Our Nature Lies in Movement: Hue - Day 2: Crispy Nicky and a Pho-gasm

Risked death today for the first time on Hue day 2. Wanting to go to the beach we opted to rent a scooter and brave the roads of Vietnam alone. I cannot sufficiently describe the driving conditions over here but it is intense. Within any given block there are hundreds of scooters, motor bikes, bicycles, food carts, pedestrians, and people dragging furniture, animal carcasses and evestroughing through the streets . All of this while being completely unregulated by any sort of traffic system other than the rule of the horn (honk as frequently as possible at every potential target). Think New York times a thousand.

So we set out on our little scooter and somehow managed to make the 45 minute commute to the nearest beach. The beach was more or less abandoned and gave both of us our first true taste of Vietnamese sun. Nicole foolishly decided to forego the sunscreen, and within 2 hours was as red as Ashley D. after 5 minutes in plus ten. I on the other hand opted to seek refuge under an umbrella and left my shirt on. I also suffered the worst burn of my life, even through all that fabric. You can imagine now how bad Nicole is.

In the evening Nicole and I could not agree on where to eat so Nicole went to a nearby tourist cafe (which she thoroughly enjoyed). Meanwhile, I sought out a local street-side eatery. Nobody spoke English and there was no menu so I had to point to what I wanted. A transcendental dining experience. By far the best Pho Bo I have ever had. My face never left the bowl and I immediately ordered a second. I then ran through the streets, found Nicole and dragged her back to share a third bowl with me. Unbelievable.

Bye for now

Joe and Nicole