After some confusion about which hotel I was staying at, my bus eventually picked me up at 10am. Again, a really spacious and comfortable ride, the driver pointed out we even had massage chairs!! 😂 I didn’t get this ride all to myself, in fact it was full of a mixture of tourists and locals, some of whom I think had a deal with the driver independently as he picked them up and dropped then off at random places. The journey took around 3.5 hours and was overall pretty good.
Hue, seems nice, wide streets, nice old buildings, not mad busy.
My hotel is pretty central, and nice, quite big and seems to have a fair number of Australian tour guests. Once I’m checked in and booked a couple of tours with the hotel I head out to explore. Taking my trusty knackered umbrella as it’s drizzling!
I walk down towards the river, The Perfume River, apparently it used to smell very lovely, sadly not anymore. There are some nice gardens alongside the river and I spot an art gallery, which I’ll go back to.
I end up down in the centre where all the bars and restaurants are. Tracey had told me to check out a bar called “The DMZ” which I came across almost straight away. It looked busy and lively, so I thought I’d pop in for a beer.
It was ‘very’ lively, full of Aussies all here to watch the National Final of the Australian Rugby League, NRL. I arrived just as the match started. 😂🏈🏈
I settled in to watch! It was a good game, with the Penrith Panthers beating the Melbourne Storm. The Panthers were wearing pink kits which I liked! 🩷 I ended up staying for a couple of beers, then a couple of margaritas, having a dance to ‘Country Roads’ with a very happy Penrith supporter! 😂 all in all an unexpectedly fun afternoon/evening😍
I have booked a half day tour to visit the Imperial Palace, the Pagoda and a short boat trip. The trip was a full day but the afternoon activities didn’t appeal, so I opted to finish just before they do lunch.
The weather is less than ideal! Absolutely torrential rain, I feel my little brolly isn’t up to the task, so borrow a larger more sturdy one from the hotel.
Our first stop is the Thien Mu Pagoda. This Pagoda was built in 1601 and it is beautiful, as are the gardens surrounding it. Lots of amazing Bonsai. Unfortunately on the short walk from the Minibus to the Pagoda I get completely soaked! Huge puddles everywhere, soak my shoes, the rain soaks the bottom of my trousers, trying to protect my bag, which has my phone (my camera) in means that my back gets soaked. I am literally soaked through! Luckily it is warm rain, but it is a little uncomfortable 😳
But, it is what it is, nothing I can do about it, my clothes will dry, eventually!
After the Pagoda it’s a boat journey down the Perfume River. I will admit to being a little nervous about getting on & off the boat, my track record on this isn’t great, especially in the rain. But, I bossed it! 😎
The journey was pretty uneventful. The river isn’t used for trade, or even fishing, so there’s not a lot going on.
From the river we make our way to the Imperial Palace and Citadel.
Hue used to be the Imperial Capital of Vietnam. The Citadel contains the palaces that housed the imperial family as well as offices of state, gardens and buildings used for other important functions.
After the end of the monarchy in 1945 the buildings suffered heavy damage and neglect during the Indochina wars from between 1945 – 1980. The grounds are undergoing restoration, the Kings Palace has been fully restored.
It was a very Imposing site and I absolutely loved the grounds, especially the beautiful gardens. As impressive as the restored Palace was, it wasn’t my favourite bit, a little too shiny.
I had started to dry out a little, which was nice! It was still raining but not heavily. After the Imperial Palace the next stop was the large central market. To be honest this was a bit of a waste of time, I’ve been to so many markets that this held nothing new. I left the tour at this point and had a nice stroll back across the river, during a dry spell. I stopped for a coffee and just as I sat down inside the heavens opened again!
When the rain is heavy here, it’s next level heavy!!
I simply sat, enjoying my coffee and reading my book! 📕💦🌧️💧
By late afternoon the rain has finally stopped so I head out into town for some early dinner. The area with all the bars and restaurants is an easy walk from the hotel and I’m sure it gets busy later, when I’m tucked up in bed! I’m back in my room by 6.30pm! I have a lovely catch up with Nikki and finish my book, which I’m loving. I have a big tour the next day so try and get an early night, but it just isn’t happening! I’m still awake thinking/over thinking 🤨 at 1.30am! I must eventually go off as I’m in a lovely deep sleep when my alarm goes off at 6am!! 😫
Today’s tour is to the DMZ or Demilitarised Zone. This is the area that divided Vietnam into North & South and also the area that saw some of the worst fighting during the Vietnam War.
