A Day in Hue
Trip dates: December 22, 2016 - December 23, 2016
We made our way to central Vietnam to the city of Hue (pronounced hway). We flew VietJet Airways, which wasn't too bad all in all for a budget airline. Eric learned firsthand about how the concept of personal space doesn't exist in Asia, as the guy sitting next to him was all up in his leg space the whole flight (skin to skin touching!).
skin on skin contact! wtf
Our flight from HCMC to Hue was a bit delayed, so we ended up getting to Hue mid-afternoon. We were supposed to have landed midday and had planned to visit the Citadel (ancient imperial city) and some tombs, but we ended up really having only time to visit one site. We decided to go to a tomb instead of the Citadel since we had seen so many ruins and temples the past few weeks, even though the Citadel is kind of the main attraction in Hue. Oh wells, maybe next time.
The tomb that we visited was that of Khai Dinh. He wasn't really all that special but his tomb is one of the most elaborate, so much so that taxes were increased by 30% in order to build it! This guy, so baller. He became emperor in 1916, started building his tomb in 1920, and died in 1925. His tomb wasn't completed until 1931, took longer to build than he reigned! Anyways, the pictures speak for themselves - look how lavish it is!
That night, we explored the backpacker area of Hue and tried some local Hue cuisine. Hue is a really small city, especially compared to HCMC, and it felt way more authentic. The architecture was a mix of French influence and eastern Asian influence, all intermingled together very fluidly. It felt to me like the city and the people all seemed more integrated as well, past and present, eastern and western cultures. We didn't get to see a lot of Hue but I'd be keen to return for another visit if/when we're back in Vietnam.
The next and only full day that we had in Hue we spent on a DMZ tour. Similar to Korea, Vietnam was broken into North and South Vietnam as part of an armistice agreement. The DMZ was along the 17th parallel, just a bit north of Hue. Vietnam has since won the war and the country's been reunited as one (obviously) but there are some sites and relics remaining that depict life in and around the DMZ during what Vietnamese call the American War.
We visited quite a few sites: frame of church, rockpile, highway of horror, Khe Sanh combat base, Ho Chi Minh trail, Ben Hai river and Hien Luong bridge, Doc Mieu firebase and military cemetary, and the Vinh Moc tunnels. It was a really, really long day (like 12 hours) and there isn't much to see at many of the sites. The Vinh Moc tunnels was definitely the highlight; these are different from the Cu Chi tunnels near HCMC since these were used more for villagers than transport of troops. The tunnels had 3-4 levels and families lived in these tunnels during the war; there were even babies born in these tunnels! Aside from the Vinh Moc tunnels, the rest of the tour is really more about getting some different perspectives on the war and so your experience is really dependent on how good your guide is.
We did our tour through Mr. Trung (you can find him on TripAdvisor, highly rated) but we didn't have him as our guide. Instead, we had Mr. Lac who was a very passionate but very opinionated guide. Mr. Lac is a southern Vietnamese who's father had fought on the losing side in the war. He is very pro-America, anti-Communist, and his commentary throughout the day strongly reflected his opinions. It was interesting to hear the perspectives of someone who is so passionate, but after a while, it was a bit too much. His commentary was very biased at times, so much so that we didn't want to ask questions because we knew what his response would be.
We're glad that we did the tour, as we learned a lot and the Vinh Moc tunnels were interesting to see (especially in comparison to the more-commercialized Cu Chi tunnels), but it was a very draining day and not one that we would want to relive!
We left Hue that night, taking an overnight train to Hanoi. We purchased the 2nd-class soft sleeper, which means you're in a cabin with 4 beds. We shared our room with a mom and her kid, and a random other guy that left early in the morning. The beds are pretty small but we fit perfectly in them. The train shook a good deal and the kid babbled away all morning, so we didn't get the best night's sleep. But overall, the train was clean-ish and the bathroom wasn't as disgusting as I imagined so it was a good experience. I wouldn't recommend it over flying, especially since cost is almost similar and the train takes way longer, but it's a good alternative if you just want to try something different.
