Reunification Express to Hue

Fabulous food
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We arrived on tome in Hue and were taken straight to our Hotel by bus and this time got rooms as soon as we arrived. Refreshed and having had our now normal breakfast of fresh juice, fresh baguette and eggs and Vietnamese coffee we decide to do our own thing and organise a boat trip down the Perfume River to see the Pagoda and Tu Dhuc's tomb. We have a cruise boat to ourselves and get lunch on board, squid and steamed fish with steamed rice, absolutely delicious. Fortunately we have the tomb pretty much to ourselves and the gardens are an absolute delight. we have to meet the rest of the party at the Citadel so head back just in time to catch them at the South Gate which is the main entrance to the inner Citadel and forbidden city. What remains after the Tet offensive is pretty impressive and the whole place must have been quite special in its original form. Much of the site is being restored by rebuilding and although it looks good, I don't think it will ever be quite the same as the original. There is plenty of evidence of the battles fought there with bullet marks and holes evident everywhere.

My own place!
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In the evening some of us elect to do the Imperial Banquet and this is quite a night. We arrive at the restaurant where we are all dressed up in Imperial robes and head dresses, we are then paraded in to our dining area with ceremonial music and seated at an elaborate dining table. Traditional music and singing is performed while we eat. The meal is fantastic, with carved vegetable birds, food arranged in peacock tails and a selection of dishes which include spring rolls, Hue style, chicken, lotus seed soup, tiger prawns and steamed vegetables. One of the best meals we have had. We buy champagne to wash the meal down and even the champagne is good which makes a change from most wine that we have had on the trip. Bed time follows.

bullet marks and holes evident everywhere

The Imperial Couple
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Thursday (I think!) is motorbike tour day and Carol is most apprehensive about the whole thing and not keen to go but takes the plunge and off we go. Our tour is generally off the main roads and along back roads and lane ways. Stop 1 is a local primary school where we play with the kids and look at the school then its off to an historic bridge and local market where we have a browse. Then a visit to the most famous connical hat maker in Hue, a one armed lady called Thuy who is quite amazing in the way she makes her hats with only one hand and a stump on her other arm. Next its off to the tomb we visited yesterday so we opt to sit in the shade and have a coffee, its much hotter than the day before and there are many more tourists as well. We visit the fish pagoda after passing a series of Buddhas along the road and this is in a most peaceful and serene setting. Lunch follows at a nearby nunnery where we are served probably the best meal we have had, a magnificent spread of vegetarian delicacies of all types washed down with a cold lemon drink. After lunch there is a little time for resting and browsing the original paintings for sale. Back on the motorbikes we head off to see incense making and ride to the top of Bunker Hill where there are US and French fortifications on one of the high points around Hue. Photos all round of us and our drivers with our bikes then off to the Vietnamese version of the Colosseum. Built in the 1800's it is a circular arena where the King used to watch elephants and tigers fighting. Our last stop is the pagoda we had visited yesterday so we opt out again and sit in the shade having a cool drink while the others climb stairs and visit the pagoda then its back to the hotel. Carol has really enjoyed herself in spite of her earlier misgivings. Tea is on a floating restaurant on the Perfume River and to my amusement there is much consternation amongst the girls at the appearance of a couple of rats as we leave. Tomorrow we are off to Hoi An by bus.