Vietnam: Part 3: Hue & The Perfume River

After we left the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, we travelled by an internal flight from Hanoi Airport to the city of Hue which is situated close to the South China Sea and is about halfway down the Vietnamese Coast. The flight was hassle free but Hanoi Airport is a very busy noisy place, with lots of queues and many people travelling, it so leave plenty of time to check in and find your way around if you are taking an internal flight.

Hue is the ancient capital of Imperial Vietnam, where the Nguyen Lords based their government during their reign over Vietnam between the 17th and 19th century. It remained the national capital until 1945, when Bao Dai escaped into exile and Ho Chi Minh declared independance from France in Hanoi. If you are a history buff, or simply love discovering exotic cultures, Hue represents the outstanding demonstration of the power of the vanished Vietnamese feudal empire. The city of Hue and its surroundings are covered with impressive monuments, temples and palaces. Despite suffering from its central position during the Vietnamese/American War it truely deserves its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

While the modern city of Hue is still developing, the residents of Hue are especially reknowned for their traditionalism - even the young feel it is their duty to preserve Hue's customs, traditions and architecture for generations to come. They are known throughout Vietnam for the way they speak Vietnamese, their traditional style of dress and their food, which without a doubt is some of the best Vietnam has to offer.

There are plenty of really good restaurants in Hue offering a variety of local food and international cuisine. We ate at La Carambole - A family owned French / Vietnamese restaurant - and found it very pleasant to eat outside while life went on all around us in the nearby streets. Making a reservation is recommended here as it can get very busy in the evenings. The food is very well cooked and reasonably priced.

Hue is the place where dining is not to satisfy human basic needs, but a form of art. Hue’s gastronomy is elegant, light and noble, different from other regions’ of Vietnam. Spices, especially chili, play an important role in Hue’s cooking. The people of Hue have a strong tradition of eating vegetarian food, so vegetarian restaurants are more common in Hue than in the rest of Vietnam. On the 1st and 15th of every lunar month, vegetarian restaurants are packed full of patrons for dinner and it may prove difficult to find a seat. Vegetarian restaurants are the cheapest places to eat, after street vendors.

The most famous local dish is bún bò Huế, a noodle soup served with slices of beef and lashings of chili oil. You should also try the tasty local treat, sesame candy (mè xửng), which is peanutty, chewy and quite tasty if fresh, and goes for under 10,000 dong/box. Another of the dishes that you cannot miss in Hue is “com hen”- rice with baby clams- again it is a very simple and low-priced specialty.

Other dishes to look out for in Hue are Nem Lui - a dish of sweet, minced pork around bamboo sticks grilled over hot coals. Banh Khoai - a "pancake" filled with bean sprouts, shrimp and pork, Bun Thit Nuong - a delicious barbecued pork served with vegetables and noodles and Banh Beo - an appetizer of sticky rice with shrimp and pork dipped in a sweet fish sauce. Add chilli to the fish sauce (if you want) then pour it on the 'rice'.

Hue is also famous for its extraordinary special “che”- sweet soups. There are nearly 50 kinds of “che”.. Four typical kinds of “che” that Hue citizens most proud of are: che khoai tia (purple sweet potatoes sweet soup), che long nhan boc hat sen (longan wrapped in lotus seed sweet soup), che troi nuoc nhan tom thit (floating sticky rice cake with shrimp sweet soup) and che dau van bot loc (bean and rice pastry sweet soup).

The city is split by the Perfume River, with the imperial city and markets to the North and the newer buildings of the city of Hue to the South. Hue remains a relatively small town, and getting around is easy enough. While the Imperial city is a fantastic place to explore, your visit to Hue would not be complete if you didn't explore the huge array of tombs, temples and ruins in the countryside. It is also a delight to just walk around the city with it's many canals and park areas. My travel buddy was feeling a bit under the weather, so armed with my trusty map and Trip Advisor App I wandered around alone for a good few hours on foot and really enjoyed just soaking up the atmosphere and getting a feel for this city.

You can also spend a peaceful day on the Perfume River, where it is possible to see several monuments and pagodas from the water's side. There are plenty of Dragon boats which operate along here and you cannot possibly visit Hue without taking at least one trip on these colourful craft. There are various options and prices start from about USD2 for a one hour trip. Here you will see all manner of Vietnamese daily life going on all around you. If you go in the evening, the boats are all lit up and the experience is even more magical. Most boats have refreshments available on board but be warned - the owners will try to sell you a whole range of cheap tourist souvenirs as well.

We stayed at The Moonlight Hotel for 2 nights and the rooms are more than comfortable for the modest price charged, Most have polished wooden floors, marble-clad bathrooms (some with jacuzzi bath tubs) and modern furnishings. Pay a little bit more and you can get a balcony room with a Perfume River view. the Moonlight Hotel offers an in-house restaurant that serves local and international cuisines and 2 bars. The buffet Breakfast is also very good and they have their own pool and Spa facilities too.

On our arrival we had a few pleasant cocktails in the roof top bar which has amazing views of the City by day and night. The evening meal in the hotel restaurant was good, but quite bland and westernized - we tried it once and then decided to go out and eat locally the following evening. One particular highlight of our short stay in Hue was just seeing the views of the City and The Perfume River from our balcony at night.