A Taste of Freedom

Only a few days behind schedule posting this...

Touching down in Hue (pronounced like h-whey!) was another diverse experience. It was much quieter than Hanoi and was a little bit more upmarket whilst being geared towards the tourists with shops, restaurants and bars.

We stayed at the Asia Hotel which looked fairly plush on the outside compared to what we'd been used to and wasn't bad on the inside either! We were welcomed with a passion fruit juice and given our room keys to drop everything off before heading out to dinner. Huyen wanted to take us to the restaurant next to the hotel which was run by a French man and his wife who was from Hue. The food was nice enough (I had the chilli and lemongrass chicken with rice) but the portion sizes weren't huge and comparatively to the other food we had enjoyed, it didn't hit the spot! After that, we headed back to the room to sort out our bags and get ready for the early start as we were going on a moped tour of the city. It decided to chuck it down and was one of the most torrential downpours I've ever seen! At that point, Connie and I were looking at it from our balcony wondering if we would ever make it out the following day.

Breakfast was memorable as it was the best one we had experienced so far and it's since not been matched! I started with some yoghurt, fruits and pastries and then had some more fruit, pancakes and bacon with a lovely coffee and watermelon juice.

The weather was still pants but luckily it had calmed down a lot since the night before and when we all met in the lobby, our mopeds and guides were all waiting for us ready for the big day ahead!

The practical, sensible part of me was thinking oh my god, a day on a moped is asking for trouble, am I covered on the insurance for this and are they going to drive like mad as I'd seen how busy it was in the other cities?! The adventurer in me was really excited and looking forward to experiencing the city first hand like a local - it was the best decision I'd made and was so much fun!

There were numerous stops throughout the day at different monuments and viewing points and we saw the Citadel, opera house, a cemetery in the middle of the rice fields, a King's tomb, French and American bunkers with a viewpoint, the 2nd oldest bridge in Vietnam with a quick tea stop, had lunch cooked for us by monks at a temple, went into a remote part down some back streets and visited a disabled lady who makes the Vietnamese hats which was amazing to see, went to the old tiger and elephant arena where they were made to fight to the death and the heavenly lady pagoda where a Vietnamese family grabbed me and each insisted on having individual photos with me!

(Citadel)

(Opera House)

(Cemetery and rice fields)

(Second oldest bridge in Vietnam and local tea break!)

(Temple where the monks cooked for us)

(King's tomb)

(Lady making traditional Vietnamese hats)

(Cruising down the rice fields)

(Group shot on the bikes with one of the bunkers, the view where the bunkers were and me with my driver!)

(Elephant and tiger arena)

(Water logged part of town!)

(Heavenly lady pagoda and the car where the famous monk Thích Quảng Đức burned himself to death)

(Mopeds all stopped to let a train through on the way back to the hotel!)

I think my driver considered himself a bit of a bad ass and tried to stick at the front, overtaking when he could despite some of the bumps and dips in the road which resulted in a bit of a sore bottom at the end of the day!

The experience itself was exhilarating and the only way I could describe it was that I felt completely free. In that moment, sat on the back of the moped in the sunshine whizzing along the roads with the not so fresh air in my face, I felt completely at peace and content with not a care in the world. It sounds cliché but it was what this whole backpacking trip was about for me. Since Dad died, I felt as if my heart and soul had shattered into tiny pieces and I'd never be the same person again. Yet, as time passes here, I feel as if I'm starting to heal and can see glimpses of the old me. Corny, a bit cheesy but an honest account; no-one here knows my story or the pain I've hidden away for the last 3 years putting on a brave face and I can just be myself without people feeling sorry for me or knowing me as that girl with the sad story of a dead dad. Im loving it and have a completely new lease of life which I hope is only going to improve as I continue travelling (it's still early days and there's progress yet to be made!)

Getting to the hotel at the end was a treat as we knew the showers were ready and waiting for us and we could wash off the mud where we'd driven through so many deep puddles and water from where it had rained so much!

Huyen had arranged for us to have dinner at one of the moped drivers houses as he likes to cook for the tour groups with his wife. I got a bit more dressed up and treated my face to some make-up too as we were hitting the bar afterwards for some drinks which instantly made me feel nicer! The food was fantastic and was supplied in a constant stream until we were fit to burst - crispy spring rolls, morning glory (green veg with garlic), fresh mackerel, marinated pork, rice, omelettes, and sweet pineapple for dessert.

When we'd finished it was still fairly early (only about 9/9.30) so Huyen took us to Brown Eyes bar which was the tourist dream - cheap drinks on happy hour, jenga and good music! I ordered myself a mojito and a Cuba Libre both of which were really strong! Huyen then ordered us a flaming drink to share between us and I found out the following morning that it was a lethal combination of vodka, sambuca and Cointreau!

The group started to quickly diminish and by 10.30, Huyen, Ash, Nathan and I were the last ones standing and we didn't stop dancing and laughing at all the people and goings on. Come 11ish, Huyen left too leaving just me and the two lads who started an impressive dance-off with the locals which was an absolute scream and I only wish now that I'd filmed it; suuuuuch fun! The only downside was that there was no breeze or air con and the place was sweltering with all the hot and sweaty bodies on the dancefloor and the one fan above us was just moving the heat around.

Just after half 12 we decided to head back and it was still really warm outside once we'd left the bar. Walking along the road, I spotted a huge rat so pointed it out to Nathan - it was hideous! Next thing we know, two have run under his feet and he may well have trodden on them and the two of us were shrieking and jumping around - what an end to the night haha!

Getting back to a cool room and climbing into bed was a relief and I managed to get some sleep before getting up early as our next stop was Hoi An!

Another quote I like to end on for the day: "difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations."

Couldn't be more true! Xxx