Hue: The Ancient Capital

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It was a brief four hour journey from Hoi An to Hue and it passed in a flash with all the beauitful scenery speeding past our bus window. At some point the lakes and mountains looked like the Scottish isles, and then the next image to pass by was quintessential Vietnam of rice fields and water buffalo.

On arrival we surprised ourselves by, for once, agreeing to the waiting hoteliers offers to see their hotel. Well, they were going to give us a free ride into town anyway so we thought we might as well check it out. The room at Binh Dong turned out to be a nice one, apart from the lack of electricity and therefore a/c which meant it was rather warm.

We continued our cultural exploration of Vietnam by spending the afternoon walking around the Citadel, or walled city. The Imperial Enclosure of Emperors past, lies within the citadel and is enclosed within it's own set of ancient walls. Many of the buildings had been destroyed during Vietnam's warring past, but some excellent restoration work, both completed and in progress, was able to bring back to life the Palaces, Residences and Royal court areas.

The city itself felt quiet and relaxed despite being the third largest city in the country, and even the hordes of motorbikes seemed less obtrusive here. We ate at another brilliant restaurant that evening, so far the cuisine of Vietnam has been really excellent. As of course has the ludicrously cheap and never ending varieties of beer. A new beer for a new town.

The next day we booked our onward travel to Ninh Binh, another sleeper bus, they are so convenient, and spent the rest of the day strolling about Hue.

We were spotted by a duo of boat ride touting ladies who (for the right price) persuaded us to take an hours jaunt along the Perfume River which runs its sleek black path through the city. The boat turned out to be the slowest moving vessel on the river, still it gave us plenty of time to admire the river dwelling communities and half sunk dredger boats that we saw along the way.

We finished our day playing chess at a street cafe beside the citadel walls, in view of the tallest flag pole in Vietnam proudly bearing their national colours. The troops of Japanese tourists who passed found the sight of us engrossed in a chess game very amusing and we found ourselves the focus of much photographic attention!

We boarded the sleeper bus and, ever efficient, it left on bang on time. It is a cool feeling to fall asleep and know that when you wake hundreds of kilometres will have passed and you will be in a new city.

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Comments

[Mum Backhouse]

Vietnam
Hi you two. Great to read your latest entries -Make great reading as usual! Vietnam looks and sounds beautiful. Those dunes were just amazing. All friends and family love keeping up with you and send lots of love as do we of course xxxxxxxxx