I woke up at 6am and couldn't get back to sleep (a regular occurance now due to noise).
We had breakfast at our hotel again (Pacific Prince) which was delicious and different to what we had been having. A sort of pad thai dish - yes Alexis I had 2 servings!!! :) - mushroom and pasta salad, eggs, cucumber and tomato, and tea and toast.
Then we headed to the water puppets show. This was amazing. Its set in an oriental theme with a big pool (representing rice paddys) in front. The puppets come out from under the water controlled by people behind the stage area (out of sight to the audience). There was a group of very young children that were there to watch and were delighted when a new puppet came out - very cute! We were amazed at how life like and how much they moved like that animal/person they were representing. We had to go to the loo after but i wasn't game due to the squat toilet and smell. Im just not ready yet. Tony went but felt sick from the smell.
We came back to the hotel so I could pee and for some time out from the streets. We both can only handle Hanoi in small quantities. I have tried to upload some video footage of the streets but it takes so long I always give up. Will post it when I get a chance.
After some reading we headed out again for some sight seeing. We walked around for about 3 hours and saw the Flag Tower, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Presedential Palace, Botanic Gardens (with about 500 brides and groom having their wedding photos taken) and the Temple of Literature.
Then we decided to have lunch and had the best meal to date! We ordered beef and seasonal vegetables, noodles and beef. It was delisious and didnt leave us feeling too full, heavy or sick - score! We then headed back to hotel checked out but left luggage then until we were ready to go to over night train.
We wandered around the lake and just people watched. We had chikcen pho for dinner and was the best $2.50 we spent.
We then went to the train station to wait for our train. We got there at 8pm and our train departed at 11pm. It was a long wait and my head was playing up due to the heat and tiredness. But we got through it. We had a random scammer come up to ask asking to see our tickets and Tony said no. Scammers!
We boarded the train and thought we were in for an easy trip to Hue.
I thought it would be a good idea to take a sleeping tablet so I could sleep through the trip seeing as we were due at Hue at 8am. BIG MISTAKE!
At 4:45am we were all woken and told to get off the train as the flooding had covered the train tracks and we had to get a bus. We werent told thiseasily of course but everyone got off the train and waited around who knows where! Yep right about now that sleeping tablet was the worst thing ever! By the way thanks Emma it really was good having it for previous travels :) Please thank your mum as well!
So for what felt like forever we waited and I sat there almost hullusinating as my body still should have been asleep. Tony thought this would be the moment I cracked and said "ive had enough we are flying to Phuket for the rest of the trip". But no. I knew it was only temporary so pushed through and before we knew it we were on a bus travelling again. Broken English and hand signals allowed us to now find out what was happening.
The bus trip was a ride from hell and we saw our lives flash before our eyes twice. First 1 everyone deadset thought we were going to crash, but at the very last minute the bus did a massive swerve and just missed the oncoming truck by cms. Its like they play chicken with each other or something? We finally arrived at the train station so the train could take us the rest of the way. We werent sure where we were, but it was somewhere between Hanoi and Dong Hoi? We jumped on and continued our journey.
We are staying in Hue tonight at Sports Bar Hotel - Tony's pick but unfortunately for him there are no TVs so not quite sure where the sport comes into it :) - and then will get a bus to Hoi An tomorrow for 2 days on the beach.
The weather has been so hot I have been drinking (and ejoying beer) yes thats right I will now be coming home with a beer belly :)
The flooding hasnt affected us (except of course the train) and we weren't too sure where it was. We are both really well and thoroughly enjoying ourselves and dont want to come home.
Love to all
xoxo
P.S Happy 1 week and 2 day wedding anniversary :)
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