Tam Coc, but nothing much to say.
My first task of the day was to get somewhere booked in Huế and to make sure I have my final week planned carefully, so I don’t screw up, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and since changing my return schedule I haven’t paid too much attention to it.
Sure enough, the first thing I discovered was that because my return flight from Hanoi departs so late at night (almost midnight), although I “gain” a day on the way back (we “lost” a day on the way out), the flight is effectively May 13 and not May 12th (even though May 12 is the departure date). so I arrive back in Toronto on May 13, which means I miss my appointment on May 14, as that’ll be the day I drive home from Toronto. Plus, now I see I have a 10-hour layover at Tokyo airport. Yikes!
Plus, I “lost” a day, as I’d expected to travel to Huế today but couldn’t get a train ticket, spending three full days here, instead of two. Actually, as lovely as it is, two days would have been fine, with respect to those sights and places relatively close by. I’ve visited those major sights, and this morning found myself looking for something to do or somewhere to go visit that would be further afield. I almost booked a full day trip to Cúc Phương, a tropical rainforest about 28 miles from here, Vietnam’s oldest national park, which sounds wonderful, but it was a nine hour day trip, and just too long given I have to book for tomorrow.
I also spent time checking out Huế in more detail, including where to stay, and looking ahead from there to An Hoi, and then Da Nang. My anchor points are my Da Nang flight on May 11, and my late night flight out of Hanoi on May 12.
I figured I had the whole day with not much to do, and packed it in for now and instead walked into town, where I walked about, bought some fruit, and sat by the harbor for an hour or so, enjoying the weather and the scene, and reading the news. I ate a couple of bananas, and also a pitaya, or a dragon fruit, a tropical fruit from a climbing cactus native to Mexico and Central America, but Vietnam is now a major producer and exporter of the fruit. It tastes similar to a kiwi, with a bit of a mushy texture, and filled with small black seeds. Not really a taste I enjoyed, and lacking a tropical “bite,” like pineapple or guava, for instance. I don’t particularly care for kiwis either. I enjoyed the bananas, though.
I spent the afternoon doing nothing, other than booking hotels in both Huế and Hội An, three nights in each, or two full days. That leaves just one day and one night in Da Nang, rather than the two days I’d hoped for when I expected to travel to Huế today.
Actually, this afternoon was a good day to stay in, as it rained. It hasn’t rained as much here as I expected, thinking we’d have afternoon rain each day, but other than the short-lived but heavy rain in Hanoi a few nights ago, it hasn’t rained at all, and this afternoon’s rain, although still ominously thundering at the moment, was no more than a shower lasting maybe 30 minutes.
It did rain some more, and very refreshing it was, draining off some of the humidity and bringing some cool air. I went downstairs to the restaurant owned by Duyên and Cuing, her husband, who’s the cook (and a pretty good one, as I found out) and ate there for the first time since I’ve been here. The joint was jumping, with loads of young kids and their families, and a LOT of noise, but the good kind. The sound of kids having fun. Some of them were very interested in me. I really enjoyed watching them. It’s the last night of the school vacation, so the place was sort of turned over to them.
Man, that food was good! Cashew chicken in coconut sauce and rice, fried shrimp spring rolls, and french fries, which are pretty popular here (for good reason). Really delicious, and especially the spring rolls, and very filling. And all for less than $8. Wow!
They are so nice here, and I like to think they like me also, although maybe they’re like this with all their guests (or maybe because they see an old guy with a backpack traveling alone?). I made a point of telling Cuing how delicious his food is, and thanked him. I also wanted to settle up any outstanding costs, as I’ll be leaving in the morning and I know I owed for the bicycle rental – but Duyên said no need to pay for that. So nice. I’ve really enjoyed staying here and getting the know the family a little.
For a day during which I did nothing, except mostly getting my ducks in a row, I had a pretty good time of it. Relaxing. Not something I often do. Tomorrow, I catch the 8:17 train for Huế, an almost 12 hour journey, arriving in Huế just before 8 pm.