Hué was once the capital of Vietnam, in the days of emperors’ rule. In the morning, Laurie and I visit The Citadel, a 19th century ‘forbidden city’. This costs a couple of pounds / few dollars to get in, but is not maintained or restored like The Forbidden City of Beijing, although there is a lot of restoration work in progress. This area was the scene of a lot of fighting during the Tet Offensive of 1968, and there are still bullet holes in some of the walls of The Citadel area. There are artefacts laying about the place, e.g. china cups, although some seem to be remnants of fake artefacts, such as plastic moulds of mythical beasts. There are also people in mopeds riding about the walkways. Unlike in Beijing, this place has a lived in quality, with many of the buildings being occupied by what I assume are staff of the complex. I like this as it means it is not just a monument to ancient opulence.
After visiting The Citadel, we go to a supermarket where I buy some mayonnaise and cheddar cheese, the latter costing me about four times as much as a whole meal would in a local restaurant. Though there is no bread in the supermarket, fortunately Vietnamese are fond of baked western bread and this is easy to get in the street stores.
We also buy some pastries from a mobile street stall, which are filled with banana or prawn or something mysterious plus tofu. I let myself get overcharged, paying 70k Dong, which is less than three pounds but still about three times a price of a restaurant meal.
The group catch a crowded minibus to Hoi An, taking about four hours from Hué.
Hoi An is an ancient trading port with an old town that attracts the tourists from all over the world. The international influence goes back to its days as a trading port too, and there is a Mediterranean feel to the place. I am reminded of walking through the old town of Nice, except Hoi An is much cleaner and prettier than Nice. Also, the architecture looks more Spanish than French. Walking through the town at night, the lights of the old town give it a luxuriant atmosphere, especially when walking by the river with traditional bridges connecting the two sides of the town.
Nowadays, one of the key attractions for tourists is the vast numbers of tailors who will provide you with made to measure suits, trousers or dresses for a fraction of western prices. Personally, I satisfy myself with buying a pair of Billabong swim shorts for a couple of pounds.
Laurie and I stop at a riverside restaurant where I have first trial of a Vietnamese pizza, although the chefs here are quite likely not to be Vietnamese in restaurants serving western fare. For the achievement of a proper herby tomato base, I’d say it was the best so far, but it is let down on a few technicalities. The dough base is ok, but not cooked in a proper pizza oven and the Parma Ham topping was too much and was added after cooking, so was cold. 8/10. Also, the prices here are much more expensive than other restaurants (paying about £5 for my pizza), but if this was in Nice, but with the scenery and ambience that Hoi An has, it would be at least four times the price.
Laurie has something local of course, but she does join me for cocktails. She is drunk after only one, a mixture of Kahlua and Bailey’s that is called a ‘blow job’ for some reason, so I have to drag her back to the hotel. This is her second to last night before she leaves us for a week or so to meet up with her boyfriend in Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City, after which they will both be joining us until Singapore.
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