John

So todays tour covered alot of ground here in Hue. There is not much to the city itself, but being the seat of emperors of Vietnam, their mark is definitely left here.  We went to the Citadel of Hue, a huge complex that was the royal palace in Vietnam.  I think Dan and I will head  back there tommorow as we didnt get to see much of the Forbidden Purple City.  We also went to many tombs of the emperors.  I say tomb but this is unlike any tomb I have ever heard of.  I thought the egyptians had it in the afterlife with their pyramids.  These are essentially giant fortresses/palaces that sprawl across pristinely manicured grounds and inside the remains of the Emperor are kept.  It is kind of spooky walking the grounds of this palace that was built for the dead rather than the living.  We also were able to observe the making of incense and the iconographic conical hats.  Both were interesting and take much skill to create.  We also sailed about 4 km down the Perfume river.  The river gets its name from the many flowering trees that line its banks and thus drop flowers and tree sap into the water.  The only complaint of the day was the constant rain.  It rained all day.  The worst rain we have encountered here.  Dan and I have read about the supposed gastronomic quality of Hue.  We have yet to discover a restaurant that supports this claim, but tommorow is another day of discovery. 

Dan and I just made it to Hue. I will say that the trip was not easy on some of our fellow travellers and many people got motion sickness.  It was the most heaving I have ever heard at one time.  But about the destination.  I can tell the difference in the accents here.  It is the 3rd largest city in Viet Nam and was home to emperors.  We just booked a tour tommorow that will take us all over the city and a boat ride on the Perfume River.  Right now I am pretty hungry so we are going to grab some dinner.   

So its been a while since anyone posted.  That leaves it to me to give the update.  There really hasnt been much going on.  All of us are just enjoying our vacation.  Dan, Mike, Tommy, and I are all just enjoying the lifestyle here in Saigon the past few days.  Enjoying the food, the hustle and bustle, but not the weather.  Its been very hot lately and raining in the afternoons and evenings Rainy season should be over!  Weather has also played a hand in why we are still in Saigon.  We were planning on heading to Nha Trang by now, but the weather there is particularly bad and it has forced us to delay our travels.  Hopefully, before too long we will make it out and can enjoy the luxury at this beach resort.  Dan and I plan to travel to either Dalat or Hue next week as well.  We have not fully decided which one most captures our desires.  Personally, I want to see Dalat.  It is in the highlands and should provide a different Vietnam experience than anything else thus far.  Somebody post a comment if you have any questions or gift requests!

Dan and I (JZ) stayed behind to explore the north country.  We were going to go to Sapa, which looks beautiful, but the hours and hours required to get there would have been a huge drain for only a day of exploring.  Instead we spent alot of time seeing the sights in Hanoi.  I stood in awe on a pathway in the temple of literature, the first university in vietnam which was founded in the 11th century.  It was amazing to think that an entire millenia previous mandarin scholars were walking the same pathways.  Yesterday, was as hot as Saigon but today was much cooler and overcast. I am not sure what to think the typical weather is like Hanoi.  We relaxed in a couple different bars.  It seems that many have women employed by Carlsberg and they convince you to buy their beer.  It tastes much better here than at home.  We also enjoyed some of the best food yet at a restuarant on Ta Hien called Little Hanoi.  Hands down the best squid, and it was carmelized.  We head back to Saigon in an hour to explore central and south Vietnam some more.   

My friend and I visited Reunification Palace here in Saigon(HCMC), which was the equivalent of the White House for the Southern Government before April 30, 1975 when the south was liberated by the north.  The grounds of the palace are by far the prettiest area in Saigon I have yet seen and the palace is quite large.  It has a very open air design so it feels like many breeze ways instead of hallways, which I bet is preferrable in Vietnam with no air conditioning.  I could go on and on about the details of the palace but I will not do that here.  After touring the palace and its grounds we headed to the War Remnants Museum.  I would liken this museum to the Holocaust museum in the US, except it displays what was done to the Vietnamese by various other state’s armies.  Some of the exhibits were extremely graphic.  The horrors of agent orange are probably something that will always be in my memory.  After that we joined my other friends at a cafe to begin the night.