Hue feels just right. I really enjoyed both Da Nang and Hoi An, but the former has fewer tourists and fewer sights, while the latter has too many tourists and lots of sights. The World Heritage town of Hue feels like it has the perfect balance of tourists and sights.
We took the bus there and the train back, each of which was worth the experience. The bus was one of the most interesting I’ve ever seen. I looked almost like bunk beds instead of seats. The train went over the famous Hai Van pass with dramatic views of the coastline.
We only had about a day and a half there so we packed in a lot of walking, biking, and tasting. We had some fun at the large, scrambled market area. There doesn’t seem to be much order to the place – you can buy packing tape right next to dried fruit. We could be at risk of eating a cleaning product if we weren’t careful to charade if something was edible. Rox bought some peanut butter/cilantro/thin rice paper snacks (surprisingly delicious) that we nicknamed ‘the Tide Pods’. We sat at a little food stand where the woman kept delivering different foods until we finally had to tell her to stop. What did we try? Who knows, but most of it was pretty tasty. I think I’m a pretty adventurous eater, but Rox has me beat on this one. She convinced herself to try a dish that Anthony Bordain once said contained ‘the broth that the gods were suckled on’. It contains an array of delicacies including congealed blood, tripe, pig knuckle, and more. Most of this stayed in the bowl but she said the noodles and broth were an un-celestial ok.
We spent about a half day exploring the Citadel, which contains the remains of royal residences, temples, and gardens. As we wandered the huge area there were times that we enjoyed being the only people around. As usual I took a thousand archway and doorway shots, but I’m sure you can appreciate why.
We rented bicycles and rode to a strangely popular destination: an abandoned water park. Graffiti artists have pretty much covered the place. It has an eerie feel to it. Later a local asked us if we had seen the ghost. Cue the shivers and goosebumps.
Many of you will know that back home I’m not a coffee drinker. I have a fancy coffee one or two times per month or so. In Vietnam my pendulum has swung to the opposite end, and I have found myself averaging two coffees per day. It is nearly impossible to resist the delicious Vietnamese coffee (with sweetened condensed milk) or the aforementioned egg coffee, coconut coffee, and avocado coffee. Now add another to the list: Hue’s specialty salty coffee. It tastes a bit like salted caramel and I’m sure the gods would have chosen it to suckle on instead of that weird meat dish.
Vietnam has been great, but it’s time for Rock-Awn to move on. Laos, here we come!