There is a lovely couple from my hotel going on the trip as well, Jody & Dilesh who are from the Netherlands. There are also a few more Dutch people on the trip, as well as an Aussie guy, a Kiwi and his Vietnamese friend. It’s a really nice group. Our guide is called Hoa (pronounced qua) She is absolutely fantastic, so incredibly knowledgeable about everything. It’s quite a long drive to and between sites, but Hoa uses this time to explain the history behind the Indochina Wars, all 3. She also explains everything from a neutral perspective, but this is somewhat different to the perspective we usually get which is definitely biased towards the West, USA and non communist sensitivities.
She also plays some interesting songs that are about Vietnam or anti war songs. Universal Solider, Born in the USA, Have you ever seen the Rain, Ken Sanh Song. This all adds to the mood.
Our first stop is Quang Tri Citadel. This is the site of the a battle called Lam Som 72 the goal was for the Americans to capture or retake the Citadel, an area of only 2,000 square meters fighting went on for 81 days and the USA dropped 328,000 tons of bombs on the area. The site is now a memorial to the thousands of Vietnamese soldiers that died defending the site and whose remains were destroyed with the buildings.
From here we drive alongside the Cam Lo river on Road 9, an important route that goes to Loas. This is also where large parts of the Hoh Chi Minh Trail are.
Our next stop is at Khe Sanh Combat Base. This was a US Marine Corps outpost. It was built in 1962 and used until 1975. It’s not far from the border between Vietnam & Laos.
Khe Sanh and whole area around here saw some of the most brutal combat of the War claiming lots of casualties on both sides. They still have old helicopters, Hueys, Chinooks and cargo planes & tanks at the base.
It’s interesting to hear about the Vietnamese soldiers, the Viet Cong, NFL or LA from a different perspective. America poured huge amounts of $ into the war and used massive amounts of bombs and arms. The Vietnamese had less money so they fought back in a much more low tech way, making use of the terrain, collecting and repairing abandoned US equipment. When you see the area on a rainy day with the rivers flowing fast and thick mud everywhere I can’t begin to imagine how it felt for a young American boy to arrive and be expected to fight an unknown enemy in a completely alien environment for some vague political reasons!
The more I see, hear & understand about the Vietnam War the more tragic and hideous it becomes for all of those involved.
The weather on the trip was very changeable! We were so lucky that every time we arrived at a destination, the weather cleared!
When we arrived at Khe Sanh you could barely see anything, there was mist and cloud covering the whole site, this miraculously cleared and you got to see the mountains surrounding the site.
From Khe Sanh we travelled up into the DMZ and the bridge that crosses the Ben Hai River. Half of which was in North Vietnam, painted blue and half in South Vietnam, painted yellow.
The flag pole on the north side still remains but the one on the south side has been taken down! The flag is huge! During the conflict the flag poles were used to make a point, getting higher and higher, until the one of the North side reached 38 metres.
It’s an interesting place to visit, It just didn’t feel very well looked after.
From here it was a short drive to the Vinh Moc Tunnels.
These tunnels were made by the villagers, to protect them from the ariel bombing. There are 100s of these tunnels all over the region.
They are on 3 levels, 8 – 10 meters, then 12 – 15 meters the third level is 20 – 23 meters. Inside the tunnels they had a meeting rooms, a surgery room, a nursery, kitchens and toilets.
In total 17 babies were born in the tunnels, 15 of whom are still alive today. The tunnels were used between 1966 – 1971 the villagers would go into the tunnels during bombing, in total 9,000 tons of bombs were dropped in the Vinh Moc tunnel area.
The height and width have been expanded since then to accommodate us larger tourists! But it’s still pretty poky and very hot 🥵 I can’t imagine being down there for days on end, but people were, it’s what saved their lives.
The excavated earth was transported during the night to be dumped into the sea, or placed into bomb craters to hide any evidence of the tunnels construction.
