We arrived in a misty and cool Hue in search of lodging. We settled, after looking and bargaining at several hotels, on a $12/night hotel that would prove sketchy. It seemed decent enough at first glance. Cafe on Thu Wheels was our "local" for Hue. They serve Hue specialties, have a great atmosphere, arrange tours of the city and DMZ and has its walls covered in travelers sentiments on their enthusiasm towards the Cafe. We signed up for a moto tour of Hue, with Minh, one of the proprietors and tour guide.
Morning arrived too soon after a chilly night with no blankets and we rolled over to the Cafe for our tour along with breakfast. The weather was a little cool so we opted for a car tour at noon instead. In the meantime explored some of the surrounding area and joined up with Minh a short time later. We visited the Japanese Bridge, near Hue which was built over 300 years ago and is still standing in its original wooden form (allegedly) despite wars, flooding and weather. Next we visited the Pagoda and adjacent monastery where one can find the actual car, a monk drove down to Saigon and then subsequently set himself on fire out of protest. That's what I call devotion to a cause! The afternoon was spent at the Citadel and forbidden Purple City, where we had a very forgettable lunch of over priced Pho. After the Citadel, we proceeded to visit several tombs of ancient Vietnamese Emperors. The last one, apparently had 104 wives, none of which bore him a child. Tough break and talk about pressure for wife #104! The evening was rounded out with a visit to the top rated restaurant in Hue, which was good, but certainly not OUR top rated restaurant. We followed that with a tasty Indian snack and ended the evening with a wild night at the Cafe. What goes on at Cafe on Thu Wheels, stays there.
We discovered a French patisserie for coffee and breakfast this morning and relaxed there all morning. The rest of the day was a slow paced day without much on the agenda. Lunch was had at Ninas, another top rated restaurant in the city. It proved elusive the previous night, but finally found it for lunch! It turns out it was very close to the Cafe and had been near it every night. We then, took a river boat cruise and wandered the city and finally got massages at a nice little spa where the locals go. I think my masseuse took pity on my gnarled leg and gave half her effort. The old ladies three times her age in Bangkok were much better! We rounded out the evening back at Ninas, for more of her good food and friendly service.
The final day in Hue found us again, at the French Patisserie. The place actually provides jobs and baking classes to Vietnamese kids in need and then helps them find a forward path in life. A great organization with great food! We'd be leaving on a night train to Hanoi this afternoon so we did a little shopping for the journey. While we were packing up, I realized that $75 was missing from my bag. It appears that our bags were pilfered at some point while we were gone. I guess it was foolish to not have taken better precaution. $20 was taken from my buddy as well. So, the $12/night rooms basically turned out to be $36/night. In the grand scheme of things, it's only money. We weren't roughed up or pillaged. It's the principle of the matter!
Soon we boarded our night train for Hanoi which was actually quite pleasant. The 11 hour journey seemed to pass quickly. Good company, good music, new train friends and a 6 hour slumber made the ride effortless.
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