On The Trail Again.... Hopping out of Hanoi

Spent two days in Hue where we chose to take a dreaded 'tour' of the countryside sites to see. When we took a look at where we had gone on a map at the end of the day we realized that we could have easily have accomplished the same on bikes. However, we would not have met new friends from London or had some of the much needed giggles that punctuated our experience. This is a country of people movers.... and sometimes they are successful. Round and round the steet the bus goes... past the same hotels where, at each pass, they pick up someone new. When the bus was full we took off for the Citadel (4 blocks from our hotel). This was a mini version of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing and is actually called the forbiden palace area. There is even a Reviewing Square that was only lacking in size and a pictue of Mao.... we could have been back in Tiennaman Square. Well preserved considering there was extensive bombing during the war. There is nothing left of the palace but the gardens and out buildings are still interesting. Back on the bus (following the little man with a long pointer) we headed off to see the first of three tombs (Tu Duc, Khai Dinh & Minh Mang Tombs). Each unique... one was gay and had quite a few offspring as well as 'friends' in France, one was not gay and had 140 wives, countless concubines and no offspring [they say it is because of illess] and the other seems to have had it all together on top of having quite a beautiful garden tomb. The rest of the tour included a time for the herd to tromp to the top of a hill.... snap a few pictures.... marvel at the Perfume (far enough from the smell) river... realize that we were actually standing on concrete bunkers... and tromp back down to the bus. Then, down the road with cameras in hand, we were given time (15min) to watch the process of incense stick making and conical hat factory [ the factory was one very cute old lady with a needle]. Back on the bus to a Pagoda (insert oohs and ahhs) then on to the boat for a twenty minute float to town and a walk back to our hotel. I forgot to mention lunch. We went all the way back to town for lunch which meant we had to go down the same narrow alley where a bamboo stick was used to hold up the mass of electrical wires or the bus would wipe out electicity for the area. When we looked at the map and measured it all out, the trip was less than 10km. With all the backtracking the bus put on at least 25km.
It was an experience. Imagine Shane and I with a little name tag following a man with a pointer and a bright red flag!!! Ain't life interesting?
The next day we tied to wear out our shoes by wandering all over town. Through the market where we watched pigs and chickens saying their final farewells while fish and eels swam around in plastic bins trying to find the escape hatch. The sights, smells, colours and noise of a market are not easy to describe. If you have experienced it you will understand that all over the world a market is a wonderful way to really experience local life at it's best. Tried our best to find Shane a Hot Toc (barber) with no luck in our price range. The weather was cloudy & not too warm which gave us the energy to explore and the desire to share a cold beer with another English couple at the end of the day.
Then we climbed on the night bus for a trip to Ninh Binh. No room at all on this bus so we were stuck in the back seat with three young people well in to the bottle of gin (staight) they brought with them. The good thing is that eventually they passed out.... two on the floor and the last across the three seats beside us. At least her feet were clean. Life in the cheap seats! Makes you miss the chicken busses!
At 5:30AM we realized that the bus forgot to drop us off so we sat tight finding ourselves in Hanoi and a bit of confused at 6:30. Oh well... there's no such thing as accidents. The area around Ninh Binh will be wonderful to exlore by bicycle. It is described as similar to Halong Bay but with rice fields instead of ocean. It is just as well they forgot to drop us off as it was pouring with rain when we went through. BBC has promised it will clear up this week. So....... the plan now is to go to Halong Bay tomorrow for a boat and kayak tour. It is misty but not raining, I am told.... will let you know the truth on the next blog.