It was fascinating to visit, I can’t say I enjoyed being in the tunnels, but glad that I did it. The photos from inside aren’t great, as I was holding an umbrella, using my phone as a light and trying not to slip or hit my head!
The whole day was incredibly interesting and I learnt a lot.
It was also lovely chatting to and getting to know Jody & Delish. Jody is a little claustrophobic and she managed to do the whole tunnel tour! Kudos to her. 👍❤️
By the time I got back I was thirsty and hungry. I decided to just go to the hotel restaurant, but when I got there they had a big party of people and not many staff, so I figured I might be better off heading out, which I did, much to the dismay of my aching feet! 😃
I had a celebration cocktail to mark the 1 year anniversary of my meeting with a Rosemary Bush! 😂 which involved a child’s party, Prosecco, Jack Daniels (or possibly not!) and a strategically placed Rosemary bush! 🤪💚😂 I blame Stephanie!! 😂
I spent my last full day in Hue just mooching about. I had a nice leisurely breakfast (not the best I’ve had) and started writing my blog, which always takes longer than I think!
It was raining, surprise, surprise ! 😳 I waited until it stopped then made my way across the bridge to the Central Market. I knew that upstairs they had lots of ladies making clothes and I needed my favourite trousers repaired. They have elasticated bottoms and the it had gone in one leg, plus one of the seams was coming loose.
It made a change to be walking in the sunshine, even if it was only for 10 mins!
On the way I popped back into the Gallery that I’d seen on my first day.
Once I got to the market I made my way to the second floor and spoke to one of the ladies, I explained what I needed, after convincing her I didn’t need a new dress, a new jacket or any trousers, even if she did have then in a ‘Big Size’! 😂 she took my hand and led me through the many many stalls and pointed down the stairs and told me to go down then out!
I did as she said, asked another older lady, who also took me by the hand and led me outside the building, along the path then through an old doorway and up some dark and dodgy stairs into a room full of people sewing!
Another lady came over, I again explained and showed her what I needed, for some reason she seemed thrilled about this! She gave my trousers to a nice gentleman who wasn’t sewing anything and told me it would be 50,000 dong (approx £2) she then hugged me, twirled me round hugged me again, grabbed my hand and led me back down the stairs! 😂😂 it was all very odd but very funny!!
I so wanted to get a photo of the room with all the sewers in but I felt it would be rude. I returned in an hour to collect my perfectly repaired trousers, I paid him 100,000 and everyone then all started saying bye and waving at me! 😍❤️❤️
After this I walked back across the river, grabbed a coffee, a delicious Cafè Moui, sat out a brief downpour then returned once again to the hotel to finish writing and to book my next accommodation.
For my last evening in Hue, I’m going to have a ride on a Cyclo.
There is an old guy outside the hotel who has asked me if I want a ride at least twice a day since I arrived, so today I’m going say yes!
When I get outside there are 3 guys, the lovely old guy and 2 younger guys. I ask for him, he looks very pleased.
After a lot of discussion, Google Translate and help from the concierge we finally figure out where I’m going and how much! 😂 I’m literally just going down the road but even then I feel guilty being ferried around by a guy who looks 112! 😳 But he’s happy, it’s fun so I just enjoy it and when we arrive I pay him double, which is still only £3!
So, I’m leaving Hue tomorrow and going to Hanoi for 4 nights.
I thought I might go from Hanoi to Japan or possibly somewhere else, Chiang Mai, Phuket, for a couple of weeks of chilling. However the weather in SE Asia is pretty wet in most places and I have far too much stuff to take to Japan.
So my decision is to return to Australia and stay at Rebecca & Chris’s for a little while and then plan a Japanese trip, with less luggage! And my onward travel from there.
I think it might also be nice to stay in one place for a couple of weeks! 😍 And I get to see my beautiful daughter. ❤️
That’s it for now guys.
Have a great week.
💛🤎🧡💛❤️🤎🧡❤️
🎉 🩷A very Happy 5th Birthday to the Beautiful Clementine! 🎉🩷
Books read:
Random Acts of Heroic Love. Danny Scheinmann. An excellent book. I loved everything about it.
Thank you Jane for a great recommendation! ❤️❤️
Please keep your book recommendations coming.
Hereandthereclaire.com 