Hue today gone tomorrow (Day 59 - 61 by Gemma)

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One last day in Hanoi

Saturday 14th November 2015

Still a bit worn out from the trip and with another night train to Hue looming in the evening, we took it slow today and used it to catch up on life. After a late breakfast, we headed over to the backpacking area where the streets are lined with small restaurants, bars & coffee shops. We settled ourselves in a small coffee shop, where the star of the show was a small rabbit who would happily hop around the customers and accept cuddles and attention from anyone willing to give it. The day was spent happily drinking coffee, eating croissants, and catching up on blogs & plans for Vietnam. With our train time fast approaching we headed back to the area of the hotel to get dinner before leaving. The restaurant was another recommendation from the hotel, not as good as our previous nights food (we've eaten so well in Vietnam so far!) but it did the trick and we headed back to the hotel to pick up our backpacks. So far we've found service in Vietnam to go above & beyond. The hotel not only arranged the taxi for us to the station, but sent a member of staff on a moped beside us to check the fare and wait with us so he could carry our bags onto the train. We were so early the poor guy had to hang out with us for ages, despite us trying to explain to him it was ok for him to go! The overnight trains were a bit different to China; the cabins were slightly smaller but much nicer and they seem to group all the foreign travellers together in one carriage so we ended up sharing the cabin with an Italian couple. The journey was only 13 hours so by the time we'd got on the train it wasn't long before we were settling down to sleep, arriving in Hue at 9.45 the next morning.



Hue

Sunday 15th November 2015

We arrived at the Four Seasons hotel in Hue at about 10am, after a 13 hour night train. The small town of Hue was basked in sunshine and the temperature already in the high 20s. We were greeted by the friendly staff of the hotel with a plate of fresh fruit and a breakfast menu, whilst they sorted our check-in and took our bags to the bedroom. The room was basic but nice, big, clean and a decent sized wetroom bathroom that has become the norm for our travels. A quick shower and change of clothes and we were ready to explore Hue. Guided by a map provided by the hotel, we headed to one of Hue's main sights, the Citadel, which was only about 15mins away by foot. The temperature had now hit 32 degrees, the hottest temperatures we'd seen so far. We bought a 2 day combo ticket for 3 of Hue's main historical attractions, which cost us 400,000 dong each (about £12). Within the walled Citadel, a UNESCO world heritage site, lies the Imperial Enclosure and the Forbidden Purple City, the centre of Vietnamese Royal life. The grounds within the walls are huge, but most buildings are now in ruins, suffering badly from the wars with France and America, with bullet holes still visible in places. Although certain parts of the Imperial residence have now been restored, we did read a number of reviews criticising the degree of ruins. For a country like Vietnam, seeing a number of wars in the past years, i'm not sure what people were expecting. The areas that have been restored give an appreciation of the area's former glory, but the ruins similarly give a real reminder of a turbulent and fascinating history. We spent about 2 hours exploring the area and small photographic exhibitions. We both enjoyed a great room dedicated to telling the story of Vietnam's emperors, the last of which, Bao Dai, abdicated in the 40s following the Japanese invasion during WWII and their lives inside the citadel.

Suitably worn out and hungry from exploring in the sun, we left the Citadel in the hunt for food. We stumbled upon a small family run restaurant on the side of the road, where the whole family including a huge hoard of small toddlers, seem to fill the small space. We settled ourselves at a table and ordered a lunch of steamed spring rolls, beef noodle soup with huge meatballs and a big bottle (that's the only way it comes!) of the local beer, Huda. Whilst eating we watched one of the small girls on her tricycle push it onto the floor and start poking at it with a chopstick. I had to explain to a confused Chris she was just fixing her motorbike, a real insight into the motorbike dominated culture in Vietnam. Even the kids are pros. The lunch was cheap, tasty and it was nice to see family life just going on around us. Both feeling a bit tipsy from the mix of beer and sunshine, we walked/staggered back to the hotel to have a chill out before heading out in the evening. For dinner we headed to a restaurant called Con Vien where we ordered a mix of dishes to share; sauted beef, steamed fish with 5 spices (which was amazing!), steamed vegetables and Banh Khoai, one of the local specialities, which is a savoury fried pancake filled with pork, shrimp, diced onions, carrot & beansprouts and is served with a peanut dipping sauce. All washed down with another large bottle of Huda :-) After our rubbish nights sleep the night before on the sleeper train, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the hotel to relax with a film and a Kit Kat Chunky we'd picked up at a local shop on the way home.

