Heading South

Two days ago I woke up filled with fear and trepidation. I am leaving Hanoi and traveling by train to Hue. (pronounced hway) I go upstairs for breakfast as usual, but something is different. They aren't playing the usual music. They are playing English music. No big deal. Then, halfway through my breakfast, Sometimes When We Touch comes on. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. So I dedicated my day to Anna. I spend the morning packing. My backpack is so heavy. As I check out, the guy at the reception desk ask my plans, and do I need a taxi somewhere. I say I'm going to Hue on the train. He says sorry. (Anna moment #2) Is the train that bad? I am now wondering. Why is he sorry? My taxi pulls up and takes me to the station. There is still a few hours til I leave, but I don't want to push my luck. Also I don't want to lug my backpack around. Finally the time comes when I can board the train. My ticket says soft sleeper FOREIGNER. No fooling them. What I don't realize is that The soft sleeper is four beds in a tiny little room. I am to spend the next fourteen hours with two Englishmen and a Vietnamese father son combo. The son is probably three or four, still uses a bottle and doesn't understand the part that my bunk is my bunk. The kid is handsy all over my bed and his father is doing very little to stop him. Sigh. I sleep for a few hours and wake to the two Englishmen discussing the Egyptian plagues. We talk for the next several hours about the controversial topics you aren't supposed to discuss with people you just met: religion and politics. We also discuss our jobs, where we're from, the royal wedding, and what brought us here. It was fun, but I definitely could have used more sleep. The train ride seems to take forever, but in about the same time it takes to get to Castlegar from Calgary by Greyhound, I have covered half the country. We've gone by beautiful countryside, rice paddies, mountains, rivers, and little villages. Vietnam is a beautiful country. We pull into Hue about 8:00 a.m. and it is so hot. Luckily a van from a hotel is there offering free rides to it. The hotel is on my approved checklist so I hop in. As we drive, I learn that there is a festival going on at the citadel: the Festival of Food. Brilliant timing. I get to my hotel and see the room. The building has no elevator. I can get a third floor or a sixth floor. Although it's more expensive I give my poor heart a break and go for third. As if I can walk up six flights of stairs in this heat eight times a day. I quickly head out to the citadel. It is a ten minute walk from my hotel to the festival. Crossing the bridge is amazing. There are dragon boats and swan boats all along the river. I'm sweating to death by the time I cross. I head to a park situated right on the river and get a 7-Up. I sit in the shade and fall in love with the city. When I am finally cool enough to stand up again, I head across the street to where the citadel is. It is so beautiful. There are so many types of trees, it's so old and ornate and there is finally a breeze. I head up the stairs to the top of the wall where there is shade. It's so amazing. Everyone is preparing for the festival, which starts in the evening. I spend several hours there til the sun is high in the sky. I run into Raj and Ed, my English train mates and we plan to meet there at eight for the festival. Back to the hotel for a siesta. It was my first evening out. I don't feel entirely comfortable alone in the dark, but many people are out still. The streets are packed with people headed to the citadel. The food smells amazing and looks very strange. There is a snotty gooish sort of mixture with chunks in it that Ed tries. I'm not that brave. I walk by the pigs feet and chicken innards and get barbecue pork. There are singers and dancers and all sorts of things set up. It's quite similar to our taste of Edmonton. A genuinely fun evening. Today I think I am off to discover more of the parks around the river. Should be fun!