Blogs from Hué, Thua Thien - Huế, North Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia - page 11

Hello folks, Mike and I are in the Vietnamese city of Huế, today (it is pronounced hway!). We've not had an especially productive day, as it happens. We got off to a very slow start because Mike wouldn't get up this morning, claiming that he hadn't got any sleep because the onions kept him up, whatever that means! But once we were up, we went down to breakfast. It was really good. They had lots of flavours of jams. I tried pineapple jam and grape jam (this just tasted like the really artifical American grape juice, so was a bit of a disappointment). And they had an omelette bar for Mike, so that he could have his daily quota of WAY too many eggs. I tried dried kiwi too. And they had passion fruits (yay!). However, ... read more

Red eye flight to Hue! The May de Ville give us a packed breakfast cos we're up so early! So Cute! Its 5.30 am when we are in the taxi and 28 degrees outside! The streets are already alive with people! The Vietnamese don't sleep! We pass loads of markets on the way and they are all packed! When we get to the airport we discover that Debbie managed to book her own ticket as "Debbie" rather than "Deborah" as per her passport! Uh oh! Anyway she sorts it out without too much hassle! Luckily cos way prefer a one hour flight to a 7 hour bus! From Hue airport we get a shuttle but to Hue city easy enough, and after a while of lugging around all our luggage we stop at a bar/restaurant called ... read more

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 ... read more

Hue is the 3rd largest city in Vietnam. Our hotel Ngoc Huong, was quite posh. On the top floor there was a pool overlooking the whole city which was nice for escaping the heat. Our first stop in Hue was the Tien Mu Pagoda and temple which gained worldwide attention when a monk pulled up in an Austin car in 1963, covered himself in gasoline, sat in front of the temple in a yogi pose and lit himself on fire. We were told that he was protesting the political actions of South Vietnam (the democratic side). In Vietnam you can not talk badly of the government publicly. If you are caught, you go straight to jail with no trial. Apparently this is also true in Thailand. The next temple we visited belonged to the longest serving ... read more

I said Hoi An was beautiful but the drive from Hoi An to Hue is even better. Our driver took us up the mountain roads and it was just incredible. Look at the photos. Our bus broke down for about 10minutes, probably because the roads were so steep and the driver was so crap but we didn’t mind as we got to get out and enjoy the view. Unbelievably, a woman pulled up and tried to sell us bracelets; sellers are everywhere. On the way we stopped at an old war bunker where the pushiest sellers ever were but I dodged them and enjoyed the view instead. It took about 4 hours to get to Hue. We were starving so all went for some lunch and then out all afternoon for a motorbike tour. The last ... read more