Hi All,
In true British fashion ... an update on the weather. Unfortunately, for the duration of our stay in Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam, it rained constantly. Ross is disbelieving when Danielle says that Vietnam was boiling hot the last time she was here.
In Hue, we stayed in yet another lovely hotel. Again amazed at the value of accommodation in Vietnam. Our beautifully decorated room had two ultra king sized beds (one big enough for us to both lay like starfish and still not touch) and two bathrooms! Included in the £8 a night price was a delicious breakfast of Pho Bo (beef noodles), fresh fruit and Vietnamese black coffee with condensed milk- yummy! Before we left for travelling, we thought we would spend most of our time in hostels but have actually found that two bunks in dorm room are often more expensive than our own en-suite room in budget hotels/ guest houses. These little hotels are often advertised as home-stays as they are run by the family who also live in the building. However they are very different to the rural home-stays we have experienced where you eat with the family and really get to know them. Back home these would probably be called boutique hotels.
To avoid another wet motorbike ride, we decided to book on an organised tour to visit the historical sights of Hue. We found out that Hue was the capital of Vietnam, ruled by the Nguyen dynasty, between 1802 and 1945. It allowed emperors to control the north and south as it was an almost equal distance from both Hanoi and Saigon. 13 Emperors succeeded each other during this time; one by one becoming more greatly influenced by the French. France ruled Vietnam in a similar way to the British rule in India, exploiting natural resources, yet working with the local government rather than overthrowing it.
The tour took us to two of these emperors tombs, the first (emperor No2) was very Chinese/ Vietnamese in design. Emperor No12's tomb felt much more Gothic and European. The mosaic patterns inside the second mausoleum were absolutely stunning; our favourite a scene depicting the four seasons with bamboo and lotus flowers, very different from a typical British version. The emperor had insisted that all the pottery be shipped whole from abroad and smashed to create the mosaic on arrival. Our guide pointed out glass from Japan (actually beer bottles) and ornate pottery from China and France.
We visited the Royal Citadel, home to the emperors during their reign. This grand complex included a private theatre, beautiful red wooden corridors and quarters for the emperor’s multitude of wives - one had over 500! Our tour also took us to the 7 story pagoda, Japanese bridge and along the perfume river by dragon boat.
As we were running low on supplies, we visited a local market to pick up some more sweets for our 'advent calendar'. It seems that no matter how they are packaged, many of the Vietnamese sweets taste like variations of Haribo milk bottles. The chocolate ones amongst them aren’t quite hitting the spot for the usual Christmas indulgence of Cadbury’s selection boxes and Lindor truffles.
We are moving onto Hoi An next. Well technically we’ve already been so will hopefully get that post up later today as well!
Love R and D xxx
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