Hot Time in Hue

I realize this blog is now out of chronological order, but we wanted to add a few posts about the last days of the trip.

Hue was unbelievably hot. I know we've been complaining about the weather since the beginning of the trip, but Hue was the worst. The temperature hit 105 degrees with 95% humidity. Even Viet, one of our Vietnamese guides, came up to us and said it was "damn hot."

The Pilgrimage Resort in Hue was another hidden gem. The staff needs to improve their English language skills and a few more of the common areas need air conditioning, but the pool was a god-send. With the temperature over 100 degrees, we have no idea how they get the water in the pool chilled to about 80. It felt great.

The first day in Hue we got on the bikes again and really saw the countryside. It was a good thing that Jordan brought along his biking yamulke (see photo). It kept his balding head from getting tan racing stripes due to the sun burning his scalp thru the bike helmet.

We started outside of town and pedalled back towards town, ending at the famous Thien Mu Pagoda. It's a tall octagonal tower and supposedly the icon of Hue. We had a lunch cruise on the Perfume River and then visited the stunning Minh Mang tomb (another Vietnamese emperor) that has been restored by donations from American Express.

For dinner, we had a most unusual and fascinating experience. We ate at the house of a descendent of one of the mandarins of the Vietnamese emperor's court. His house was a traditional Hue garden residence, consisting of multiple wooden buildings. Our host had painstakingly restored the house over a five year period by locating old antiques, screens, wood panels, bricks, etc. at salvage yards and from destroyed homes. He personally rebuilt the house. It was a real treat to see this house and eat dinner there.

Hue was a major battle area during the Tet offensive and the city suffered a lot of damage. The Viet Cong actually occupied the city for 28 days before the U.S. retook it.

The second day in Hue was our last bicycle ride and one of the best. We pedalled about 30 km across the countryside, making unplanned stops at a school, a bakery, a small village, and a family reunion. In the village, Caren had her palm read by an old woman fortune teller. (She said that Caren will live to a very old age.) The ride culminated with a section thru the old citadel of Hue, through the city streets and ended at our hotel.

In the afternoon, we toured the old imperial city of Hue before flying off to Hanoi, the capitol.