Day 70 - The Storm Rages On

After having howling winds and rain all night, the day continued the same way but offered some respite in between when it was fairly calm.

I used these moments of calm to go out for some photography and have coffee and lunch with friends. The city was pretty much deserted but there were still quite a fair number of people out and about either enjoying coffee, repairing some of the damage or just going for a stroll as I suspect.

There was quite a bit of damage visible by driving around and the dam road was flooded again so it brought back memories from my first visit here in Hue.

The storm seems to have mostly passed this evening so I will most likely set out for a road trip to Hoi An with a friend tomorrow.
This assuming nothing else comes up, feeling like in the Hotel California song by the Eagles: "You can check out anytime you like but can never leave". Still, I really had a great time here in Hue so despite it being longer than anticipated it's been great fun.

Day 69 - Day of Nari

This morning I meant to leave for Hoi An on a 3 day motorbike tour with Mr. Tri, who I met a few days before. As I found out a few times during this trip, plans can change all the time.

After losing my Fonepad last night, I spend the morning trying to track it down without success so had to cancel my sim card and change a few passwords after wiping the device remotely.
All this took quite a while into the early afternoon so my planned 8:30 departure did not pan out.

Not only that but there was also storm Nari heading towards Hue and Da Nang with strong winds and rain already in the morning but getting stronger in the afternoon. This meat that it made no sense to leave on a motorbike riding through a storm so this 3 day trip got put on hold for now.

Instead the day was spent chilling with little photography done only in the evening on my way to get dinner and some drinks in a nearby bar.

The storm is supposed to continue throughout the day tomorrow. Should this be the case, I guess my stay in Hue will be for an extra day.

Day 68 - Breaking Down

You know it's going to be a fun day if you break down on the way to visit a temple. We set out in the morning to visit a temple a bit further afield when the Vespa broke down and we were stranded near the temple but petty much in the middle of nowhere.

Pushing a Vespa uphill is no easy as they are quite heavy but downhill it's a breeze. Still, there was no way of getting back to Hue like this so we phoned a friend to bring a mechanic to try and fix it. After this failed I found out how you 'tow' a scooter back to the garage, you drive with another scooter behind and push the broken down one with your foot forward. This was quite an interesting experience overall.

After being back in Hue, having lunch and changing to another scooter, we set out for another try at visiting the temple.

This time we made it all the way there without a problem and it a certainly worth as the temple is very nice and worth a visit.

On the way back we stopped at the site of the first school in Vietnam. On the way back it already got dark so it was time for diner and some drinks. It also turns out there was enough time for me to lose my Fonepad.
While annoying to lose it, I did not like it very much anyway so am not too broken up about it. This was the first time I lost anything but I guess there is a first time for everything.

Day 67 - Forgotten

Having someone local to show you around is always a great advantage as you will see things most people will miss out on.

Today, I went to a park that used to be quite popular with local and had various events. These days however seemed to lie in the past as now it was almost deserted and the structures built to entertain were abandoned and slowly crumbling away.

It was a great visit and I had a lot of fun walking around and exploring the abandoned structure. What really caught my eye was a faded photo of days past when this was new and when there was excitement and promise in the air. Looking at the date it was only 9 years ago so it shows how quick things can change.
The photo made me wonder if everything will eventually end up faded and forgotten, despite being exciting and promising at first.

After exploring the area a bit more, we went to a church built like a temple with a pagoda next to it and Jesus in between two dragons. This was also pretty cool, despite the church being closed to visitors.

My initial plan saw me spending a lot less time in Hue but I had to wait for my passport with the visa extension will only arrive tomorrow. This is not all bad as Hue is pretty relaxed and quiet so a nice place to spend a few days, especially after making friends here.

Day 66 - Day out with Friends

Today, was spent with friends here. The morning was just chatting and having coffee before heading to a temple in the surrounding hills/mountains.

The temple visit was very nice as it appeared to be off the tourist paths and something a bit more hidden away.

After visiting the temple we went for lunch n then coffee, when it started raining so the afternoon was spent chilling in the coffee shop until the evening when the rain stopped.

The evening was mostly relaxing in another coffee shop and chatting with a group of English students.
So overall a very nice but quiet day.