Adventure of a Lifetime, Hue

Vietnamese Coffee

January 29th and 30th 2015

Hue

I’ve discovered Vietnamese Coffee.  Delicious!  When served properly it comes in a cup with a drop filter on top.  When dripped through you add some sweet condensed milk.  I loved it.  Others found it way too strong and added extra sugar, I couldn’t get enough of it and started ordering  2 at a time.

Hue was the nation’s capital for 150 years in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  It’s situation on the banks of the Perfume River is wonderful.  It’s famous for the majesty of the Hue Citadel with royal residences and elegant temples.  On the edges of the city there are impressive pagodas and royal tombs in natural settings.

As a group we’ve discovered the Brown Eyes Bar.  We got a table in a section the first night, following welcoming shots which were repeated everytime some new joined our group, Jenga was produced.

Rules

• Only 2 fingers allowed
• If is collapses you sing a song

Some people sang many songs, I sang once, the 2nd night! We also ate at the Mandarin Cafe,  http://www.mrcumandarin.com/?cat_id=25, This is owned by Mr Cu who is a photographer.  His walls are amazing as was the food..

Hue (Hway) is an beautiful place, a UNESCO World Heritage Site  and once again we were in a superb hotel – Gold 1 Hotel http://www.goldhotelhue.com/ The first day was a day on motorbikes. We were on them for the entire day and visited the Citadel and Royal Tomb.  We also have a cruise on the Perfume River with a visit to Thiem Myu Pagoda and a fabulous private meal, vegetarian, of course, at a monastery.  This meal was to be one of the highlights of the trip. Cars were provided for those who didn’t was to ride pillion on Bikes.  We went everywhere, totally off

Vegetarian Lunch at a Monastery

the beaten track and yet again confirmed for me that doing an Intrepid Tour was the right thing to do.  We saw and went to places an independant traveller would never have found.

Perfume River

On the first night a group of us went on an optional homestay dinner.  Some thought it would be touristy but it was far from it.  As a student Khanh decided to travel around his own country.  When he arrived by train, like us, in Hue he asked a local motorbike taxi to show him around.  At the end of the day he was invited to Mr Tu’s house for dinner.  They became friends and he told him of his plan to become a travel leader and that one day he would bring a group of visitors to his house.  Four years later he did.  We were so very glad we went.  This was a real home with fantastic local food.

Hometstay dinner

The children came and played with us and I have fantastic memories of this night.

The following morning we were back on our bus again visiting Tanh Toan Bridge, Japanese and a sleepy village that tourists would struggle to find.  We also visited a farm equipment museum where an elderly lady, who was hysterical, showed us not only how everything was done manually years ago but frighteningly these mothods are still used in rural areas.  Truly back breaking work.  The only Royal Tomb not enclosed by a wall, Tomb of Thieu Tri, was visited as part of the tour.  Again a rural one and we were the only tour bus.

A second evening at Brown Eyes bar but not too late a night.  Case is pack, backpacks packed, alarm set for 5.30 as tomorrow we set off for Hoi An

Such wonderful children
Nguyen Van Dinh Vu
Nguyen Dday Ngoc Hoai
Nguyen Thi Minh Chau
Le Van Huan Shu
Hong Le Kier Oarh
Hong Le Kier Chau