiet American if i can find it (all the books for sale here are photocopies of the original...i just hope that the author sees some of the $2 i paid the street seller for No Country for Old Men)

Last days in Nah Trang

Headed out on a boat yesterday to do some snorkeling around the vietnam coral reef, doesn't look like much from the surface (just dark blue water lapping at the islands) but when you get underneath the water there was an incredible array of coral, fish, crabs and flowers. It's the first time I've seen seen that much ocean life outside of the aquarium and I was amazed at the colours and how close you could get to the fish. Whenever you saw an area that interested you, you could dive down and have a closer look making the fish shoot out from their hiding places, some of the more confident ones turning to look at you as if to say 'im trying to have my breakfast' before slowly swimming off. Great fun, lots of backpackers on the boat so got to know them a bit, still a bit surprised at how close some people hold their cards to their chest, when we're all in the same boat (geddit) and just trying to have fun. Photo below is of the snorkelling team at lunch...just a 3 course meal knocked up for us by the captain and the guide (shrimp, squid, noodles, salad, chicken etc)...we were only expecting a cheese and ham roll.

Heading off to hoi an today on the sleeper bus (full bunk bed style sleeping areas). Hoi an also has a huge number of bespoke tailors which we'll be taking full advantage of

Books
No country for old men by cormac McCarthy...seen the film which is stopping me from getting into it think. His writing style I also find a bit jumpy.

Highest number of people on a scooter seen = 5

Dinner last night - more pho as we were trying to keep the costs down. Unfortunately the cheaper the food the more likely you are to get a warm Beer served with ice

Cutest puppy we've seen so far posing with Tash (shortly before he vomited and diarreahed)...a near miss fOr Tash, spotted by me when I saw him doing the Rosie cat heave.

South Vietnam

So here we are, after working my 'tates' off for 7 years, here comes 4 months of uninterrupted time off. Who knows if the decision will be one i look back on with fondness or regret, who knows if its potential career suicide. One thing i do know though is that im excited about doing something different for four months.

Flew into the madness of Saigon (3 days), did a few tourist sites, the cu chi tunnels (tunnels dug by the vietnamese during their defence against the americans), the war remnants museum (agent orange attrocities) and ate some amazing food from little street stalls (beef cooked in a bamboo shoot one of the best). Also introduced to the vietnamese pho here, a hot bowl of steaming meaty broth with slices of meat, noodles, lots of onion and with a big side plate of mint, coriander, lemongrass, parsley and chillis. Tear it up and throw it in for an amazingly tasty, fragrant soup. $1 each bowl. I'll have two please mate but easy on the chillis yeah.

Mui Ne (2 days) next 4 hours east on a sleeper bus. Chilled beachside town, not much to report

Nah Trang (3 days), heavily touristy at one end but fortunately we're staying in the north end where its 100% vietnamese. Lots of local eateries and a balcony overlooking the ocean. Hired a scooter today and took off south towards Cam Rahn 30km away. Great little beach with barbecue huts as close to the waters edge as they could be without floating away.

Snorkelling trip booked for tomorrow to explore the coral reef.

Two books so far:
'One Day' by David Nicholls...nice story not particualrly life changing, apparently theyre making a film, will do well as a film. 
'Beatrice and Virgil' by Yann Martel...incredibly well written and researched. A book i'll remember for a long time. Makes me want to write a book