07.03 Day 52 Hue

Thursday 7th March - Hue (Day 52)

A grey day is a welcome respite after the extreme heat of yesterday, though if we’re being picky perhaps it’s too grey. Blue skies and 24 degrees is all I ask for when staying with neither a pool or a beach close by. Kate hunts down some egg banh mi’s and some plain rolls for the simple pleasure of fresh bread and unsalted butter bought at the supermarket - I could be in France. 

We stride out of the second floor apartment, the kids disappointed we turn right towards the river rather than left to the soft play zone of yesterday afternoon. Along the wide boulevarde until reaching the river lined with dragon boats, not the paddling racing sort, but enclosed long boats with a dragons head on the front - the owners keen to take us either on a tour or just across the river, but we stick with our walk up and over the long bridge, the now slight drizzle offset by a pair of balloons the kids were handed by some cycle drivers. 

On the north bank of the river there is the citadel, a walled town, the former capital of Vietnam from approx. 1800-1845. Inside that is a walled Imperial Palace and inside more walls the Forbidden Purple City. I’d read that most (100ish) of the 120 buildings in the Imperial Palace had been destroyed in the Vietnam / American (depending on who’s reading this) War. 

Walking around a palace spread over a large space is a challenge bringing it to life for the kids, but if 5/6ths of the buildings aren’t even there, that’s a challenge too far. However, the wall and moat of the outer citadel along with three entrance gates we walk through are very impressive in scale. 

Oversized objects do appeal to the kids and this citadel is that - square shaped, 2km on each side, a mostly 25 metres wide and imperious arched gateways keep us all interested. Plus the fact that most tourists disappear inside the Palace leaving us almost solo to walk along the wide turrets, complete with cannons still pointing outwards make it a well worth venture. 

We pause at a small cafe alongside the outer moat for salted coffee (me) and chocolate crepes (everyone else). From here it's a 10 minute walk to Dong Ba Market - which although it has a central building catering the market stalls, like many other markets has an overflow of vendors lining the road outside. There’s plenty of bright flowers on display (pretty), a large mound of watermelons (different) and more cloves of garlic than I’ve ever seen (bad breath). 

Inside the market it quickly almost becomes claustrophobic with stalls nudging up against each other and out onto the narrow pathways. The highlight, as such, is a group of middle aged women, microphones in hand, looking at a laptop screen, belting out some karaoke - it’s not even midday. 

We’d hoped to find some early lunch but the few options available look like too much of a gamble so instead we cross the road to a corner cafe bustling with customers perched on plastic stools. Kate and I try some of the noodles but end up leaving about half - not our best choice - so instead we seek sanctuary in a bakery a few doors down with some pork empanadas and cakes. Typically, as we eat them walking home, Seb is already asking to return tomorrow for more of those tasty morsels. 

Back at the apartment, schoolwork underway for the afternoon I seek out a post office. A letter and postcard cost 72k and 30k vnd respectively, which is fine - but if you are going to charge that then I think you need a higher denomination of stamp than 6k vnd. Eight large stamps on the back of the envelope and four on the front looks daft. I hope you are reading this Vietnam Post. 

For dinner we walk through the main tourist area to Maison Trang - as Sienna points out, a restaurant keen to push their online reviews. Like Cosy last night it’s filled only with tourists and serves up ‘local’ food almost as good. The threatening rain is moving up from drizzle, so we use that to justify a stop on the way home to an ice-cream cafe. The kids (and I) always enjoy an ice-cream (Kate’s lack of Sensodyne toothpaste - currently sharing colgate to save packing space, limits her ice-cream intake) and the young family owners are keen to talk to us. And then can’t get rid of us when Seb and Sienna disappear behind the counter to stroke cats they spot through the glass ice-cream counters. That interaction is enough to get them through the rain to home and to bed.