Oh man what a day. First of all, I sweated my balls off today. And that’s saying something.

Breakfast at the hostel was great. Not free, but as always the portion size was perfect. Eggs, toast, fruit, and coffee. 

I had a nice chat with a hostel employee about her dream of becoming a teacher. She wants to teach English, literature not the language. In California. That’s a big dream.

I wandered down to the waterfront on the way to pre-buy my next train ticket. Lots of sculpture in the park. 

Some old guy asked me to buy him a coffee lol so I did. We talked for a while. He said that because he was in the army in the war his kids had a hard time getting jobs. He had some negative comments about the Communist Party. That really surprised me. I’m guessing that he wasn’t a north Vietnamese soldier or a party member, ever.

Food and coffee are cheaper here than in Hanoi, if that’s possible. A coffee is only 10,000 dong, not 20 or more.

The Citadel neighborhood surrounds The Hue Imperial Palace. I spent a few hours there. We bombed the hell out of that place in the late 60’s and they are still rebuilding. It’ll take a while; we did a thorough job of it.

Lunch was the local specialty Bun Bo Hue. Pretty good!

Next was a short walk to an art gallery. Not really a gallery, bc nothing was for sale. But interesting still. No pics of the art of course.

More riverfront walking until the boat-trip sellers chased me away. I found a thoroughly disreputable street and strolled for a while. This little stand in an interesting alley was selling battered deep-fried banana slices.  For 2000 dong I was served this magical treat on an old calendar page as a napkin. Fantastic! Just a little later I found bubble tea, but not just bubble tea. Popping Tea. I can’t describe it.

Ok I’ll try.

Milk tea with ice, white tapioca balls, a shot of espresso, 8 different kinds of jellies, some chunks of soft stuff that taste kinda like strawberry&vanilla&banana&chocolate…it was nothing more or less than a banana split flavored iced bubble tea espresso shake.

UNBELIEVABLE for only one buck.

So at this point I’m full of snacks, and it’s awesome.

On the way back, I finally see what passes for the Walmart and buy toothpaste and a dragonfruit, and conditioner for my rat’s nest, and by that I mean hair. Why are other countries mega-marts so cool?

I return to find clean clothes and the dragonfruit makes a tasty dinner.

Life is good.

Here’s todays pictures 

And…no problemo. The ability to get up and wander back and forth made 11 hours fly by. Also, a little tv played a bunch of random content. Also, I read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, and Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein. Also, I got up and took pics regularly.

Here they are..

I didn’t take a picture of the train bathroom because I didn’t want you to have nightmares too.

Also I saw another dead, much fresher, rat.

Goodnight everyone😃

Not nothing, really, but almost. 

I was down to my last 50 cents. After a long search, found an ATM that would take my card. Whew.

Train ticket purchased, I found a coffee and booked some hostels. I found good enough rooms for the next 3 places: Hue, Danang, and Hoi An. In Hoi An I splurged and got a private room at 12 bucks per night.

Did a day’s worth of laundry for clean undies for tomorrow. Took a walk. Played 2 games of pool on the most warped table ever. 

So I went to the night market to see all the crazy stuff for sale. I was going to take some pictures, but felt weird about it. These women are just trying to make a living.

So I’ll just tell you….lots of food that I most def would eat. Bullfrogs, pigeon, chicken livers & hearts, beef liver, goose, regular beef and chicken parts, goat, many different kinds of eggs, eel, snake, tofu lol, crab, fish. I think that most of it was just killed a couple of hours ago, so it’s super fresh. 

Maybe I’m so used to seeing my meat on a plate, but it came from something alive. The markets here are getting less and less weird. It was strange for me at first.
Anyway, no real pics for today.

Also want to give a shout out to the restaurant I’ve been to twice now. The service is good and the portions almost american sized (which means plenty big). It’s called Duc Nhat. Each meal comes with two freebies, either an appy, piece of fruit, hot tea, or a beer. The prices are good. Tonight I had noodles and chicken, some puffed rice thing, a beer, and hot tea for 60,000 dong. That’s like 3 bucks. 

Anyway, I’m on the train for 11 hours tomorrow. I’m going to try the meal they sell all the locals. Some kind of meat, rice, and tea. Can’t wait!

Had a day with some wild swings. Started out great with a boat trip to some caves, a downswing upon realizing my chosen course of action was gonna be tough, great again at some temple stuff, absolutely nightmarish bike ride home, tried and succeeded to shift that m.f. bad attitude, lovely dinner, nice chat with a fellow traveler, a beer, shower, and bed.

If anyone ever asks “should I rent a bicycle in Vietnam?” the answer is no.

No.

Anyway, the Trang An Grottoes are super awesome. The entire region has the world heritage seal of approval and rightfully so. This particular attraction is more popular among the Vietnamese, so the commercialism is toned way down. What a relief. I mean, they’re happy to take your money, but don’t give you any crap if you smile and say “no thanks”.

After a cave tour and a lovely coffee, I jumped on the shittiest mountain bike ever made by a man and rode way too far. 

It was kinda cool at times. There was that cattle traffic jam, and all the chickens and goats frolicking with me. Once an old lady passed me and told me step on it! lol

At my second stop, I realized that I’d forgotten to eat breakfast and lunch. That may have made my attitude shittier than usual. Some peanut brittle saved me.

The ride back to town was brutal. I took a wrong turn and added many kilometers to the voyage. On a shitty bike. On a highway. I would have made it except for the headwind that showed up. I was doing really well all alone at my pity-party, all alone, poor Mary. 

After a bit I got over myself. Change your attitude and change your reality.

So I just walked instead. And it was delightful. After a few blocks there were sidewalks, and cute kids, and moms, and everyone saying hello to me. 

A bunch of people tried to fix the bike which was super nice.  The phrase “this bike is a piece of shit” is universal! 

After just a few miles I was home again with a cold beer, and the day was behind me. 

Here’s some pictures…

I’m going to take back what I said yesterday about this city. It’s too negative. The people that live here are great, and it’s not a tourist destination. You still get treated like a person here.

Goodnight