Blogs from Hué, Thua Thien - Huế, North Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia

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Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué March 31st 2014

From Huế we bussed north toward Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng, with a stop at the Demilitarized zone that formerly divided Vietnam between north and south. There we stood on a bridge over the Ben Hai river and visited the war museum and some of the underground tunnels the North Vietnamese lived in during the war. Such a complicated mythology surrounds the Vietnam war in America; my generation has grown up with the questions it raised. It entered our popular culture, especially through films and books written by ex-POWs and men that fought there. And we have family members and close friends that served during that war. Decades after it ended pundits still discuss the repercussions and legacy of American's involvement; we are immersed in it. So much so that when we first arrived in Vietnam we weren't ... read more
Ho Chi Minh
Ben Hai River
Inside the tunnels at Vịnh Mốc

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué March 29th 2014

hue unter erbarmungsloser sonne. nach ausgezeichnetem frühstück mit riesiger obst-auswahl, alles was das herz begehrt, machen wir uns auf den weg, ein moped für den tag zu mieten. das ist hier irre billig und nachdem markus bereits bekanntschafft mit dem wuselig-unorthodoxen verkehr machte, ist es ihm ein leichtes uns durch hue zu schaukeln. unser plan ist, zwei der berühmten grabmäler der nguyen dynastie zu besichtigen. was laut plan anfangs ganz einfach schien, erweist sich aber mangels genauer straßenkarte als äußerst hoffnungslos. völlig ahnungslos treffen wir dann aber unter dem fahren auf eine einheimische bäuerin mit unglaublichen (für vietnam…) englisch-kenntnissen, welche gleich neben einem der gräber wohnt. wir folgen ihr also auf aufforderung durch den hektischen morgenverkehr, vorbei an ganzen familien auf einem moped (die kinder sind zeitweise an die rücke... read more
Minh mang
Inside farm house
Khai dinh

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué March 28th 2014

früh morgens geht es heute vom gemütlichen pepperhouse homestay mit dem bus über die dmz-tunnel nach hue (wird wie das englische “way” ausgesprochen). die dmz-tunnel sind mehrere kilometer lange, 1,6-1,8m hohe und etwa 90cm breite schächte unter der erde, in denen 300-600 menschen bis zu 2 ½ jahre während des american war gelebt haben. 17 kinder wurden darin geboren, es gab eigene wasser- und belüftungssysteme. mit einem guide steigen wir einige meter unter die erde und drängen uns für 20 minuten in die erschreckend kleinen tunnel. ich bin ja schon wirklich klein, komme aber nicht umhin über die gesamte strecke den kopf einzuziehen, der markus haut sich kopf und schultern mehrmals an den engen gängen auf. bereits nach wenigen minuten lässt sich erahnen, was das geheißen haben musste - jahrelang ohne licht, ohne privatsphäre, ohne die ... read more
rice cake
veggie market
meat market

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué March 23rd 2014

It's Matt's (and his twin sister Kristin's) birthday! So the celebratory trip was his choice. He decided we should spend a few days in Huế, then tour the The Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam before continuing on to Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park to tour its caves and grottos. A place we are sure to encounter leeches again. Sigh. We took a bus to Đà Nẵng and then the Reunification Express train north to Huế. Queuing for tickets was as stressful as we expected - in Vietnam the person that pushes, prods or otherwise tramples his way to the front of the line gets served first, so people don't hesitate to force their way in front of you, even thrusting money around you to the clerk and calling out destinations from behind. There is ... read more
Nhu Y River Bridge
Cyclist crossing Moat
Koi in the Palace Pond

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué March 21st 2014

When our 'Driver' forced his way between a group of cone hatted Vietnamese female pedestrians, nearly swiping one of them, Karen and Karlie let go with a cry and I told the driver to get us into nearby Hue' and leave us there. Our long planned return to the Ashau had not panned out as we had hoped. On our last trip to Vietnam we had been mesmerized during a tour of the beautiful Ashau Valley and so when we knew we were coming back we looked forward to revisiting the spot. An American acquaintance of ours who lives in Danang told us that he could arrange for car rental and would act as our guide/ driver. We agreed. Silly us. We planned on a six day trip and in the end we barely completed two. ... read more
Ao Dais
Cyclo Cabs
John T McDonnell

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué January 2nd 2014

Arrived in Laos after a little wonder up the hill through no mans land. Strange to be bike less after a few weeks on the saddle. Enquired in Nam Xoi about buses onwards, no one knew when apart from it was coming. No probs there as there are no time issues. So I passed the time drinking beerlaos, stroking stray puppies and reading the Lao lonely planet guide extensively. The bus arrived 10 hours later. Got overcharged for the ticket but not completely done over so fair is fair I guess. The border is a touch isolated so there really wasnt much room for negotiation sadly. I took the bus to a place called Vieng Xai which is about 70 km to the west of the border crossing. This place is famed for its huge caves, ... read more
P1000520
bum plant out of a tree
P1000565

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué November 29th 2013

Hue - the Old Capital City of Vietnam. A little bit of a disappointment after Hoi An but we only decided to stay two nights before our last two destinations in Vietnam. Our journey to Hue was an eventful one! When I bought the bus tickets to get there, I was so proud of myself that I got them at such a cheap price, 80,000 Dong(£2.75). I chatted to the man in the shop for a while and I thought he was giving me a bit of a discount! Little did I know this was going to be the smelliest, most unreliable bus we have got so far! Surprisingly, we were picked up on time but then brought to a shop to wait for ten minutes that turned into more like an hour. When we finally ... read more
The xit of the Imperial Palace

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué November 15th 2013

Tak a sme v Hue. Vcera sme dali zbohom Hanoi a presunuli sa na juh. Kedze to bola pomerne dlhsia vzdialenost odhodlali sme sa dat sancu Vietnam Airlines. Lietadlo moderne, letusky pekne a pilot mal zjavne este v pamati americke Phantomy lebo manever ktorym to posadil na zem bol hodny bojoveho stihaca. Za Evkine smrtelne biele prstiky zatate do sedadla to ale stalo. Zvladol to vsak precizne a este nam aj stihol slubit "nice weather". Skoda ze len slubit kedze lialo. Po pristani sme sa mohli trochu rozdychat a ulovit si taxik smerom do mesta. Aj sme ulovili. Sofer bol mily, netrubil, nepredbiehal a ani neriesil ze mu Evka dala pri vystupovani skoro auto na totalku. Ok ok, len suchla dvere. Ale to pisem len preto ze mi sedi za chrbtom. A vlastne Kosto urobil to ... read more
A predsa sme tam
Vzdy hladna Evka..
Co narobi kusok rozka

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué November 10th 2013

Well as you can imagine the last 24 hours have been all about typhoon Haiyan, aka the super typhoon! Our plan had been to try and travel to Hoi An this morning, and stay there for the next two days, however, with the storm due to hit Hoi An and then head north, we either had to travel through the storm, or stay in Hue and ride it out. In the end, the decision was made for us, we woke up this morning and the buses, flights and trains were all cancelled because it was too dangerous to travel, so we have booked another night at our hotel in Hue, and have settled in for the storm. The hotel moved it's guests out of the rooms on the top floor last night. We are on the ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué October 17th 2013

Soooo, ive not updated you in a while.... very sorry about that. Had an amazing time in Hoi An. We hired bikes out and rode for hours on end. Discovered the Acient Town which was so beautiful we went there alot!!!! :). I still managed to go out 2 of the nights I was there to the same bar which was about 3 pound to get in and all your drinks (spirits) are free all night!! Amazing hey! Definately my Kind of place. ... read more




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