Hounded in Hue

Trip Start May 03, 2008

Trip End May 02, 2009

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Where I stayed

Sports Hotel Hue

(Hue hotels)

Flag of Vietnam Hue, Vietnam
Thursday, May 22, 2008

Hue was a disaster!!! I thought I didn't like Hanoi but this was worse! We got off the bus and there was one hostel tout so we went with him. The place smelled - we saw several rooms but they were all awful. This place was far away from everywhere else so we had to leave and make the journey into town. It wasn't that far but it was one of the rare occasions when I had to put my bag on my back (the roads were too torn up to wheel anything). One of the moto touts pulled up and we eventually gave in and went to see the place he was flogging. The place was still being built!! It also smelled and we decided to go to a hotel that we had a leaflet for and looked good. The tout wanted one of us to stay and he would bring the other to the hotel. We weren't falling for that one and insisted on walking ourselves. He followed us all the way and parked up when we went in. We told him to leave, that we would go back to the other place if we didn't like the hotel.

We decided to stay anyway

The Imperial Enclosure

. It was pricier than we wanted to pay but it was really nice and didn't smell!! We showered and rested and 3 hours later emerged for some lunch and sightseeing. Who was outside but our little friend claiming he had waited for us for 3 hours!!! I didn't believe he had waited there for that long but he kept following us and I was getting really annoyed with him. He basically wanted money but we weren't budging. We managed to shake him somehow and found a place to eat.
After lunch we went to the Citadel. Much of it is in ruins and there is a lot of building work going on but there are a few nice areas. The weirdest is a brand new tennis court on the grounds - apparently the emperor had a fancy for western sports. The court was built to commemorate this....very suspect!
A day in Hue is more than enough and we're booked on the next bus outta here. The touts really ruin it. Bangkok is a breeze compared to this place. One tout told us that the Citadel was 6km away when we knew it was just over the bridge. Another was trying to get us on his rickshaw while we were walking over the bridge and there was a big barrier between us! I assume he expected us to climb over it! Hoi An is the next destination so hopefully that will be a better experience.