Hue

Got off the train at about 8:30 to a little bit of cloud in Hue. Our tour guide Tam Tam was there to greet us with a smile and a bus. She escorted us to the hotel where we were able to have a buffet breakfast on the rooftop not much of a view mind you. Followed by a check into our hotel where we were had a shower and a quick nap before meeting up with Tamtam at one for our tour of the Imperial Palace. We got on the bus and drove five minutes over the perfume river to the Imperial Palace. Apparently it’s called the perfume river because back before the war they were thousands of flowers in the valleys and they carried the scent down into the city. Today there is not much of a smell! We went over to the palace stopped at the gate for some photos – gorgeous architecture everywhere.
From 1802 to 1945, Vietnam was ruled by the Nguyen Dynasty, a powerful family who had its capital in the city of Hue (pronounced “Hwhey“) for more than 100 years. They would become the last ruling family of this sort in Vietnam, since the Emperor abdicated in 1945 in favor of the new communist government being set up in Hanoi under Ho Chi Minh. But, since the Nguyen Dynasty was based here for so long, Hue is often still referred to as “Vietnam’s Imperial City.”
From what I can gather from Tam Tam this palace has only been here for about 100 years. The palace was moved here when Hue became the capital of Vietnam – previously if it had been in Hanoi. Over the course of 100 years they were 13 emperors who lived in this palace. The front part of the palace is still well preserved. But as you enter the gates into the for forbidden purple city there is not much left as it was destroyed during the Vietnam War. They have managed to rebuild a lot of the buildings in replica and it is quite beautiful. The kings had all of their wives, concubines and children living with them in this purple Palace including the queen mother and all the family of the emperor/king. After wondering around the beautiful grounds for about two hours learning more than we could possibly remember -we got back on the bus drove over to the market. Dong Ba is the biggest commercial center of Thua Thien Hue Province and the adjacent regions. It stands along the north bank of Huong River, on Tran Hung Dao Street of Hue City and stretches from Trang Tien Bridge to Gia Hoi Bridge. After getting lost in this huge market- and getting a quick bun snack, we hopped back on the bus and over the river back to our hotel. We went upstairs freshened up and then started the walk to the main pedestrian area in Hue.
We had heard about a cool rooftop bar – At the moonlight hotel overlooking the perfume river. We found the bar with ease and walked up to the 22nd floor and indeed it was a beautiful view sat down for a beer or two overlooking the perfume river Although the beers here are quite expensive compared to the to $2 we’ve been paying everywhere else. After we enjoyed the view we headed up the street to a restaurant called Carambole. This was recommended by Tamtam and it was a pretty good restaurant with Western and Vietnamese dishes. The girls and guys all had pizza, while I opted for the Vietnamese tasting menu. Started off with some crab soup followed by some dumplings, chicken noodle dish and an ice cream dessert. Not a bad meal. We took an amble around some of the stores. And ended up at the night market on the river! Pretty neat night market right on the river tons and tons of food vendors – although we are very nervous to try the Street Food here?? After wandering around some of the stalls we decided to head back to the hotel. As were heading back Frank started feeling less and less like himself -by the time we got back to the hotel he was definitely not well! Poor Frank spent the rest of the night in the bathroom, finally getting some sleep from 1 AM onwards! Tomorrow is going to be a long day!