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Published: August 24th 2011
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Hue Riders
Tam, Seth, Gali and Lyn We arrived in Hue at about 6pm after a beautiful 4 hour busride through mountains, beaches and small towns along the eastern Vietnamese Coast. We checked into our 18$ a night accommodation, Huenino Hotel, where we stayed for one night. Upon arrival, we were given watermelon slices and egg sandwiches, also, the staff were so courteous and the rooms were clean - thanks to trip advisor for the suggestion.
That evening we walked to the Perfume River, which has played a vital role in shaping Hue's history. It was very pretty, having a long boardwalk lined with street vendors. We then walked a little longer and opted for a 45 minute $5 foot massage. Following that, we had a tasty dinner, which was composed of 4 coke lights, 2 Hue style Rice pancakes filled with tofu and stir fried vegetables, our own tofu stir fry plates each and a banana pancake with chocolate sauce for dessert, Mmmm Mmmm good. And all that amounted to a mere 220,000 Dong = $10.50 USD.... Cannot get much cheaper than that...
On our one and only day in Hue, we booked English speaking guides and motorbike transport. Although Gali was extremely hesitant at
Cruisin'
Gali and Lyn first to mount the motorcycle, we felt at ease after meeting Tam and Lyn our drivers/guides and felt safe to ride around with them. The first stop was The Citadel, which is comprised of the Imperial City and the Forbidden Purple City. After about an hour of roaming around the Citadel we headed via motorbike to a town which is famous for an old bridge. To get there we passed through rice paddy after rice paddy providing very pretty scenery. The bridge was nothing too special; however, we enjoyed a visit to the agriculture museum where two Vietnamese women were eager to show us the tools used back in the day and even dressed Gali up in some old-school rain gear. We then enjoyed some refreshing Pomello to try and cut the heat. Headed back onto the motorbikes to visit three different tombs, we again witnessed beautiful scenery, many more rice paddy's, little towns, farmers and mountainous views. We visited Khai Dinh Tomb, Tuc Duc Tomb, Minh Mang Tomb and Thiem Mu Pagoda. To finish off the tour, we had lunch at Lyn's family's restaurant which was delicious. (We won't go into detail about each tomb because we feel the
Khai Dinh Tomb
Seth with the Wise Soldiers pictures do the explaining better than we can.)
We recommend Hue Riders (http://www.hueriders.com) as a tour company in Hue. It cost $30 for both of us to have our own guide and motorbike for the day. The tour was good, Tam and Lyn were flexible with our program and while they did not come into any of the sites with us, they provided answers to any questions we had. Be aware that each site has an entrance fee of 110,000 Dong (about $6 each).
After the tour ended we walked through the local market, had dinner and then ventured to the airport for our 10pm flight to Hanoi.
We were excited to discover the old town of Hue as we had both just finished a book called "The Tapestries". It takes place in the early 1900s and is set along the Perfume River with large parts of the story taking place in the Citadel. Walking through the site of the Palace and riding through the countryside and along the Perfume River gave us a chance to bring the historical fiction to life as we imagined the characters in their actual surroundings.
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