We had a night bus to Hue, known for its local food. The bus system is odd here. They want you there sometimes 30 mins before, sometimes an hour. They tell you the bus is at 7 when its at 9. Sometimes it leaves ahead of time, on time or late. Sometimes you can reserve your seat (with an open ticket) by phone via your hotel. Other times, they want you in the office to see your ticket to be sure it's with the right company. Lots of time spent on bus rides (5-12 hrs), not including the wait time at the office or the 20 mins breaks. When you get off the bus, taxi men are trying to get you and your luggage with them and you need to bargain to get a fair price. Gas is super cheap here and a light neon green for some reason.
The AK guys were not sure if they were going to stay in Hue as they wanted to meet up with some travelling friends further south in Hoi An. I decided to spend 24 hrs. I found a cheap dorm and took a hard one hour nap. My sleep has been so screwed up the past 2.5 months for various reasons. It's always something disrupting my sleep, including just me waking up at odd hours.
Since I didn't have much time, I hired a guy to motorbike me to one of the emperors tomb, the tallest pagoda in Nam and to the abondended waterpark that I just heard about that morning. It was eerie and neat, apparently it's popular for wedding photographs too. At night, I experienced the local food with a Candian traveller; the food was not too bad.
Abandoned water park opened in 2004 for three million dollars. It opened before it was completed, however shut down due to business problems just a few years later. It's such a beautiful spot, huge park, nice trees and lakes. Mostly locals hangout here and some wedding shoots too.
"The idea had been to create a family water park with amusement rides, slides, pools, shows and an aquarium. There used to actually be crocodiles living in the pool at the bottom of this slide; travelers reported them to PETA and the government relocated them."
The next morning I had time to visit the citadel, home to emperors long ago. Two hours was barely enough time to visit all the buildings, gardens and take in the structures that were not destroyed in any of the wars.
I lucked out with no rain for the most part. So I decided to eat my bus ticket to Hoi An and take the well known motorbike ride tour with a guide to stop at some well known sights along the way.
Well my luck ran out; it rained when we started and the whole 3 hrs way. My shoes soaked in an hour with a pool inside. I reluctantly switched to sandals to be more comfortable and less cold. I was miserable and told him to skip the sights as that would add 5 more hours. I figured there's nothing to see in the fog and rain.
The only good news is I got to Hoi An before the bus but spent some time trying to dry my shoes with a hairdryer. Apparently hair drying was not smart as I shrunk one of the shoes just a bit; the soles don't fit so well inside anymore and it crushes my toe. Can't win all the time.
Hue waterpark and sights pix link https://goo.gl/photos/mXrFfdLHfbh37XGV9
Citadel pixlink https://goo.gl/photos/NJzKdsgudV2SB69K8
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