Hue

I arrive in Hue on the morning of October 30th after a long bus journey, a harrowing one for most. I was wise enough to load up on a bit of vodka and successfully passed out before long. I had read of the horrors of the Hanoi-Hue bus journey online before my departure. It is a horribly bumpy drive with all the usual honking of Vietnam traffic. I made myself cozy in the back of the bus where the sound of noisy Vietnamese people talking on their cell phones and the honking of the driver was drown out by the whir and rumble of the engine. I started out with a 4-5 person mattress all to myself. A couple, from Poland if I remember right, joined me after a time. Then things got to be too much halfway through the drive when the bus drivers shift ended and he and his sweetheart joined us. With two couples on either side of me on a cramped mattress, and the bus driver making out with his lady, I finished the journey on the top bunk.

Halloween at the Hue Backpackers Hostel was a hoot, with a great deal of free spring rolls, grilled chicken on skewers, and penut butter "witches finger" cookies. There was decorating, dressing up, music to fit the festivities, and of course lots of drinking. It was only a day or two later that the eve before the Melbourne cup was celebrated, again with dressing up and a great deal of drinking.

While in Hue I visited a number of the tombs, contained in large park-like estates. I small village that is dedicated to making incense and derives most of its living, it would appear, from tourists like myself that are hearded through on an hourly basis. I did a day tour of the DMZ further North. I saw a number of old military bases, a landing strip, and the Vin Moc Tunnels used by the Vietcong during the war. This was all at the tail end of the typhoon as is evidenced by the image of the raging Pacific Ocean.