Time to Relax, then off to Hue

We got up late and had a leisurely breakfast; I decided to have a hot stone massage before the long drive to Hue. I had to choose a base oil and another which would be more therapeutic, the pressure and areas to concentrate on; I chose olive oil for moisturising and something unpronounceable for tension and pain. My masseuse was called Sue and she was tiny, but incredibly strong. To say it was enjoyable would be lying, it was incredibly painful but hearing the number of cracks coming from my back, I’m sure it was good for me!

After the massage, I quickly packed my suitcase and we got ready to leave our luxurious hotel; I was devastated, although our next hotel was 5 star and called “Indochine Palace” so I’m thinking it can’t be all that bad!

Sala and Mr Long picked us up at noon; we had a two and a half hour drive to Hue, pronounced “whey”. It was a beautiful 24 degrees, Sala had a jumper and a coat on as she was cold! Our first stop was the Museum of Cham Sculpture in Da Nang, where we had flown into a few nights before. The museum houses the worlds largest ollection of Cham Sculpture; the Chams were probably colonists, originally from Indonesia and Malaysia, who lived in what is now central and southern Vietnam. They were an Indic civilisation who worshiped mostly Hindu, Buddhist and indigenous cults; they were in almost constant conflict from various groups including Vietnam (Original Vietnam, now known as the North) and the Khmer of Cambodia. It was to Vietnam that they finally lost their independence; from what was once a flourishing, and very intelligent civilisation, very few Cham people remain and they are generally poor living along the Mekong Delta. The museum was really interesting and situated just opposite the Dragon bridge in Da Nang; we took a couple of photos before heading off on our drive over the mountains, or Hai Van Pass (Pass of Ocean Clouds).

It was a stunning drive; we stopped on the way up to take some photographs. As we came down the other side of the mountains, we stopped at a picturesque fishing village called Lang Co. We had a coffee overlooking the water; it was beautiful although the blonde hair problem struck again. A lovely little girl, who spoke perfect English, wanted a picture and was very touchy-feely! 

We stopped for about 30 minutes before continuing the drive to Hue. It took an hour to get to our hotel which looked a bit like the White House, but a French colonial version, with over 10 floors! We settled into our room with balcony, no upgrade this time but the usual rose petals and swans were laid out on the bed. Sala had written down 8 dishes for us to try while we were in Hue and recommended 2 places to go, one for lovers and the other for honeymooners; we chose the former as it was closer!

We were starving and I was getting grumpy so we headed straight out to La Carambole Bistro; we had a map and a business card and were just to point and ask someone if we got lost. Thank goodness for google maps! We barely made it; it was only thanks to a flower seller who we followed across a 6 lane road! The area where the restaurant was situated was a bit like the grassmarket in Edinburgh but full of neon lights.

We got to the restaurant and sat outside, bemused by the traffic beeping and whizzing past us. I had an A4 sheet with all the dishes so decided just to point and see what we got...we had bún bò Hue (a noodle soup with pork, crackling and vegetables), green mango salad with shrips, fried morning glory with garlic (water spinach), grilled beef in lotus leaves and caramel shrimp. The food was great and we were stuffed, all for £22 including two beers! 

There was loads of bars playing music at eardrum bursting volume so we decided to try one; it was called Mr Tao’s where we sat out on the pavement, on a stool which was literally a lot off the ground and Iain ordered a litre of Tiger beer for 65,000 Dong, £2.14. We finished the beer and went on a bit of a shopping spree before finding another bar which had live music. It was called Hé Army Bar and the Army band were playing instrumentals of various famous songs; we sat near the street so we could people-watch and enjoy the music. The band finished around 11pm so we wandered back to the hotel, a little worse for wear!