In the past couple of weeks, we've travelled down the coast of Vietnam, getting as far as Nha Trang. A flight took us from Hanoi to Hue, the old capital of the country. After having to spend a few days too many in Hanoi, we liked Hue mainly on the basis of its not being Hanoi; our road-crossing skills are now well-honed and we step out into the flow of motorcyles without fear! It was fascinating to wander round the walled Citadel and the inner sanctum of the Forbidden Purple City- this was where the Emperor's wives lived and the only men permitted within these walls were eunuchs. However, quite a lot of mental reconstruction is needed on the part of the visitor: Hue is pretty much in the middle of the country, and as a result was the scene of fierce fighting in the American War (as the Vietnamese refer to 1968-). It was fairly hard to imagine that only four decades ago this peaceful city was a battleground, with the Citadel the sight of the Tet Offensive. It's also difficult to understand the resolute focus the Vietnamese seem to have on the future, with no bitterness or anger evident to us as Western travellers.... Perhaps the youth of the country (half the population is under 39) has something to do with this. Anyway, Hue gave us a taste of a more normal Vietnamese city, and even the city's legendary rainfall meant that afternoons were spent in bars drinking very cheap beer and playing cards (getting the hang of the traveller mindset now!)
It was after a day and a night of the heaviest rain we've ever seen that we boarded a bus for Hoi An, another few hours further south. If there was a "Vietnam" section to Disneyland's EPCOT - where a few square metres represent a country's culture in broad brush strokes- it would look like Hoi An. Yellow washed walls, tailors' shops, twinkling lanterns over the river... And plenty of tourists.... Actually, exclusively tourists. However, we intrepid types ventured out one evening to a real Vietnamese place, just a shop front by the road full of men drinking beer (no women at all... how strange). Taking a seat on the sort of small plastic chair that would be reserved in Britain for a particularly diminutive child of five we enjoyed cold beers from an ice box at 10,000 dong a go - that's about 30p - and plates of spring rolls, stir-fried prawns and morning glory with garlic (stop laughing. It's a kind of spinach). Having ignored James's reluctance to go and his several requests to go back to the old town, I was then pleased when he had to concede that it had been a really good idea and probably one of the best meals yet, and didn't remind him of this at all over the next few days.
The following day an ill-judged walk in the punishing sun led to us discovering the beautiful Vietnamese coast for the first time. The beach out of Hoi An is palm fringed, expansive and near enough deserted if you walk a few paces away from the road. Lunch that day was a whole mackerel, (maybe from the catch of one of the tiny one-man boats that came ashore that morning), sliced down the middle and barbequed, and we spent the day on sun loungers looking at the waves. After a fair few days moving around and sight-seeing (I know, I know, poor us), it was great to really feel 'on holiday'. A cooking class that evening led to more great food and learning some authentic Vietnamese recipes that we hope Adam and Nicki will let us try out on them when we see them!
One more night and it was back on another plane to Nha Trang, and having done quite a bit of culture stuff (James: "Look. I don't want to go and see more temples and shit. I just want to go to the beach"), the last few days have mainly been about where to go for breakfast and drinking the kinds of cocktails that contain blue curacao and come with a fruit garnish. Despite the weather reports of flooding and even typhoons (gah!), brilliant sunshine here all day. As a friendly restaurant proprietor told us, the islands surrounding Nha Trang protect it from really severe weather. He was plying us with fresh coconuts topped up with a dash of Malibu at the time, so we believed everything he said. Our next stop tomorrow is the Central Highland town of Dalat, so we will be well out of the way of any scary weather anyway.
Still trying to figure out a way to put a few more pictures up - hope you like the two at the top. The cocktail on the table is a prime example of what I am mostly drinking at the moment...
Love H&J
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