Hue and Hoi An

We alight from the train in Hue at 08.00 all a little bleary eyed. The beds were very hard so sleep was somewhat intermittent.

There is an opportunity to freshen up and deposit our bags at our hotel before setting off to explore Hue. There is no real down time as our rooms will not be available until this afternoon. The hotel entrance has been cheerfully decorated for the New Year.

We start the morning with a tour of the Imperial Citadel, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The citadel is vast and surrounded by a moat and thick stone walls.

We then approach the Ngo Mon Gate which has been well restored and is the main entrance to the Hue Imperial City. 90% of the Citadel was destroyed during the Vietnam War so there is a huge program of ongoing restoration work.

Just inside the gate is the Palace of Supreme Harmony, which dates from 1803 and has also been renovated. The approach to it is lined with flowers.

…and as it is New Year most people are wearing traditional dress…

… so it makes the experience very special and colourful.

Next are The Mandarin Halls which are two identical buildings on either side of a large courtyard.

There are lots of buildings to explore. We are particularly impressed by the recently restored Imperial Palace.

There is so much to see here. A couple of hours was not nearly long enough. You could easily spend a day exploring the many buildings and beautiful gardens.

We then visit the Tien Mu Pagoda, built more than 400 years ago on the shores of the Perfume River.

We also see the car that was driven by the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc who in 1963 burnt himself to death to protest against the oppression of Buddhists.

Our final stop is at the tomb of one of Hue’s emperors. I cannot tell you much about this as by now I have reached information overload for the day.

We are all really looking forward to checking into the hotel. It is 15.00 and has been a very long morning with limited sleep on the train last night. Our room is great with the first soft bed of the trip. Bliss! We grab some much needed sleep before dinner in a small restaurant across the road.

Departure s not until 11.00 so we make the most of a lie in. Today we head south to the historic old town of Hoi An. The drive is scenic….

We make a lunch stop by a picturesque lake. Shame about the litter but that is a common theme so far on our trip.

The Hai Van Pass affords terrific views. To the north we can see the terrain we have just passed through.

Looking south we can see Da Nang. A city of 1.5 million people, which was a major base for the US during the Vietnam War.

Another 90 minute drive takes us through the outskirts of Da Nang, where we can see a cool bridge shaped like a dragon

…and on to Hoi An. Our hotel room is probably the best we have had with bifold doors to the balcony and overlooking the swimming pool. It’s also great for drying washing or sitting drinking wine.

We have little time to luxuriate. 30 minutes to freshen up and then we are off to the Old Town. It is still New Year and unbelievably busy. It is really hard to not lose sight of everyone in the group. Taking photos is not an option. You really need to pay attention especially as motorbikes and cyclos are also mingling with the hoards of people. The town looks like it would be worth investigating – but not with this volume of people. Even our guide says it is insane and unusually manic. Hoi An is famous for its lanterns which are lit and floated on the river. There are so many tourists and boats that the whole experience looks very unappealing. We head down a quieter backstreet where we are taken into a tailors to see if we would like to have any clothes made and then go across the road to have a cocktail before dinner. It is far more pleasant here and dinner is very good.

In the morning we decide to stroll back to the Old Town – about a 20 minute walk. On our way we discover a great French cafe. We order coffee and delicious pastries…

Them we walk around the Old Town and can enjoy it. It is early morning and The crowds have gone for now. It really is a very unique place with lots of character and ancient buildings.

Lunch is at Oodles of Noodles which is a charity run for street kids and orphans. They have a 14 month program to train in hospitality and catering so that they can get proper jobs. We are shown how to make rice noodles.

We then have a go at making them ourselves and sample them with three different sauces.

We are then provided with a tasty prawn and noodle soup before setting off on our afternoon excursion. Some of us opt to travel by bike and the majority by e-car, basically a large golf buggy made to look like a car. Far preferable in my opinion given the heat, the traffic and my lack of cycling skill.

Our first stop is at a private home where we are shown how to make tofu by Mr Tu. He is very welcoming and we are greeted with cups of tea. Soya beans are mashed up with water in a hand mill that has been in the family for many years.

The resulting liquid is collected and sieved through cheesecloth to separate the soya milk from the curds. The curds can be set in blocks but Mr Tu makes us a special dessert from the fresh curds. It is warm and akin to a soft crème brûlée served with a sweetened ginger sauce. It is delicious and only something that is served in people’s homes. You will not find it in a restaurant. A great honour for us.

Next stop is an organic farm where the local farmers each own their own plots and tend them beautifully. Manure is made from cow and buffalo dung plus dried river weed. Crops are watered by hand with water from a trough that contains fish, which add nutrients to the water and eat insect larvae. The crops look very healthy and immaculately tended.

We are given hats to wear…

… and shown how to water by one of the farmers.

We are given a herbal tea which was refreshing but slightly strange as it appeared to have something like frog spawn on top of it. We were assured it was lemon balm seeds…..

Next is the coconut forest, which was super fun. We all had to get into coracles. They were paddled by really quite ancient looking people who were incredibly jolly and, it turns out, very fit. We are spun round and round at lightening speed. It’s like being on the teacup ride at the fair. Quite hilarious and dizzy making. We then paddle up the channel while the oarsmen and women sing and dance crazily. It was so much fun.

We sample more local foods before boarding a river boat lit by lanterns and head back towards the Old Town. The river is beautiful. Lots of prettily lit boats and lanterns floating on the water. The town is still decorated for New Year so everything is quite magical. Photos do not really capture it.

We find a fabulous restaurant for dinner. The manager is friendly and we talk to her for a while. She recommends a beach restaurant to us and as tomorrow is a free day we decide to go there for lunch. We have scallops, lobster and cold wine. It was a very welcome change of pace.

Tomorrow we leave at 06.30 in order to catch our flight to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon which is the name most people still use apart from formal and business usage). Saigon is the biggest city in Vietnam – 10 million people and I am not particularly looking forward to it.