Hue, Vietnam

We arrived around midday at Hue on the bus. The drop off point was a little out of the centre and we were greeted with men banging on the windows: ‘taxi, taxi’. We managed to get away from them and walked to our hotel. The hotel was pretty cheap and a little run down but it did the job. After dropping off our luggage, we went to a diner-type restaurant owned by a French man. Chris went for a healthier option of a wrap with salad and I went for a burger. After this, we headed to the Imperial City. It was around a half an hour walk from the diner but as they didn’t have any Grab cars here we thought it would be easier (cheaper) than getting a taxi. The Imperial City was a big city that the Emperor of Vietnam built in 1804 when Hue was the capital. It was interesting walking around and reading about the history.

We headed back and grabbed some dinner at a recommended Italian restaurant, Risotto, which was around the corner from the hotel. It was delicious! We were given free bruschetta for starter and picked carbonara for mains. The food was really good and to top it off we were given some fruit as dessert to finish the meal. All of this for under £10! 

We walked around the streets and I had the ice cream rolls. It was nice having a walking street to stroll down; it was all lit up and pretty. A lot of people had told me that Hue was a little boring but I enjoyed our time here.

The following day we made our way to Hoi An. There are lots of different options for transportation to Hoi An, mostly going through the Hai Van Pass which is a winding road with beautiful scenery. Neither Chris nor I had (at this point) driven motorbikes during our trip so an 8 hour journey did not sound like a good option. There are other tours available such as jeep tours and easyrider tours. The jeep tours are pretty expensive and we were not sure about riding on the back of bikes for such a long time. We opted for a minibus tour that stopped off in different spots on the way; it was significantly cheaper than the other options and a good compromise as it also went on the Hai Van Pass. Our guides were really friendly and stopped often to let us take photos. The first stop was at a bridge close to Hue; it is a similar bridge to the one in Hoi An with room to relax on the sides.

After walking around the town and relaxing on the bridge, we passed water buffaloes in the rice fields.

The next stop was a water lagoon where the water was nice and warm and we could see fish swimming next to us. Close by was the beach. We had some time to paddle around here and enjoy the sun! The beach was really lovely and quiet.

After this, we headed to the Hai Van pass which was beautiful; we were able to stop to take photos and to enjoy the views. The driver stopped in Da Nang to grab some bahn mi ( Vietnamese bread rolls ) and we ate them on the bus. The last stop before reaching Hoi An was the Marble Mountain in Da Nang. We caught the elevator up to the top and walked around the buddha statues, pagodas and caves. It was a nice way to spend an hour. Overall, I was really happy with this choice. It was far safer than the bikes and much cheaper than the jeeps.