Wednesday 18 September 2013

Hue and Hoi An

Our next stop from Hanoi was ancient city of Hue. After a rammed, long and drunken journey in a night train we arrived. Our hostel in Hue has to have been one of the nicest  we've stayed in since traveling. We had rose petals on the bed, drinks and fruit every time we came in and absolutely delicious breakfasts.

Hue has its own forbidden city which is very vast. It was very hot when we went so we couldn't explore too far.

 

The next day we took a tour of the ancient tombs and a dragon boat ride to a pagoda. We also visited a garden which contained lots of fruit.



The best bit of the tour was when we visited a kung fu show (so touristy and naff) and the tour guide in every move said; "wow very special" in the most deadpan and bored voice ever!

 
Our next stop was the beautiful Hoi An.On a river, with lanterns in loads of the trees. It was lovely with a wonderful beach a short cycle away as well as a lovely market and nice buildings. It was full of Australian holidaymakers but luckily it didn't feel too touristy!

 
 
On one of our days we took part in the Bamboo cooking class. We had both really been enjoying Vietnamese cuisine and this cooking class came highly recommended. It was absolutely amazing, an informative market visit was followed by about 12 courses!The food was amazing and we learnt absolutely loads about the culture. Lets just say we didn't have any dinner that night!










 

 

We visited a boat bar which was literally a tiny boat, a band, room for about 7 people and beer served in bowls, it was absolutely lovely and everyone joined in with the band.




 
 
Another highlight was visiting an old Chinese style teashop which was run by a charity for people which hearing and speech impediments.Instead of telling the waiter your order you wrote it down and used blocks to ask for the bill. All of the staff had hearing and speech impediments so this system allowed them to earn a living. The tea house was a lovely tranquil place, a nice calm in Vietnam!!


 
A couple of the days we hired bikes and cycled through the paddy fields to the absolutely pristine beach. It was absolutely perfect.
 


 

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