The Vacation Part 3 - Hue

After Hoi An, we headed north to Hue - a town that is known for its architecture, its historic monuments, and for the role it and the surrounding area played during the Vietnam War (or the America war, as the Vietnamese call it.)

The day we arrived in Hue marked the fifth straight day of rain for our trip, and the weather was starting to frustrate us. Everything was still fun and beautiful, but we couldn't help but think how much more so it would have been if it had not been raining constantly. We asked one guy when it was going to stop raining, and he said, "March." Turns out that this is their rainy season. Bad planning on our part, I guess.

Essentially, we only had one full day in Hue, which meant that we had to make a choice of which touristy things to do. The Minnesota contingent really wanted to check out the DMZ and the Vinh Moc tunnels, which were a few hours outside of Hue. Bergie and I felt more like checking out the monuments and sights around Hue. So, we split up.

Bergie and I arranged to be driven around to the various sights of Hue on the backs of motorbikes, and we scooted all over checking out various tombs of Vietnamese emperors. The sites were impressive and all, but for me the scooting was what made it great. We spent the morning riding through rice paddies, villages, and along the bank of the Perfume river - parts that really could have only been explored via motorbike. It was truly amazing. The only downside was that, as I mentioned before, it was raining the entire time. So, our energy levels drained quickly. And four hours into our six hour tour, we decided to call it a day. We were completely soaked and needed to go back to the room to dry off and warm up. We hooked up with the others later that evening for dinner, and that was basically it for Hue and for Vietnam.

While we had a blast in Vietnam, and would highly recommend it to anyone, I'm pretty sure we were all ready to move on to Thailand, and hopefully away from the never-ending rain. Becca seemed especially done when we were walking down the street and yet another Tuk Tuk driver offered her a ride. (Tuk Tuks in Vietnam are little one passenger cabs driven by bicycle. They are everywhere, and the drivers are constantly hassling you to take a ride.) This unsuspecting little tuk tuk driver approached Becca and asked, "You want Tuk Tuk?" Becca's eyes bulged and her face turned red and she screamed, "NOOO! I DO NOT WANT TUK TUK!" Usually, they just keep asking, but this guy could tell that this gal was not to be messed with. Clearly scared, he just turned around and walked the other way.

Next stop - Thailand.