Hue City and the Imperial Palace known by history as "The Forbidden Purple City" will be our focus tomorrow. During the American War this ancient city was the scene of intense, brutal fighting, extreme loss of life and nearly total destruction of the cities infrastructure by US bombing.
Today, Hue has rebuilt. The people here are as warm and friendly as other places in Vietnam but, to me, they seem more guarded toward westerners. We will explore the "Heavenly Lady" Padoda and the Purple City in depth. I look forward to it.
In the mean time we're currently in our Hotel soaking up the air conditioning while the city hums around us. We will explore a bit tonight.
Martha's Notes:
We arrived in Hue just before noon, and the ride we had arranged with the hotel wasn't there. We called, and they told us that they couldn't make it, and we should take a cab. We'd been cooped up on the train for 15 hour and the hotel was less than a 2 mile walk from the train station, so we got directions from a cafe owner, Mr. Pho, and headed off. Um....well, apparently Mr. Pho's left was not our left. We went in the exact opposite direction of where we were supposed to go. After walking about half an hour, we realized our mistake and walked back to the train station, bought some water from Mr. Pho, and asked him to help us get a taxi. While waiting, we chatted with Mr. Pho. He was about my age, I guess. He said he was seven years old during the Vietnam War, and lived in Hue when the fighting was in the city. His father was away fighting in the war, and he remembered meeting American marines who would share their food with the children. He was very welcoming toward us, and especially toward Chuck. He was pleased that Chuck was able to return and see Vietnam as a happier place.
After an hour walking in nearly 100 degree heat, our taxi took us to the Eldora Hotel. We were drenched in sweat, wearing the clothes we slept in and carrying backpacks. We must have been a sight, but the bellman gallantly took our backpacks and shepherded us into the hotel like royalty. We were welcomed with tea (ginger this time, I believe) and then went to the room for a hot shower and air conditioning!
I checked weather.com and found that the heat index was now 112 degrees, so we decided to remain in the hotel until evening. We had lunch at the hotel restaurant, and drinks at the rooftop bar....which overlooks the 14th floor swimming pool.
Our hotel here, the Eldora, was recently built and therefore we got it at bargain prices. It was definitely the most ornate hotel we stayed at. For $65 a night (taxes and breakfast included), we got a deluxe room with a view. The Eldora also had a swimming pool on the 14th floor, a spa, a rooftop bar, and a coffee bar in the lobby.
Today was the day I seriously considered skipping the rest of the vacation and just going back home. We were both exhausted from the heat and the crappy sleep we got in the train. Although Chuck was saying he felt more relaxed, I felt like he was stressed and aggravated by everything. I decided to try naps, drinks, and massages to see if that helped. It did.
Vital Statistics
Date - Friday, September 25
High Temperature - 97 degrees, Heat Factor 114 degrees
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