Zelma’s Trip

The sleeper train was an experience.  There were six in a berth

and I had the middle bunk which was probably the worst to be

fair.  With the bottom bunk you can put your bag underneath

and with the top bunk you have more head room as the train

has a curved roof.  I hardly slept but the section that was

meant to be fantastic (between Danang and Hue over the Hai Van

pass) was with the train crawling through the mountains and

views down over the bays.  All the other people in my cabin

were Vietnamese and one sweet old guy kept waking me up from my half sleep by

grabbing my feet to offer me hard-boiled eggs.  He also seemed

to get very distressed by the fact that I was wandering around

in bare feet and not accepting his flip-flops that he tried

to thrust upon me.

I arrived in Hue at around 8AM in the morning.  I slept when I

got here and then went for a wander around the city.  The Dong

Ba market was pretty awesome and I went into the outer citadel

area, so to speak.  It was stunning, shady and green.  I've

booked a Honda Om for tomorrow to take me to some of the other

sites like the mausoleums and a couple of temples.  I've also

booked a sleeper bus to take me to Hanoi tomorrow night.  Hue

is beautiful but outside the lovely inner walls it's a bit

sparse.  I've also got far more unwanted male attention than
anywhere else.  I think it's because there are far fewer

Western females here (despite it being a popluar site on the

tourist map)and even fewer who are traveling by themselves.

It's not been a problem but, in my slightly tired and grumpy

state has been somewhat of an irritation.  I was very conscious

of dressing conservatively before going to dinner tonight

(i.e. full on trousers and long sleeves) but it didn't appear

to make any difference.  Hey ho.

One reason that I am tempted to extend my stay in Hue is the

food.  The speciality dish here is a dish called banh Khoai

which is a small, crispy yellow pancake fried with shrimp,

pork and bean sprouts and served with peanut and sesame sauce,

star fruit, green banana, lettuce and mint.  I had this without

the pork and it was divine.  One of the best things I've ever

tasted to be honest!