Historic Hue

Our research had told us that Hue is a charming, historic town full of history and French architecture. We were surprised to find those elements more disperse than expected, diluted by shops, restaurants, street stands and many of the elements we’d seen in other Vietnamese towns.  We enjoyed visiting several historic and scenic places -- they were just fewer and farther between than anticipated.  

We explored the ancient Citadel and Forbidden Purple City, a huge complex of mostly empty buildings of varying periods, some of which had been damaged by war.  (Hue is very close to the DMZ.)  A visit to the Ancient Artifacts museum taught us about the progression of royal families that have lived in the area and illustrated the changes in their  lifestyles over time.

We chartered a dragon boat to travel down the Perfume River and visit the Thien Mu Pagoda.    The boat ride and accompanying breeze were a welcome break from walking through the heat.  However, the boat operator took advantage of having a captive audience and laid out a mobile souvenir shop for us.  She spent most of the trip trying to convince us to buy one of her many trinkets, which were the same as the other souvenirs we’d seen in most every market and street stall in Vietnam.  The souvenir hawker did not want to take “no” for an answer and was very persistent.  On the way to the pagoda, we felt guilty and tried to feign interest to be nice.  On the way back we were more firm, which seemed to work but clearly irritated her.  While we have encountered street vendors in all three countries so far -- Thailand, Laos and Vietnam -- the vendors in Vietnam have been by far the most aggressive.  

Our hotel in Hue was particularly interesting.  It’s simultaneously a 4-star hotel and a vocational school run by the Vietnamese government.  The staff of the hotel consist of instructors and students completing internships in front desk reception, culinary preparation, food service, and other areas of tourism and hospitality.  At any given time, there were multiple staff in each area of the hotel eager to help, whether serving our welcome drink or holding the door as we entered the breakfast room in the morning.  The favorite part of our stay was the small package of tea cookies tied with a red ribbon and fortune statement that was left on each of our pillows during turn-down service each evening.  

I was interested in the educational approach and the curriculum, so on our last morning in Hue I toured the grounds of the tourism school with one of the administrators.  I was surprised to see the simulation classrooms (complete with front desks for reception and computer labs for travel agent training) and learn that students studied tourism and languages for two full years, followed by one year of practicum before earning their degrees.

In the evenings, we walked along the waterfront and observed the locals enjoying cafes and conversations on the street and in the park.  We were surprised to see local wildlife in town -- bats and VERY LARGE rats (gasp!).  We split into teams and challenged each other to a couple of mean games of Jenga in a local restaurant where each table was equipped with a game. One evening we watched the sun set from a panorama rooftop bar. The view of the city, river and surrounding countryside was spectacular!