By admin First and foremost, if you are not familiar with the city of Hue, let me inform you that “A Day in Hue” is a rhyme. Yes, “Hue” in Vietnamese is pronounced similarly to “whey” in English, although there are of course some differences in accents involved.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, here’s some more background on the city of Hue. Located in central Vietnam, it is best known for its massive citadel that houses the Imperial City, the former capital of the Nguyen Dynasty. I’ve covered a bit more in my Ultimate Ten Day Vietnam Itinerary post here, but the primary reason that tourists visit Hue today is to tour the Citadel. As such, we only planned one full day in Hue (arriving on Tuesday morning and departing on Wednesday morning), which was plenty of time in the city. While I don’t regret visiting Hue, I’ll be honest that it was my least favorite destination in Vietnam, and I would not make it a priority to return.
Our Vietnam Airlines flight to Hue was quite pleasant (I left Vietnam with a strong appreciation for Vietnam Airlines; we only flew with them on two short-haul domestic flights, but both were excellent). My one regret was that we didn’t book a transfer from the airport to our hotel in advance; we struggled to negotiate a rate with the taxi driver at the airport given the language barrier. All ended well, but in every other case I found it easy and affordable to pre-book a private driver from the airport. Grab worked well to get to the airport.
We checked into our hotel, Azerai La Residence, and set out to explore Hue. We wanted to grab a bite to eat before touring the Citadel, and Vicki had seen some good reviews about the Dong Ba market, so we decided to start there. We felt confident navigating Vietnamese street food on our own after a few days in Hanoi, and figured we could handle the market as the knowledgeable experts that we now were. Big mistake. We were the only tourists in the huge market that clearly catered to locals. The majority of the food stands were selling raw goods (fruit, vegetables, seafood, meat), not cooked dishes that we could eat onsite, and even more of the stands were selling clothes and other household items. Spotting us, the vendors saw opportunity, and immediately started hassling us to buy xyz that they were selling (the only time this happened to us in Vietnam). Then I saw a rat scurry by… then a dead rat, flattened by a human foot, bicycle, motorbike? I didn’t want to know – I just wanted out of there.
Giving ourselves credit for at least trying the local scene on our own, we headed toward the Citadel and the surrounding tourist-friendly streets in an effort to find a less adventurous lunchtime destination.
Around this time we got lost – and by that, I mean we lost each other. The grounds were overwhelmingly huge and confusing, and Vicki had her phone on airplane mode, so this was actually a little scary. We should have designated a safe family meeting point, just in case. LOL.
Fortunately, after ten minutes or so apart, we found each other again. Phew. I really did not want to have to call Vicki’s husband, Bill, and inform him that I had somehow lost his wife of two months in Vietnam.
At this point we decided we’d had enough of the Citadel and Imperial City. It was time for a dragon boat ride along the Perfume River. By the way, are you wondering why it is called the Perfume River? Apparently, in the autumn, orchid flowers fall into the river, providing it with a lovely floral scent. Sadly, we arrived a bit late in the season, so we just saw brown water and gray skies, with no accompanying perfume.
While I love planning travel excursions in advance, the dragon boat ride was one of those activities best booked onsite and in person. We simply walked up to a boat, agreed to a price, and we were on our way.
The dragon boat dropped us off at the Thien Mu pagoda, where we were given some time to sightsee before returning to the dock by our hotel.
Our final plan for the day? A food tour, of course! This would be our first time experiencing the cuisine of central Vietnam, and our first time zipping through the streets on motorbikes (as passengers, thank god).
As I mentioned earlier, I was glad that we visited Hue, but it wasn’t my favorite stop in Vietnam, and I was happy that we had only planned one day in the city. Next up: the lovely Hoi An.
