Getting to Hue

Our trip to Hue was full of adventures. Adventures that began even before our flight took off. We had booked VietJet flights since it is comparatively inexpensive. I definitely had a ton of luggage and was worried about excess baggage but the website told us 32 kgs! Yay because the limit was 23 kgs when I flew from the States and boy did that get me into trouble even with planning. We went to the VietJet counter outside at the terminal to figure out baggage limits and turns it out it was 25 kgs per person and 7 kgs for hand baggage (which they weigh - this is the first time I saw that happening. I think I flew in almost 15 kgs from Minneapolis (at no point could I lift the suitcase I had on person, even with all my muscles and strength). The lady at the counter spoke little English and we, well, we speak no Vietnamese. She kept asking us how much our luggage weighs and we kept saying we need weighing scales and this went on for a while.

On arrival at Hue

But since our flight was delayed straight up by two hours we had plenty of time. We went in and weighed our stuff. We went out and I repacked a bit. We tried to pay for the extra baggage but she balked at my extra 17 kgs (as you can tell, I travel light). We went back in and stood a queue that got jumped in from various tangents. A while later we checked in, I had a ticket for 17 extra kgs and I went out again and paid and by then the fun game was a little not fun but oh well. Then I went in and was all checked in and yay we still had 1.5 hours before we took off. We ambled around, ate breakfast at this nice cafe (Urban Market) and chatted till it was time to go. A lady asked me where I was from and when I said India, she was like ah yes that is what I thought, and then as a kind afterthought complimented my face. I have been told several times during this trip about how obviously Indian I look and it is interesting because I know that but I have never had it said to me so much all my life. Our flight was mostly uneventful but definitely reminded me of the early aviation industry days in India (passenger behavior, airline service, bus ride to and from the terminal etc).

My poor broken sunglasses :(

We arrived in Hue and were driven to the two carousel terminal. Our luggage came soon enough and we stepped out to get a cab. I can't speak the language but I could sense that we were being overcharged (because we look so obviously touristy) and I bargained. I don't know if I bargained enough but I was definitely able to bring them down to match the Mai Linh prices which probably should be our preferred service of choice. We sat in the cab and I found my sunglasses broken neatly into two. That combined with the landscape of the outskirts of the city did sink my heart just a little. But as we started moving into the city, things perked up. So far the hotel seems decent enough, although we are not in our permanent rooms yet. We stepped out to get food, but wandered into a drinks only place first. We then asked the hotel staff who led us to a street restaurant close by. Sadly they didn't have the fried rice and all the soups and noodles with meat (I am mostly a traveling vegetarian). We managed to mime for noodles without beef (basically by pointing at the noodles on the menu and nodding yes and then covering the word beef and nodding no. Yep.). It was a nice, homey feeling, with kids running around and people smiling and the fan blowing a breeze over our head. I remembered the wish I had for a cool Coke in a bottle on a hot summer day recently, and while it wasn't quite cool, it was Coke over ice on a hot summer day.

Bargained for glasses that also
 brought me some street cred

The best part of the day was yet to come. We were walking back and I saw a place with sunglasses and went inside. I tried on a few and they were really nice. I really did a need a pair cause it gets really hot (this must be the first time in months my phone has registered temperature above 15 degrees. I think it was 35 + here today). I asked for the price, they gave me one. Then they wrote in on a piece of a paper. I wrote a lower price because what can I saw I am Indian, it is in my genes to bargain, even at proper shops :). That did something. I think it impressed and amused them because they agreed and were also going to allow me to take another pair that was much more expensive (twice the price) for the bargained price and threw back their heads and laughed a lot and some more. They asked us where we were from and laughed some more and said come back. I think the fact that I tried to bargain without knowing the language was a fun icebreaker. Oh well, I got a nice pair of sunglasses for a good price.

The internet is a little bit patchy at the hotel and since our work hasn't quite begun and we are still recovering from our various trips and timezone changes, we have just been sitting and chatting. I would have loved to start unpacking but since we don't have our final rooms, it is another transient night. There was a nice breeze outside and a lot of ice cream places as well. We are staying in what I think is the old palace area, the entrance to which goes over a moat and crosses some lovely parks. Exploring the town should be fun tomorrow. Hopefully my pictures won't be blurry, overcast shades of grey.