Travels to Hue
After Hoi An we traveled to Hue, this was a city that I didn't do much research on but I was excited because I knew the Imperial City was going to be beautiful. Unlike the previous, I didn’t see shows, food or educational, on Hue. It seems like if people are going to go to a big city in Vietnam then they will go to the capital, Ho Chi Minh. I found this surprising because it is rich in history and millions call it their home. We rode a bus from Hoi An and along the way we stopped at a marble shop because the mountains surrounding us were made of marble. The sculptures where breathtaking in size and there were hundreds of them just waiting to be bought. We jumped back on the bus to continue with the 6 hour drive. We drove through the countryside and arrived in this big city. It was nothing like Hoi An, there were cars and scooters everywhere.
The hotel was this big white building with a Merry Christmas sign out front. Our entire time in Hue it poured, even a raincoat couldn’t keep you dry. But we were hungry so we decided to bare the weather and go out to find a restaurant. Across the hotel there was an “American” restaurant called DMZ bar which was war themed. This was day 6 in Vietnam and my sister Hali was getting tired of Vietnamese food and I think we were all looking forward to a change of pace. After our yummy pizza we were supposed to go on a cyclo tour but because of the rain it was rescheduled. We went back to the hotel to have some family time since it was Christmas.
Like most other years, we did not spend Christmas at home which means we do not usually decorate the house, sit around listening to Christmas music and exchange elaborate gifts. I can usually get my family to do one Christmas related activity each year. For this one I drug a gingerbread house throughout Vietnam so we could decorate it on Christmas. We spent the night in my sister and I’s room talking and eating the remaining candy that came with the gingerbread.
The next morning we had a big day planned touring the Imperial City, once again it was raining but we weren't going to let it stop us. We walked around the elaborate buildings. It was built in 1932 during the Nguyen dynasty. The city is in the center of Hue and is surrounded by a moat. The city was used for the emperor, his family, his many mistresses, and the other people in his life.
That evening we went on the cyclo tour that had be rescheduled. We each got in this metal carriage that was attached to a bike where a man would pedal us around to see the city. We rode alongside the chaotic busy streets of Hue as well as the quiet residential streets and outdoor markets. It was wild to see the contrasts in our markets and theirs. On one side of the street it is lined with fruits and vegetables while the other side had people breaking down animal caucuses.
That night we had a “Royal Dinner” planned. It was hosted in this family’s house that was inside the Imperial City. It was a 5 course meal but it never seemed to end; it consisted of traditional Vietnamese dishes. It was a nice time to bond with the other people in our tour groups.
Because I didn’t watch tv shows on Hue before arriving it was interesting to form my own ideas and opinions without outside influences other than the commentary from my family. Hue was a beautiful chaotic city but it was so different from the other cities that I had visited previously in Vietnam. It was was an a mix of history like Hoi An and a bustling city like Ho Chi Minh, but has its own flare. There was not nearly as much wealth as the capital and has clear ties to the past. If you drove 5 mins outside the city limited you would find farms and little villages. I would recommend that you don’t skip over Hue even though its not majorly publicized like some of the other bigger cities in Vietnam.
