Day 5 - Hue (hway)

Day 5 was the Vietnamese national day, where they celebrate their independence from the French. Finally, we're in a country where they're having their national day celebrated and not missing it by a couple of days like Malaysia and Singapore. Unfortunately, we were in Hue today so no fireworks, but we did catch a giant boat race using the locals Sampans, it seemed that all the locals were out to watch. We however had to get to the hotel which was stunning and very central. After unpacking, it was time for a bit of lunch and then another Cyclo tour to the citadel. As far as citadels go it was pretty impressive, they explained what all the places in there meant too. Unfortunately, a lot of it was bombed during the French and American wars but 'cause it's a world heritage site, it'll be restored to its former glory. One thing i would like to note, and i think this is the case of sheer neglect on behalf of the Vietnamese, is that the citadel looked ancient...it really did, but then when we asked how old was the place our guide said it was built in 1802 ! I mean i've been in loos in pubs that are older than that, at least they certainly smell older anyway. Then it was a cyclo ride back to the hotel and get ready for an evening meal.

The evening meal was at a place called "Lac Thanh" which is run by a deaf-mute family, which made it interesting when ordering the food. The owner also had a great party trick of opening 6 bottles of beer at the same time from some home made bottle openers. Other entertainment at the meal was watching a gecko on the wall singlehandedly eat around 100 flies, very impressive.At the end of the meal I went downstairs to the cafe part with Khiem (our guide) 'cause the Miss Vietnamese contest was on TV and one of his class mates at school was in it. We all cheered when she came out, however the owner being deaf didn't realise this and he was in front of us with his thumbs down...hehehe. Unfortunately, Andrea and the ladies got itchy feet then and wanted to leave to get back to the hotel...JUST when they were starting the swim wear part of the contest...damn it ! The owner did make us some home made bottle openers though and wrote on them for us. It's got to be number 1 when it comes to rubbish that we're bringing back from our travels, i mean it's just a bit of wood and a nut and bolt. We will have a new party trick to woo everyone at parties ! you'll have to supply the beer of course ;)

A side note on the weather here, it's hot. I mean Sydney was hot when it was in full steam but nothing like this. The temperature tends to be around 35 here which in Australia is bearable, but when you've got humidity that can easily hit 80% it makes it so much worse. We find ourselves walking about a hundred hards from the hotels and into a shop/cafe/bar then you stop and just burst. out into sweat. Here's the 5 day forecast for Hue.