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The Cat From Hue
Entry 9 of 14 | show all | print this entry |
The somewhat random title for this post is from a book.
After a 12 hour bus ride from hell we arrived in Hue. Hue is a very lovely city. It's the old imperial capital. There is a very nice old walled city with a collection of buildings in various states of repair or disrepair. I sort of prefer them in disrepair. I have this sort of fetish for old Asian gates. There were plenty of those here and I took a bunch of photos. Josh thinks I'm crazy.
Hue is MUCH more laid back than Hanoi....not that a speeding Hue scooter will hurt you any less than a Hanoi one. There are quite a few nice restaurants serving both Western and Vietnamese food. We stayed in Hue for a day and half and generally tooled around the city, found a large (by local standards) supermarket and loaded up on water and fruit.
Let's talk about water. If you travel to Vietnam you must understand this. You are going to spend more on bottled water than on almost anything else. Yes....more than on hotels...or bus rides. My hotel room in Hue cost $12 for 2 people. Water? Oh.. we spent a lot more than that. 2 reasons: 1) you just need so damn much of it to stay hydrated and alive. 2) You need so damn much of it that there is a considerable mark-up for non-locals. What we try to do is buy in bulk and fill up our hydration packs. We usually try to buy it in a grocery store where they have prices listed. If you do this you can spend between one 5th and one 10th of what they sell it for on the streets or near tourist areas.
Economics: Eventually I'll write a post about the cost of things and prices and being a Westerner and US dollars and all. For now let me just say that it is very inexpensive here. We have paid between $12-20 for a two bed hotel room with showers, AC, cable, fridge, etc. The place we are in now is a bit upscale with a rooftop pool and we are paying $20 a night. Some travelers think we are overpaying, but we don't want to bunk it with 4 other backpackers and a communal bathroom for 5 bucks a night.
Electricity: The government turns off the power for to different parts of the city every day. They alternate it and move around who gets hit at what time. About half the shops have generators. Everyone else uses candles, and it's not unusual to see tourist dining by candlelight. It's an inconvenience to be sure, but they have figured out how to manage it well. Everyone comes out on the street and has their dinner in front of their houses or shops, because it is too hot inside. Josh and I just stay out until the power comes back on around 9 or 10pm
Latest Comments (1)
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Hello... (reply)
Jul 20, 2008 23:43 EST by jocej
Daniel, I love your stories! Hue's landscapes sound incredible. I'm sure they will make beautiful black and whites =)
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