Fri 24 Mar
Packed up and had a final breakfast with the friendly family, saying our goodbyes to Hoang . We were picked up in a taxi driven by Hoang’s husband Robbie to take us back to Danang to catch train up to Hue. Very chatty in his limited English, he made sure we drove by Hoangs intersection to wave goodbye to her, saw Twee outside her shop and waved goodbye – felt like we were leaving long lost friends behind! Train departure from Danang was 12.15. Many big hotels and developments going up along the beachfront in Danang. Its about 40 mins from Hoi An and apparently the next big resort town! Train passed through some beautiful scenery, along the coast with long sweeping beaches and rocky inlets, a few small islands offshore and then we went though a mountain pass, fabulous scenery – they do say that this is one of the most spectacular train rides in Vietnam and it sure lives up to that. The journey was about 3 hours to Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam. On arrival at the station we were met by the taxi from the hotel. Alan dashed back into the station to buy the next tickets – from Hue to Dong Hoi so we wouldn’t have to hassle with them later. In the meantime the taxi picked up 2 more passengers so shared the ride part way into town. An Aussie & Kiwi girl who were volunteering in HCMC – one nurse and one vet nurse – heard some interesting stories in the brief ride before dropping them at their hotel. We continued onto the Jade Hotel where we are staying for 3 nights total price CA$60 inc breakfast. Friendly staff welcomed us and carried bags to room – room a bit musty and linens getting a little old . Went for a walk around the river front to get our bearings and get some exercise. Pretty walk, busy town though. Went to find information about what we could do to get around the sights here. The city had lost many buildings to bombings during the American war hence a blend of modern and old. It was the capital of the Nguyen emperors that was built with the purpose of uniting the north and the south back in the early 1800’s. Over 10,000 died here during the war, mainly civilians as was so heavily bombed. The Americans had used napalm on the imperial palace and bombing the Citadel. There are museums and pagodas dotted around the city but the royal tombs are centered in the south of Hue. We would spend 2 days exploring here. Decided to eat dinner at the LP recommended Hang Me Me. Think the menu must have changed since they recommended it – choice of 5 local dishes to Hue on the menu – took chances and ordered a couple of things that we had no idea about. First was banh beo – mouthfuls of rice cakes (rubbery) topped with scallions and shrimp with heaping’s of chilli and fish sauce on top, then Banh Duc, a banana leaf wrapped around rice flour with shrimp paste topping. Neither of these were too appealing to us – no wonder we were the only foreigners here – but subsequently see many people really like this food! I think its that rubbery consistency that put me off! Got an ice-cream on the way home to fill the empty spot!

Sat 25 Mar
Amazing breakfast selection available at the hotel – 5 different fruit juices, tea, coffee, about 5 different fruits cut up, eggs, cereal, toast, baguettes – quite amazing considering the price of the place! Organised to take a scooter for the day so we could head into the country side and see some of the tombs . Weather a bit iffy and quite cool so had to bring the rain jackets along. Rain in the forecast too. Started off on the north bank of the Perfume River and headed to the Thien Mu Pagoda which is built on a hill overlooking the river. It is an icon of Vietnam and as important a symbol of Hue as the Citadel is. The 21m high octagonal tower was constructed in 1844 and each of its 7 stories are dedicated to a Buddha that appeared in human form. Since the 60’s it has become a centre for political demonstrations. In a garage behind the pagoda is an old Austin that was supposedly used by a monk to drive to Saigon for his self-immolation in 1963. He was protesting against the policies of the South Vietnamese President! To go to the Citadel and tombs we bought a pass for D360,000. Next stop, being directed by google maps was Ho Quyen. This arena was built for the sport of watching tigers and leopards (declawed and sometimes with no teeth), fighting with elephants. The elephants had to triumph as they were a symbol of the Emperors power! Pretty much abandoned today and the gates locked but you can see through them to se the arena . Amazed that we found it nestled in the middle of a village! Then we set off to Tu Hieu Pagoda which proved to be quite a challenge to find. After many wrong turns and almost giving up a young man pointed us in the right direction – heading down lanes in fields we eventually got to it. We were the only ones there it appeared (until an old lady came running out to collect scooter guard money!). It is hidden away in a pine forest, built in 1843 and now home to about 70 monks. Such a peaceful setting and we loved the fact we had it to ourselves until another couple appeared at the end! Beautiful old building and stone temple. The cicadas were so deafening here! Next stop Tu Doc Tomb, which was built in the 1860’s is the most popular and impressive of the royal mausoleums. Emperor Tu Doc designed it himself to use before and after his death! It is a beautiful setting with a small lake and forest incorporated into it. The Emperor and his family are supposedly buried in the various mausoleums but LP seems to imply that he wasn’t buried here at all . Very peaceful and beautiful setting, until we came across 100’s of