12 hours on a moto

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Learning to hold on tight

We could grow to really like this. We spent 2 nights in Hue in a fantastic little hotel for only $9/night.
Hue is the old Imperial capital of Vietnam, so tourists come here to see the imperial city and citadel as well as several royal tombs around town. We spent the day on a moto with drivers touring around the sites but actually found these imperial sites a little disappointing. Many of them were severely damaged/destroyed during either the French-Viet Minh war or the American Tet Offensive in 1968. This area of the country saw some very heavy fighting during both wars.
However, driving around on the moto was pretty amazing because we got a really good look at the Vietnamese country side: rice paddies, villages by rivers, and daily life outside the tourist centres in the cities. It was really beautiful. We also visited an old arena where the royal family used to stage tiger vs. elephant fights. The fights were fixed with the tigers both drugged and de-clawed. Sounds pretty gruesome. The moto tour also took us to a hill with some old American bunkers. You could see why it was such a strategic point as the view was amazing - you could see the mountains in Laos 60 kms away! We went to two pagodas which I really enjoyed because they were so peaceful. One pagoda is famous for chanting monks. The other pagoda had the old Austin motorcar driven by Thich Quang Duc to Saigon in 1963 where he sat down in the middle of the street and lit himself on fire in protest of the policies of the South Vietnamese which repressed religious freedoms. Lastly, we finally went to the beach. It was deserted...there were umbrellas and chairs set us for rent, but no one in them. After riding around all day, a swim in the South China sea was really refreshing!

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Photos

Hue conical hat
No - I did not buy one to wear around.....

Comments

[Francine]

Train and Boat travel Vietnam
Hi Jodi and Dan, thanks for your helpful blog in regard to Hue. We intend to go there next year. I am wondering if you can give me a little advice on train travel down the coast? I am hoping you can also give me advice in regard to boat travel in the Mekong Delta area? We are hoping to fly into Bangkok then somehow? [train or boat?] our way to Angkor Wat....Mekong Delta....Can Tho. On reaching Ho Chi Minh we will fly up to Hanoi from then come gradually down the coast via [train or boat?] stoping over at Hue among other places. We will then return to Ho Chi Minh for our flight home to Australia. I will be very grateul for any advice you can give. Thank you in avance, Francine