( Overview
/ WHEREVER THE MOOD TAKES US….
Thursday 13th February
James has a moped delivered and he’s off on the road at 9.30am… I have a few more hours to catch up on some admin and then realising the time I dash off into a cab which takes me into Hoi An to catch a limousine bus at midday from Hoi An to Hue. I get to the hotel in Hue around 3pm, J is still on the road via the Hia Van pass so I dump my bag and head out for a walk. Get back and he’s arrived, he collects our luggage and then I head out for a cut and blow dry! I spotted a hairdressers and using Google translate I explain what I need. J comes along later with Aidan and Ruth who happen to be staying in the same hotel as us again (not planned that way it just happened!). The hair washing part of the process was amazing and involved having my scalp raked (not so amazing, quite painful but great for hair growth), several washes, head massage, facial wash and cleanse as well as having my ears cleaned! The blow dry was also great and they cut my fringe too and all for princely sum of 150k Vnd (£5.60!). We head out for a bite to eat and then I have the worse night’s sleep of the trip, just awful…
Friday 14th February
Wake up around 11am, as had such a bad night, throat feels like I’ve swallowed razor blades again. Not sure how I’m going to get through a 3 hour walking tour, but for J’s benefit I rally. We go across the road for a ginger tea and coffee with Aidan and Ruth and then we leave them to head off for our walking trip around the Citadel. We meet our guide (Thanh, pronounced’Tam’) not far from one of the entrance gates. It’s a private tour and she’s interesting, speaks reasonable English so guides us around the Citadel giving us lots of information about the various buildings, history, emperors etc. We finish the tour and then meet up with Aidan and Ruth once again for a bite to eat opposite one of the main entrance gates to the Citadel (N Cafe), we have a drink and J decides to move to another restaurant a few doors up and order lots of local dishes to try, withAlthough the weather has been grey and overcast for most of the day it’s stayed warm and fairly dry (although it’s also very humid). We head back to the hotel around 7pm as Aidan and Ruth are off on the night train to Ninh Binh so we say our goodbyes to them, they have over another year of travelling!
Saturday 15th February
Nicest day weather wise for some time so we head out for breakfast (Nina’s cafe) and then we walk around the perimeter of the Citadel, it’s fairly quiet as we’ve discovered not many locals walk very much. We also visit the Hue Museum of Antiquities which is also housed in one of the former palace buildings. Head back to our hotel for a breather and then out to a French restaurant (Les Jardines de la Carambole) that J wanted to try which was good although we just shared a pizza and salad as couldn’t face any rich French food!
Sunday 16th February
Good weather again. We walk to Cafe on Thu Wheels for a light breakfast as we have a walking and food tour booked from 1 until 5pm. Unfortunately J not well after breakfast (maybe food poisoning or too much dairy after virtually none) so he didn’t really enjoy the food tour. I certainly did and our guide (Kim) took us to numerous local spots to try the local dishes, Bo Bun Hue, which is beef noodle stew definitely not what you’d expect but broth is lovely (I just can’t eat noodles. I think I’ll give the steamed tapioca with shrimp (Bánh bột lọc) a miss, I can happily live without that and the mini rice pancakes with shrimp and pork were just ok. The pork on lemongrass skewers is a favourite as was the crispy pancake with shrimp. Our guide expertly steers us back to our hotel via a coffee shop where we sample the local ‘Salt Coffee’ which was superb (again a micro-dose sip for me as I’m usually caffeine free). J just goes to bed in between trips to the bathroom, poor thing. Fortunately he’s packed up already so I get myself organised as we have an early start tomorrow for Da Nang airport for our flight back to KL. Feel sad that our trip around Vietnam is at an end it’s been a fantastic journey and above a love of the food is a definite love of the people who are friendly, go out of there way to help you and despite the hardships that the majority still endure not once were we ever in a situation were we felt uncomfortable or unsafe and we were never asked for money. These people are too proud, they have a resiliency, work ethic, tenancy and stoicism that I really admire and respect. Ok, it’s not as polished or hygienic as the UK but strangely the country has really got under my skin and I can see past the surface. We will really miss it here but have made some good friends and had some great experiences along the way so I’m sure we’ll be back for a third visit.