Monday 16th November 2016

We started our day with the hotel breakfast, a plate of fresh fruit and a choice of dishes all made to order. We both opted for scrambled egg & coffee, which Vietnamese style came with a warm baguette. Fine. With 3 sights that we wanted to see today stretching across the city, the hotel offered to arrange a private car to drive us around for the day. So with our chatty driver Dien at the wheel, we headed off to the first sight.

Our first stop was the Khai Dinh Royal Tomb, built for Emperor Khai Dinh who reigned 1916-1925. The tomb itself is very striking. Built high on a hill in a dark grey rock, the tomb contrasts beautifully against the turquoise sky when you look up and the bright green trees as you look down. There are a series of stairways leading to the main temple, lined with ornate carved stone dragons. The most striking for me are the statues of mandarins, horses and elephants that are positioned to form a guard of honour. Reminiscent of the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, the detail on the stone statues is amazing. In contrast to black & grey rock exterior, the inside of the temple is awash with colour with porcelain mosaic decorations and a life sized bronze statue of the Emperor. Luckily for us it wasn't too busy and we could spend a while just staring out at the stunning surroundings.

From the 34 degree heat outside, it was a nice relief to jump back into the cool 19 degree air-conditioned car to whisk us off to our next Royal Tomb, the tomb of Minh Mang. The tomb was built for Minh Mang, an Emperor known to have 33 wives, 107 concubines and 142 children. Busy man. In contrast to the last royal tomb, this tomb is set within sprawling grounds including a huge lake surrounded by a forest. The whole complex is made up of a series of pavilions and gardens, each very ornate and decorated in rich colour. The most striking is the 2 storey wooden Minh Lau Pavilion (the Pavilion of Light) from which you can walk along the pathway leading to the circular burial mound where the Emperors Tomb remains sealed within an underground 'palace'. The walled area around the tomb is only opened once a year, on the Emperors birthday. Very breathtaking against the cloudless skies.

Our last stop of the day was to the Thien Mu Pagoda, on the bank of the Perfume River which runs through Hue. The Pagoda is very striking and the grounds beautifully maintained by the Buddhist monks living there that you can see going about their daily life as you walk around. A nice end to an interesting day.

We arrived back the hotel at about 3pm having enjoyed our tour of Hue, but also super hungry. We took the advice of Dien and headed to a restaurant called Hanh Restaurant, which seems to be a bit of an institution in Hue and serves a great set meal including all the local specialities for 120,000 dong (about £4). The meal was made up of Banh Beo, a small steamed rice cake, that looked more like lard, covered in chopped fresh shrimp, Nem Lui, grilled mince pork rolls on lemongrass sticks that you roll up in rice paper with vegetables and peanut sauce, Nem Ran, fried spring rolls filled with meat and diced vegetables served with sweet and sour fish sauce, Banh Cuon, BBQ pork and lettuce wrapped in moist rice paper and Banh Khoai, a savoury fried pancake filled with pork, shrimp, beansprouts and dipped in peanut sauce. It was quite a feast and took us a while (and some help from the staff) to work out what to do with each ingredient to make the meal. But we got there and for £4 each we couldn't finish the meal. With the rest of the afternoon, we strolled through the town browsing in the shops. We ended up coming home with a few cheap dresses and a 1TB external hardrive for the laptop. I've gotten a bit carried away with the photographer role whilst away and keep having to move the pictures from my phone onto the laptop, so much so we've had to invest in an external harddrive already. Eek! For dinner, we took the lazy approach and headed to the restaurant a stones throw from our guesthouse. Given the name Risotto, you can probably guess it wasn't the most authentic Vietnamese restaurant, but with Chris feeling a little peaky after a long day we decided to go for some comfort food. Chris opted for minestrone soup and water, I went for a huge pizza and an ice cold beer. Sorry Chris. As a pizza lover, it was actually a great pizza and thoroughly enjoyed! Dinner done, we headed back to pack in preparation for what promised to be an epic day tomorrow.

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