schoolkids in groups dotted around the park and the loud music and games started. Good to see them out amongst their heritage and local attraction! Ate lunch at one of the roadside/ car park cafes and got ripped off by one of the cunning older ladies who thinks all tourists must pay more for the pleasure of frequenting her business! Headed off to cross the Perfume river again, in search of the Ming Mang Tomb. Raindrops started to fall – been a long time since we have seen rain! Ming Mang is known for its architecture as well as its beautiful pine forest setting. It was planned during Ming Mang’s reign but only built by his successor. It is located in An Bang Village, about 12km from Hue. 3 granite staircases lead to 3 terraces which lead up to the main temple. Behind the temple 3 stone bridges span a small lake. Only the emperor was allowed to cross over the middle bridge to the Pavilion of Light. Behind this sits Ming Mang’s sepulchre but it is locked behind heavy doors and a stone wall – the doors are only opened once a year on the anniversary of his death! Many of these tombs are being cleaned and tidied up but have lost some of the original buildings, due to age and bombings! Now raining quite a bit harder but decided to persevere and continue to the Khai Dinh Tomb – the last one of the day. Of course we took quite a few wrong turns – headed quite a way on the busy highway before deciding we were wrong and headed back and eventually discovered the right road for the Khai Dihn Tomb . Many tour buses parked outside and so we went in, dodging tourists and umbrellas! Most of this tombs concrete exterior is now blackened, giving it a Gothic appearance whereas when you go inside there is a colourful display of mosaics. Khai Dihn was the emperor from 1916-1925 and seen as a puppet to the French. After going up some pretty steep staircases to enter the courtyard, we went up a few more stairs to enter the Thien Dinh where you can see the dazzling array of mosaics on the walls. There is a large gold canopy in the middle and under this is a gilt bronze statue of the Emperor, his remains are interred below the statue. Armed with quite enough photos and video footage for the day we set off back to the hotel to go shower and warm up a feeling quite chill in the rain! Decided to go for a more substantial meal tonight at the Gecko Pub also on LP. Had a good meal and even shared a so called tiramisu! Very cool and still non stop drizzle!


Sun 26 Mar
With the weather supposedly going to be a little more improved we decided that today would be the day to explore the Citadel . After another good breakfast at the Jade GH we set off to walk to the Citadel, taking an umbrella kindly loaned by them too! Light drizzle so nothing to stop our explorations! Took us about 20 mins to walk across the bridge and follow the park like promenade to the Citadel wall. The entrance to the Citadel is through the Ngo Mon Gate. The area is heavily fortified by a 2m thick, 10km long wall surrounded by a moat with 10 gateways. The Citadel aka Kinh Thanh, was built in the early 1800’s and is still the heart of Hue. It has distinct sections within the walls with the Imperial Enclosure and the Forbidden Purple City forming the centre of royal life! A fraction of the Imperial enclosure is left as it was badly bombed during both the French and the American wars (only 20 of 148 buildings remain). In 1945 the Nguyen dynasty ended here when Emperor Bao Dai abdicated to a delegation sent by Ho Chi Minh. Many of the buildings have ornate timber roofs, supported by lacquered columns! In the NE corner are gardens developed by various Emperors but were quite overgrown and not looking too spectacular when we saw them! We had a look round various ruins and buildings scattered around as well as being able to visit a small building that was the Emperor’s reading room and also a small theatre. The drizzle eased up and we were hungry so set off to find a LP recommended place nearby. I now realise that in our haste to leave we missed 2 of the highlights (oh dear!) being the Residence and the Pavilion! Weather got to us I think! We found Hong Mai – an excellent Vietnamese eatery serving only 2 different dishes . We ordered both the banh khoai (rice crepes filled with pork and shrimp, crammed with bean sprouts and lots of sauces and vegies to add) and the nem lui (minced pork grilled on a stalk of lemongrass) – and the very helpful young owner explained how we should eat everything (rolling in the thin rice paper) and dipping in sauces! Had a long chat to Matt on the phone – trying to make plans for the summer! We walked back over the Perfume River and found an Art Gallery to wander around. It was recommended by Trip Advisor and was very interesting, learning about the life and works of a Vietnamese artist, Le Ba Dang who spent much of his life in France. There were many pictures using different abstracts as well as sculptures and carvings – loved his blue pictures. He is now world famous but died in 2015 aged 94. I put my head out of the door to se how the rain was doing, only to see an older, local man hot footing off with my umbrella – shouted and he finally turned around and came back and gave it to me, smiling and laughing as though I was his buddy! Thanks bud! Back to the hotel to put feet up, warm up with a shower and then head out for dinner at the Mandarin Café. Met Mr Cu the owner, who is a photographer and his works hand on the walls in the restaurant – has amazing pictures – mainly of people, just fab pics. We looked through his albums too, wonderful work. He gave us 2 postcards of his – kind man – and the food was pretty good too!