James has a moped delivered and he’s off on the road at 9.30am… I have a few more hours to catch up on some admin and then realising the time I dash off into a cab which takes me into Hoi An to catch a limousine bus at midday from Hoi An to Hue. I get to the hotel in Hue around 3pm, J is still on the road via the Hia Van pass so I dump my bag and head out for a walk. Get back and he’s arrived, he collects our luggage and then I head out for a cut and blow dry! I spotted a hairdressers and using Google translate I explain what I need. J comes along later with Aidan and Ruth who happen to be staying in the same hotel as us again (not planned that way it just happened!). The hair washing part of the process was amazing and involved having my scalp raked (not so amazing, quite painful but great for hair growth), several washes, head massage, facial wash and cleanse as well as having my ears cleaned! The blow dry was also great and they cut my fringe too and all for princely sum of 150k Vnd (£5.60!). We head out for a bite to eat and then I have the worse night’s sleep of the trip, just awful…
Friday 14th February
Wake up around 11am, as had such a bad night, throat feels like I’ve swallowed razor blades again. Not sure how I’m going to get through a 3 hour walking tour, but for J’s benefit I rally. We go across the road for a ginger tea and coffee with Aidan and Ruth and then we leave them to head off for our walking trip around the Citadel. We meet our guide (Thanh, pronounced’Tam’) not far from one of the entrance gates. It’s a private tour and she’s interesting, speaks reasonable English so guides us around the Citadel giving us lots of information about the various buildings, history, emperors etc. We finish the tour and then meet up with Aidan and Ruth once again for a bite to eat opposite one of the main entrance gates to the Citadel (N Cafe), we have a drink and J decides to move to another restaurant a few doors up and order lots of local dishes to try, withAlthough the weather has been grey and overcast for most of the day it’s stayed warm and fairly dry (although it’s also very humid). We head back to the hotel around 7pm as Aidan and Ruth are off on the night train to Ninh Binh so we say our goodbyes to them, they have over another year of travelling!
Saturday 15th February
Nicest day weather wise for some time so we head out for breakfast (Nina’s cafe) and then we walk around the perimeter of the Citadel, it’s fairly quiet as we’ve discovered not many locals walk very much. We also visit the Hue Museum of Antiquities which is also housed in one of the former palace buildings. Head back to our hotel for a breather and then out to a French restaurant (Les Jardines de la Carambole) that J wanted to try which was good although we just shared a pizza and salad as couldn’t face any rich French food!
Sunday 16th February
Good weather again. We walk to Cafe on Thu Wheels for a light breakfast as we have a walking and food tour booked from 1 until 5pm. Unfortunately J not well after breakfast (maybe food poisoning or too much dairy after virtually none) so he didn’t really enjoy the food tour. I certainly did and our guide (Kim) took us to numerous local spots to try the local dishes, Bo Bun Hue, which is beef noodle stew definitely not what you’d expect but broth is lovely (I just can’t eat noodles. I think I’ll give the steamed tapioca with shrimp (Bánh bột lọc) a miss, I can happily live without that and the mini rice pancakes with shrimp and pork were just ok. The pork on lemongrass skewers is a favourite as was the crispy pancake with shrimp. Our guide expertly steers us back to our hotel via a coffee shop where we sample the local ‘Salt Coffee’ which was superb (again a micro-dose sip for me as I’m usually caffeine free). J just goes to bed in between trips to the bathroom, poor thing. Fortunately he’s packed up already so I get myself organised as we have an early start tomorrow for Da Nang airport for our flight back to KL. Feel sad that our trip around Vietnam is at an end it’s been a fantastic journey and above a love of the food is a definite love of the people who are friendly, go out of there way to help you and despite the hardships that the majority still endure not once were we ever in a situation were we felt uncomfortable or unsafe and we were never asked for money. These people are too proud, they have a resiliency, work ethic, tenancy and stoicism that I really admire and respect. Ok, it’s not as polished or hygienic as the UK but strangely the country has really got under my skin and I can see past the surface. We will really miss it here but have made some good friends and had some great experiences along the way so I’m sure we’ll be back for a third visit.
Torture chamber or hairdressers washing table?
Egg coffee
Trying some of the local delicacies in the Cho Dong Ba Market
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