Hue
About an hour flight south from Hanoi is Hue. We stayed in a very lovely homestay guest house, Hue Riverside Villa. The staff were very friendly and like most Vietnamese were feeders. Whenever we returned to the Villa we were given fruit or dessert. The rooms were very spacious and immaculately clean.
We arrived in the morning so spent the afternoon exploring Hue’s sights. We visited a small war museum that housed some left behind tanks and helicopters and the Imperial City. Building began in 1804. The Citadel was involved in the conflict between the French and the Viet Minh in 1947. Many buildings were destroyed and the Palace burned. It also became the scene for another large battle during the Vietnam war. Parts have been restored and conserved as it is now UNESCO site of conservation. We wandered about the numerous walled gardens and palace buildings and even found a bonsai tree exhibition.
We were lucky enough to be there for a major festival so in the evening we went exploring the citadel again, took in some fireworks, illuminations followed by a walk about the pedestrianised bar area.
The following day - Hue to Hội An. To travel to our next stop we decided to take a private car which stopped at points of interest along the way. The first stop was to see The Pagoda of the Celestial Lady, a very impressive, buddhist temple next to the river in Hue.
Then we stopped at a place called Elephant Falls, a stream with some plunge pools created with a bit of help of some blue tarp. Behind the name was perhaps the rock feature with a cemented on trunk. Along the edges were pop-up restaurants so we had some lunch by the water.
