26 April 2011
SpiceRoads Cycling Tour – Day 9
Hue (20 Km)
I think our tour guide must be kidding as he’s pointing for us to make a left hand turn across a 12 lane intersection that is clogged with hordes of motor scooters and cars and trucks and other bicycles. That or he’s a complete nutter, something I have gradually considered to be more and more likely as it has become clear that whatever he says about the roads you have to interpret as the complete opposite. Busy equals quiet, quiet equals congested, not so nice equals fantastic, and very beautiful equals busy and boring. And now he wants us to go left so I’m hoping in his true style that he really means right, right where I might be able to just scooch my way along this curb and not concern myself so much about all of that oncoming traffic, oncoming traffic from every possible direction, including those that don’t seem possible.
But no, he’s turning left and now I must try and follow. I hug Gina’s wheel in front of me, close my eyes, and wait for impact. I hope it won’t hurt and I hope my travel insurance doesn’t exclude doing stupid things like making a left hand turn on a bicycle in downtown Hue. Shockingly, we all make it through without incident. Later, when we are walking around yet another pagoda in the burning afternoon sun, I have the fleeting thought that perhaps a minor fender bender would have been better – a valid reason to skip the pagoda if I was busy being bandaged in an air conditioned emergency room. Such is the pain of one too many pagodas.
Hue’s Citadel was next on the agenda. Another interesting historical site if you’re into historical sites. Frankly, sometimes we are and sometimes we aren’t. It depends, really, on how historical it is. Pretty much anything prior to the 20th century becomes too overwhelming in its detail … this emperor and that emperor and this tomb and that tomb and before you know it I am once again too hot to concentrate on anything other than where the ice cream stand might be and how much does that ice cream cost and I hope she gives us the correct change without making a scene. I know, it’s terrible that neither one of us can be bothered too much by the history of this highly historical place, but I did think the architecture was nice and the grounds quite lovely, particularly where there was shade.
Finally freed from our lessons, we were given the afternoon off the bicycles to enjoy as we saw fit. Gina and I saw fit to spend this precious free time hanging out in our air conditioned room, a room quite big and nice and many stars above those we’ve been staying in for the past eight days, a room to be enjoyed free of the heat and chaos lingering just beyond its walls.
