Day 10

The bed and pillows in this hotel are wonderful, as we both had the best sleep we’ve had in a while. Equally impressive is the breakfast buffet offered, which is about twice the size of the buffet at the Hanoi hotel. One thing that has been consistent though is the Vietnamese service - always polite and very happy to please.

We headed off just after 8am towards the Imperial City, which is the jewel in the crown of Huế. My intentions in starting early were mainly to beat the crowds and the heat, and whilst we did beat the crowds, the heat was still oppressive! The Imperial City was huge, with the options of seeing the tombs of various emperors, as well as (this tempted me) getting photographed on the Royal throne in regal garb and flanked by two servants!

There was plenty to see such as gardens and temples but there was also a collection of rabbits which we were unsure of the purpose of! We were also both mobbed by groups of school children, asking us to write our names on a piece on paper and where we were from (for a school project?). The Imperial City seemed to have a special significance to the Vietnamese people too as some people came adorned in formal attire.

After leaving the City, we caught a taxi back to our hotel to cool down, as the heat was really stifling. Since we had enjoyed Walking Street so much last night, we went back there for lunch. The atmosphere was not as good, mainly because more than half the businesses are closed during the day, but we did settle on an Indian restaurant. It did not disappoint - both the food options we ordered were tasty and absolutely huge, and I felt guilty not eating it all.

Ted was keen to get another foot massage so we found a place nearby which we weren’t too thrilled with - it was like being massaged by some disinterested millennials who sent text messages in the middle of the massage! We should have read the reviews first as a lot of people wrote similar sentiments about the place. But a bad massage is still cheaper than back home!

We relaxed back in the room, whilst wondering and hoping if the laundry we’d dropped off yesterday was going to get delivered at 6pm as promised! Rather than sit around wondering what to do if it didn’t arrive, I suggested we grab some dinner back at Walking Street. After the huge lunch we'd had, I was barely hungry so I just had a vegetarian pancake at a westernised restaurant, which was not as healthy as I'd expected, since it was basically just tofu covered in a deep fried batter!

At Walking Street, there were several women selling Vietnamese greeting cards which we had always politely declined, but after seeing one lady drop her whole tray of cards, I felt bad and bought one from her (they are only about $1 each). When we returned to our hotel, lo and behold, there was our laundry waiting for us, although the receptionist did ask if we had taken a bathrobe from the room as apparently one was missing (we didn’t!).

Tomorrow we are back on the train for the trip to Hội An, via Da Nang, but fortunately it’s a day train this time not an overnight one! We have loved Huế
and can definitely see why it was recommended to us.Read more