Dong Hoi
We decided to stay a few days in Dong Hoi whilst travelling
down the east coast of Vietnam so that we could visit the national park of
Phong Nha, which are based around caves similar to the ones that we saw at
Halong Bay. Dong Hoi is a coastal town which has yet to be truly impacted by
the growing tourism in Vietnam, but whilst we were there we could see hotels
being built and it appears that it may not be long before it becomes another
stop on the traveller’s map. Truly at this moment in time there is very, very
little there barring a handful of shops and cafes, but it is one of those sites
that was clearly affected by the Vietnam War, with chunks of buildings missing
as a result of bombing by American forces.
The guesthouse where we stayed was run by a local family who
were very friendly and were helpful in arranging our trip to Phong Nha, which
was a 45 minute bus journey away. On arriving we were taken on a golf buggy to
the bottom of the cave and had to travel the rest of the way by foot (it may
have only been 1km but it felt like a hell of a lot more). The caves in Phong
Nha are humongous, with some running up to 32km long and absolutely beautiful
to look at. It was truly awe-inspiring to remember that we were inside of a
mountain, a few thousand kilometres above sea level. It was an especially fun
moment when we were walking through the cave that the electricity abandoned us and
we were left in utter darkness for 2-3 seconds but possibly the longest few
seconds of our lives. Again the pictures that we took unfortunately don’t do
the place justice, I wish that they did.
Hué
We left Dong Hoi the following day and were picked up by a
little minivan to take us the short (so we thought) 3 hour journey to Hué, just
south of Dong Hoi. What we didn’t realise was that we were on another local
transport bus, which would stop every time someone would want to be picked up,
even when there was actually no space left on the bus. It was a 14 seater bus
and at numerous times there were 21 of us, crammed in like sardines, with some
making seats out of other people’s laps. Also enjoyable was the young woman
sitting to my right who clearly didn’t like bus travel and began vomiting
whilst her friend (sitting next to me) began retching every time she would heave
(all part of the travelling experience I guess!).
We arrived in Hué (pronounced H’Way!) and immediately
realised that it had a lot more about it in comparison to Dong Hoi and much
more of a tourist destination. Unfortunately, the weather had decided to change
for the worst and began to rain incessantly for several days, (no doubt you have
seen the glorious pictures of our colourful rain coats). Hué was the former
capital of Vietnam up until 1945 and is mainly known for its huge citadel and
Imperial city in which the Emperor would reside and receive guests. Again Hué,
like Dong Hoi, is another example of somewhere that was majorly affected by the
Vietnam war and was bombed heavily, destroying a lot of the history of the
citadel and its surrounding areas.
Hué was the setting for a lovely moment for me as I got to
watch the Newcastle/Chelsea (2-1) game in a local bar (DMZ), sat next to a
growingly frustrated Chelsea fan. He was actually a nice guy but his constant
screams of “Come on Chellsss” became increasingly hilarious and he made a quick
exit at the final whistle. Hué the lads!!
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