After arriving by train this morning and finding the hotel to drop my bag before I can check in, I had just left a Cafe when I got a message via WhatsApp to say my room was ready.
First impressions of Hue is that it is a busy and friendly city, not quite as big or busy as Hanoi but it feels friendlier with people saying hello and waving without trying to sell you anything.
Once I had checked into my room I spent a few hours resting as I didn’t really sleep on the train last night and planned to go out this evening.
I had been doing a little research during the afternoon on places to go whilst here and places to eat. I found out the regional food in Hue had a good reputation and that there was too much of it to try it all in my few days here.
I found a restaurant nearby that specialises in regional foods and saw that they did a taster menu so decided to go there this evening.
When I got outside I saw it had been raining this afternoon but had stopped now. I noticed that is also warmer here than it was in Hanoi and Ninh Binh by a few degrees. The walk to the restaurant was only about 10 minutes and Hue seemed busy with tourists in the bars and restaurants.
Madame Thu’ s was busy but not full when I got there. I ordered the taster menu, it came with around 8 different dishes with dipping sauces. When it came to the table the waitress gave instructions on how to eat it, most of it required “ assembly “ such as wrapping it in rice paper along with salad and dipping in peanut sauce or fish sauce. I was also told not to eat the lemon grass or banana leaves that some food came wrapped in ( they are obviously used to tourists not knowing what they are doing ).
It was a great meal and everything was good, I’m glad I got to try everything but I lost track of what I was eating at times and had to check with the waitress that I was doing things properly ie certain foods with certain sauces etc. I hope to try some of the dishes individually over the next couple of days.
Day 2
The day started with a breakfast of a hot chocolate and banana pancake nearby. it would normally be a coffee but the hot chocolate here comes highly recommended. It was well worth the visit.
My plan this morning was to head over to Imperial city in Hue which seems to be the main tourist attraction.
The city was built in 1803. It contains Palaces that housed the imperial family as well as shrines, temples and villas for mandarins. After the end of the Monarchy in 1945 it suffered heavy damage during the Indochina wars ( bullet marks can be seen on the urns in front of the Mieu temple )
When it was constructed Emperor Gia Long had it built along the lines of China’s Forbidden City and the capital moved to Hue from what is now Hanoi. Hue was the ancestral home of the Nguyen dynasty.
The imperial City complex is quite large and I spent 3 to 4 hours there exploring the site.
On the way back I stopped for lunch before arriving back at the hotel. I’ve been looking at other sites to see before I leave Hue with tomorrow being my last full day here. With a little research I found out that just north of here is the national park of Phong Nha-Ke Bang that contains some of the largest caves in Vietnam Inc the worlds largest ( Son Doong cave ).
I found a day tour ( Phong Nha cave experience ) so have booked that for tomorrow. so looking forward to that.
That’s pretty much it for today, so I will wrap it up now.
Thanks for reading
Take care
Regards Chris
chris herbert's travels/adventures 