Passing through Hue

A lot of visitors in Hue are only there for a brief moment, passing through on their way to Da Nang, Hoi An and other destinations in the middle of Vietnam. Although the streets of Hue are interesting, they were not our kind of streets. During the day these streets were filled with tourist busses that made a stop on one of its major heritage sites. At night, they were bustling with energetic young people drinking cheap cocktails to fuel them for all nighters.

For the short period we were in Hue, we opted for cocktails, good food and the imperial city. Perhaps going to a great restaurant was on top of our to do list after being in a place like Ninh Binh that seemed to lack eatable food.. After searching the internet for the best place (we wanted cheap and good), we chose a restaurant called “Golden Rice” and it turned out to be one of the best meals we had in Vietnam. I order the caramelized chicken which was sweet, spicy and garlicy. But let’s not talk food all day.. We visited the Imperial City in Hue. The locals seem to call it “The Citadel” or “The forbidden city of Vietnam” referring to the forbidden city in Beijing. Alas, it is nothing like it. Less grand, not as overwhelming and not so well maintained. That is at least my opinion after standing at the gates of the true Forbidden City one month earlier. If you however linger a while at this location, you see it’s own beauty and originality. No need to compare it with something it’s not. It’s on the UNESCO world heritage list for a reason and the the citadel possesses great parts of the rich Vietnamese history together with bits and pieces of it’s impressive architecture, like the red hallway below.But most of all it was a place full of color and full of remnants of former empires.  Although we probably wouldn’t return to Hue, there is much more to see (tombs). We just didn’t found sufficient time and energy to do more since spending two nights out of four on a train proved to be more exhausting than we could even imagine. As a result we skittled away one entire day sleeping. Oh well, it was very satisfying to say the least. Now we will be able to be awake at our next destination, Hoi An!