Wanderers : Vietnam

Hue (pronounced like Elmer Fudd saying, "Hooray") is a city in central Vietnam that was the seat of Nguyen Dynasty emperors and the national capital from 1802 to 1945. A major attraction is the Citadel surrounded by a moat and thick stone walls. It encompasses the Imperial City with palaces and shrines. The ancient city is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are several tombs of past emporers scattered along the Perfume River.

How did we get here? We hired a driver using Hanoi Transfer Services. The driver was waiting out front when we came down to check out of our hotel in Hoi An. We had told HTS that we wanted to stop at the Lady Buddha and travel to Hue via the Hai Van Pass. Lady Buddha was impressive and the Hai Van Pass a beautiful ride along the coast and up into the clouds.

We wandered around the Lady Buddha grounds. Once we checked out all the shrines and temples we hit the road. Hai Van Pass took us along the coast and then up a winding mountain road into the clouds. The driver pulled off to the side of the road at one point and motioned for us to, "Walk up there." We didn't have a clue what was up there. There were ruins from an old fort that were blocked off so we didnt get to check it out. But there was a road that went up and up. We have no idea if we were only supposed to go as far as the fort or up the road but up the road we went. At the top was a trail and we started walking down that. It was really foggy and, seemingly out of nowhere, was a cow grazing on grass about 10 feet from us. Scared the crap out of me! Then more cows. We went a little further but decided to turn around since we had no idea where the trail led and we were ready to get to Hue.

Where did we stay? White Lotus Hue Hotel. We had a nice suite on the 14th floor overlooking the Perfume River. We booked this hotel through Agoda at less than $50 a night.

What did we do? We arrived 20 January and the following day was Lunar New Year's Eve. We had heard cities were relatively empty in Vietnam with people traveling to see relatives for Tet. Evidently, the residents of Hue hadn't gotten the word or all their relatives came to see them! Every bar and restaurant was one huge party! One, two, three YO!

The 21st was overcast, chilly and misty rainy. We spent the afternoon wandering around the Imperial City. Hue was the site of intense battles during the Vietnam War and unfortunately the Imperial City and the city of Hue saw a lot of destruction. Several of the buidlings are undergoing renovation and reconstruction.

Next we walked to the Dong Ba Market. I bought a pair of socks! Soon after that a woman grabbed me by the arm to sit at her 'restaurant'. OK... we were both hungry. We thought we ordered pho bo (beef). We think it was beef but after my first bite, I didn't eat any more. Then some woman gave us spring rolls. We said, "No". "It's ok. It's ok" So we ate one of the spring rolls. Next comes out skewers of grilled chicken, "No. No." "It's ok. It's ok." So we ate some chicken. Next some skewers of pork(?) sausage and some kind of dumpling. "No. No." "It's ok. It's ok." So we tried them. Our 60k pho had turned into 260k! For crap we didn't even order or want. But we made the mistake of trying "It's ok". Another lesson learned. But I got socks and my feet were warm!

We found a relatively quiet place for drinks at The Mew and even had a couple from the Netherlands join us later in the evening since there were no seats available. They were really nice and we hit it off. It's fun meeting people from all over the world.

We headed back to our room before midnight to watch fireworks from our room. We had a great view but the New Years Eve fireworks we saw in Kampot were MUCH better. Certainly can't complain about getting to celebrate new years twice in three weeks!

Our New Year gift

The next day we did a 'death march' to the Thien Mu Pagoda. Very well worth the walk with beautiful grounds to walk around. We elected to hire a boat to take us back up the river closer to our hotel for the return trip. We never mind a chance to be on the water!