Posted by Jason We took an overnight train from Hanoi to Hue. The ride took longer than scheduled and we arrived at Hue at around 11:30am. Our hotel, Holiday Diamond Hotel, sent someone to pick us up and he patiently waited despite the delay. Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam from 1802 to 1945, before the communist government took over. During its 200 years as the capital, it also started to evolve itself into a culinary hub. Few dishes that originated from Hue can be found elsewhere in Vietnam, and only one dish is internationally known (i.e. Bun Bo Hue). Most of its popular , such as Com Hen and Banh Khoai, can only be found in Hue, so we made a point to sample as much of the local cuisine as possible! Karbo found a really nice restaurant called Nina's Cafe. The restaurant caters to the tourists; we thought their food was quite delicious and they make the best smoothie we have tasted so far on this trip. The smoothies were so good we went back a second time! Hue is not a huge city, but its historical sites are pretty spread out so we rented bikes at $2 a day to maximize our day of sight seeing. We rode for 45 minutes and conquered some unexpected steep hills to get to the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc. Tu Duc Tomb is one of seven imperial tombs in Hue (out of the seven, the following three are considered the most worth visiting: Ming Mang, Khai Dinh, and Tu Duc). The entire complex is huge, and besides Emperor Tu Duc's tomb, it also includes other tombs, temples, statues, and gardens. The architecture and greenery made the visit quite pleasant. However, because we didn't hire a guide and there was not a lot of information on display, we didn't learn as much Vietnamese history as we had hoped. We stopped for lunch at a random restaurant we found called Quan Phu Quy. Like most restaurants in Vietnam, the menu was displayed on the wall, but because it was all in Vietnamese, we asked for an English menu. We couldn't help but laugh when the waitress brought us the English menu. While there were 20 items on the Vietnamese menu, the English one only offered us two options: 1. Goat BBQ and 2. Goat Hot Pot. Luckily the goat hot pot was delicious and came with tons of veggies and noodles, otherwise we would've really wondered what the other 18 choices were on the original menu! After lunch we rode for another hour (mostly flat and downhill, phew~) to Thien Mu Pagoda. It's the tallest Bhuddist pagoda tower in Vietnam, and its location offers a great view of the Perfume River. On a separate day we walked across the Perfume River to see the Citadel, a large, walled area of the city on the north side of the river. Inside its 2km by 2km walls lies the Imperial City, a small war museum, as well as shops and houses throughout. On our last day in Hue we visited the Dong Ba Market, which has a busy outdoor wet market selling meats and veggies, and an interesting indoor market selling everything from cosmetics to toys. Dong Ba Market was recommended on many travel guides as a tourist attraction for how traditional it is, and we can totally see what they mean! That night we went to check out the night market next to Truong Tien Bridge (a bicycle/motorcycle/pedestrian only bridge), and found the "banh mi lady" that our friend Alicia had recommended. We had read that although Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam, the majority of the people here don't care much for its historical significance, and they make just enough effort to display and preserve their attractions solely for the benefit of the tourists. Hue has amazing food and cool historical architecture, and we didn't feel like vendors there targeted us because we were tourists. Hue may be a little rough around the edges, but it is one city where the term "what you see is what you get" truly applies. We really enjoyed our time here and hope it maintains its attitude for as long as possible!
5 Comments
Julia Liu
3/12/2014 02:40:06 am
I love bun Bo hue! It's a bit spicy though... Vietnam looks amazing
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Karbo
5/5/2014 10:50:42 pm
I'm not a huge fan of bun bo hue, haha! Just my personal preference; there's just so many other types of delicious food in Vietnam!!
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Jason
3/12/2014 05:05:12 pm
Ya Pro. I got hungry writing this post haha. Hue definitely has some amazing food!
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6/7/2014 01:57:43 am
Dear Jason,
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