I got to Ho Chi Minh Airport a good hour before my flight up the coast to Hue - and still came within the skin of my teeth of missing it.
There was a huge queue of people waiting to check in for all the internal flights, but only a handful of staff from Vietnam Airways actually dealing with anyone. Most were sat a nearby desk, where they catered exclusively for those passengers travelling business class. You would have thought a bit of common sense would have prevailed here so that people didn't miss their flights, or that they were not delayed, but no. Although to be fair most airlines, train companies or whoever will invariably adopt a similar approach. Money talks, wherever you are in the world.
The queue to check in also wouldn't have been quite so long were it not for the obscene amounts of baggage some people had with them. I stood behind one western couple who, between them, were carrying six suitcases and five items of various hand luggage. Why do people need to take most of their wardrobe and half a fucking cosmetics store on holiday with them? I appreciate bundling a few t-shirts in a backpack is not everyone's cup of tea, but the vanity of these individuals - and they are always couples - really winds me up when I'm trying not to miss a flight...
Anyway, the flight up to Hue took just over an hour when we finally got everyone on board. Hue is the capital of the Nguyen emperors, and its complex of monuments is a Unesco designated World Heritage site. Lonely Planet recommends the place 'if art and architecture matter more to you than beaches and beer'. I would be lying if I tried to pretend that was my priority over the course of this holiday, but I'm looking forward to a couple of relaxing days that will be totally different to the intensity of Hong Kong and Saigon.
The hotel that will be my home for the next two nights is a marked improvement on the others I have stayed in so far. It is clean and modern, but in keeping with traditon. My room is large and has a balcony, and there is a rooftop pool and bar (pictured above).
After checking in and dumping my stuff, I went for a stroll. It quickly became evident that Hue attracts a much older tourist crowd than some of the more backpacker orientated destinations. I was also struck by the large number of American couples who appeared to be in their early 60s or so. If you 'do the math', that would make the male roughly around fighting age during the war, and probably coming back to visit - as quite a number have been known to do. I saw one such couple buying a postcard off a young Vietnamese boy earlier, before sitting down on the table next to me in a bar. The man had a scar on his face, and after he had handed over some money and said a warm goodbye to the lad, you could see he had tears in his eyes. I struggled to stop staring and wonder what was going through his head. Maybe he was back here for the first time and felt emotional happiness at the wildly different circumstances of his trip. Maybe he was thinking of seeing children that age dead in Vietnam 40 years ago. I don't know.
There was a huge queue of people waiting to check in for all the internal flights, but only a handful of staff from Vietnam Airways actually dealing with anyone. Most were sat a nearby desk, where they catered exclusively for those passengers travelling business class. You would have thought a bit of common sense would have prevailed here so that people didn't miss their flights, or that they were not delayed, but no. Although to be fair most airlines, train companies or whoever will invariably adopt a similar approach. Money talks, wherever you are in the world.
The queue to check in also wouldn't have been quite so long were it not for the obscene amounts of baggage some people had with them. I stood behind one western couple who, between them, were carrying six suitcases and five items of various hand luggage. Why do people need to take most of their wardrobe and half a fucking cosmetics store on holiday with them? I appreciate bundling a few t-shirts in a backpack is not everyone's cup of tea, but the vanity of these individuals - and they are always couples - really winds me up when I'm trying not to miss a flight...
Anyway, the flight up to Hue took just over an hour when we finally got everyone on board. Hue is the capital of the Nguyen emperors, and its complex of monuments is a Unesco designated World Heritage site. Lonely Planet recommends the place 'if art and architecture matter more to you than beaches and beer'. I would be lying if I tried to pretend that was my priority over the course of this holiday, but I'm looking forward to a couple of relaxing days that will be totally different to the intensity of Hong Kong and Saigon.
The hotel that will be my home for the next two nights is a marked improvement on the others I have stayed in so far. It is clean and modern, but in keeping with traditon. My room is large and has a balcony, and there is a rooftop pool and bar (pictured above).
After checking in and dumping my stuff, I went for a stroll. It quickly became evident that Hue attracts a much older tourist crowd than some of the more backpacker orientated destinations. I was also struck by the large number of American couples who appeared to be in their early 60s or so. If you 'do the math', that would make the male roughly around fighting age during the war, and probably coming back to visit - as quite a number have been known to do. I saw one such couple buying a postcard off a young Vietnamese boy earlier, before sitting down on the table next to me in a bar. The man had a scar on his face, and after he had handed over some money and said a warm goodbye to the lad, you could see he had tears in his eyes. I struggled to stop staring and wonder what was going through his head. Maybe he was back here for the first time and felt emotional happiness at the wildly different circumstances of his trip. Maybe he was thinking of seeing children that age dead in Vietnam 40 years ago. I don't know.
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