Hoi An - Hue was a very scenic and nice short bus journey, which I took nice and early in the morning to maximise my travel time in Hue.
I arrived around midday and was immediately confronted by the many motorbikes wanting to offer me transport to my hotel, whilst I stood dressed in my jeans with my backpack, not entirely knowing where I was going (Jade Hotel was about 10mins away).
As ever, I didn't see the point in getting a lift with it being so close, so I kept asking for directions, (my sense of direction is getting marginally better)...eventually I got onto the right road.The contrast between Jade Hotel and An Hoi couldn't be more different. The doors were flung open, my rucksack taken from me to ease the weight and "I was asked how I was, had I had a good journey, where had I travelled from"...etc.
I was offered a cold towel and the most delicious fruit juice once I'd arrived. Then a platter of fruit as well, before being asked if they could get me anything else.
The staff were so friendly wanting to get to know me. It was such a lovely welcome.
I was shown my room, and although it was slightly dark, and narrow for $20 per night it was amazing. Double bed with rose petals over it. I felt like royalty.
I consulted with the staff how to get to Hue Help, which was a charity Manchester Rag helped whilst I was at university. My role was to set up the volunteer project from Manchester, working with the volunteers who would be heading out to Vietnam. This was a pilot year so I was very much building relationships with the Vietnam team from scratch.I never went to Vietnam as when I started working on the project I already had a holiday booked (to Central America), but I thought while I was in Hue it would be amazing to see the work the volunteers had been doing.
The Hue staff were really friendly and delighted to finally meet me.
The Jade Hotel staff recommended getting a taxi, but from the map it didn't look too far away so I walked. Factoring in getting lost it took me at least an hour, but I got to discover a large amount of the city.One of the Hue staff then took me on her motorbike to visit the centre, and it was in such a great condition.
The children have their own bed, and get 3 meals a day. They have toys, clean clothes...it's such a contrast to the orphanages I've visited in Africa.
It was a positive experience to see that development work really can make a difference to people's lives.
On my walk back I watched the sunset over the river...absolutely stunning.
21/05/2013
Today I had a tour of the temples and pagodas in Hue, organised through my Bamba Experience pass.
My pick up was ....late....because they forgot about me...ooops!!!
The temples were very different to some of those which I'd seen earlier in my journey, and particularly the different gardens and outbuildings.
I love the way that they incorporate nature with their architecture.
In the afternoon we visited the citadel which was really interesting to see.
There was still time to stop off at a pagoda before catching the boat back to the centre.
A very exhausting day!!
22/05/2013
I spent most of today not really doing much as I had a mid afternoon bus.
I meandered around town and chilled out with the staff at Jade.I'll be really sad to leave Jade Hotel as they were so unbelievably friendly.
Definitely recommend this place!
I have a very very very long bus journey to Hanoi as I embark upon the final leg of my journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment