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Other entries in Huế

Wrong Hue

Alas, our feel-good travel luck ran a bit short today.

So there are these "open tour" tourist buses that run around VN. These buses are cheap, but are run by travel agents based on what Lonely Planet calls "an extensive commission culture." So of course, every hotel and travel agent around pushes these tickets. Case in point: it's 108km from Hoi An to Hue. The $2 open tour bus was scheduled to depart at 8am and arrive in Hue at 1pm, for an average of slightly over 20 km/h, and with "sightseeing stops" at several uninteresting locations.

Needless to say, we looked for an alternative. And, I thought I had found one. Hoi An - Hue "direct bus," departing 8am, arriving Hue 11am. Bought two tickets from the small travel agent down the street for 50,000 dong ($3) each.

Bus picks us up at the hotel, picks up other travelers... and stops at a restaurant 20 min out of Hoi An: "20 minutes for breakfast." Stopped twice more in Danang. Stopped again at a line of souvenir stands at a mountain pass north of Danang: "10 minutes for bathroom."

OK, so I decide to use the bathroom in the post office (!?) there. Should be free, right? Not if a scruffy-looking gentleman has parked his moto next to the door and is demanding payment: "1000 dong." Now, this is like 8 cents, but it's the principle - I politely point out that "it's the post office..." and walk past him. He starts shrieking "You pay! You pay!" I had just decided not to pee there, so as to not play his game, when another guy from our bus came up and paid him for me. So I peed.

The final straw was 10 minutes down from the mountain pass pee-stop, and 60 km from Hue: "30 minutes for lunch." Parking lot full of the same buses. I walked out to the road, scouting for drinks from a non-commission-paying roadside stand, and had the driver insisting that I come back. I just waved.

We get into Hue at _2pm_, and they explain how the bus will helpfully take us to two particular hotels, but not any others. Kris and I bolt off at the first hotel, cab it to the train station to drop our bags, and head for lunch. In sum: either incompetence or greed from the travel agent; greed from the bus people; and a review lesson in independent travel - just go to the public bus station, like we did in Costa Rica and elsewhere - for us.

Hue itself is pleasant enough. We had two bowls of chicken soup, a local beer (Huda - pretty much like 333 or Larue) and an orange soda for lunch from a tri-lingual (English, French, VN) gentleman's family restaurant for - here some good news - 25,000D ($1.60). Then we headed for The Citadel, VN's former imperial capital walled city, on the south bank of the Perfume River in Hue.

Unfortunately, not much remains of the Citadel, after fighting with the French in 1947 (and to a lesser degree, the Tet Offensive of 1968, though the US military barred the use of artillery or aircraft in retaking Hue in '68 precisely to preserve the Citadel and other historic parts of the city). After having seen Angkor on this trip, and me (Evan) having gone to the Forbidden City in Beijing during college, the Citadel was somewhat underwhelming. Not to mention not nearly as old, dating only from the early 1800's.

But, in its favor, it was _quiet_. No motos, no cyclo drivers, no postcard sales-kids, only one bamboo flute seller who left us alone to decompress.

Time to go eat dinner before Big Train Ride #2 - we depart Hue at 8:18 tonight, and arrive in Hanoi at 11:50am tomorrow.

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