Hue

Hue really surprised me. I arrived and it looked beautiful, what unfolded before me. The promenade along the river looked stunning, and I walked to my hostel where I wanted to stay for a night before continuing my journey. That evening, I sat in a kind of park by the shore and watched people cruising around on glowing scooters and inline skates, having fun. A little girl kept coming over to me and tried to communicate, so we engaged in incredibly sweet, awkward communication with gestures and expressions until she picked a flower and gave it to me. It was such a sweet experience!

On my way back, I wanted to try a dessert and was completely overwhelmed on how to do that, so I stood in front of the stall for a while just watching the ladies work. Eventually, a young woman asked if I had already ordered, and I explained my inability to do so, so she clarified everything for me and placed an order, so sweet! The desserts were super delicious, like basically everything I try :)

Ready to go to sleep, I walked back and, lo and behold, ran into David, whom I met in Hoi An, and Tali, who was in the same room as me in Da Nang, along with a third person, Edgar, whom I would see again later in Ninh Binh. We went for a drink, and I decided to stay an extra night at the accommodation of the other two, which they were very pleased with!

The next day, I rented a bicycle and rode through Hue, a bit outside to a mausoleum of one of the rulers of the Nguyen Dynasty. Along the way, you find graves, which captures the vibe of this place quite well.

But what I enjoyed the most was the food in Hue, it is very cheap and very delicious with fantastic vegan spots. Someone mentioned that the food is so good and diverse because this is the city of the former rulers 🤷‍♀️

The accommodation was really beautiful; I then went to the Imperial City, the heart of Hue, and was ready to travel on to Ninh Binh.