21st-26th April 2017
Hue wasn’t on our original list of places to go in Vietnam; we’d heard that unless you had a paid guide (out of our budget) or understood the history of the area, it wasn’t really worth visiting. However, we’ve done our fair share of long coach journeys in Asia so decided we could spare a couple of days to break up our journey down south and made it our next stop on the way to Hoi An.
Hue is a world heritage site and home of the Citadel and tombs of emperors from the Nguyen Dynasty. Apparently the emperors spent a lot of time planning their own tombs during their lifetimes and some even used them as residences while they were still alive. I think it became a competition of sorts with each emperor trying to outdo the previous one (pandering to their egos).
On our first day in Hue we decided to visit the Citadel. Unfortunately the site was badly bombed during the French and American Wars so little of the original structure remains. Only 20 out of 148 buildings are still standing, but despite this, it’s an impressive site. Restoration work is being carried out and with a little bit of imagination you can see just how spectacular it would have been in its hey day.
After visiting the Citadel we headed out for food. In previous posts we have mentioned how good the food is in Vietnam (it really is very tasty!). However we found out that one of the best cheap eat restaurants in Hue is actually an Italian (and happened to be just down the road from our hostel) and after a month of eating Asian food, we are not ashamed to admit we gave it a go – it was some of the best pasta I have eaten in a long time! For anyone visiting Hue, we recommend it: Risotto Restaurant.
On our second day in Hue we decided not to visit the tombs and save money (we were a bit tired of pagodas), and spent the day wandering around the city (in the rain – just like England) and planned our next stop, Cambodia.
We both agreed we were glad we made the decision to visit the old royal city of Hue.
To get from Hue to Hoi An, we took a minibus which stopped off at 4 stops along the way (pretty much all tour companies offer the same route).
It included:
A visit to Thanh Toan Tile roof bridge, the oldest bridge in Vietnam
Lang Co Beach
Marble Mountain
Hai Van Pass
The highlight of the trip was the Hai Van Pass, made famous by Top Gear when they did the route on motorbikes. The view of the coast is meant to be amazing. Unfortunately for us, the weather wasn’t playing ball…
Hoi An (lantern town) was the place in Vietnam I was looking forward to the most. As the saying goes a picture speaks a thousand words so rather than spend time detailing how beautiful the town was, here are a few photos:
Most of our time in Hoi An was spent walking round the old town and soaking up the atmosphere, but we did hire bikes and cycled to a nearby village famous for its pottery and had a go making a bowl each and also cycled to the nearest beach, An Trang which was very beautiful. Hoi An is also famous for its tailoring services so we couldn’t leave without getting an item of clothing made. We are just keeping everything crossed Ben’s suit makes it back to the UK!
On our last night in Hoi An we met up with John and Shanna who we met in Fiji. Luckily our paths had crossed again and we were able to share a few drinks and stories with them. A lovely end to a stay in a lovely place.
(Posted by Em)
Emma & Ben... Far From Home 