Hue – Travels with Ali

This week Donna from Windkisses is hosting Lens-Artists Challenge with the theme “Over the Hill”. This phrase is most used for people getting on in life but it can also mean what is over the hill. Is the climb worth it you think standing at the bottom, and so you start to climb and often when you reach the top there is another hill, tantalising you to keep on climbing.

I searched my archives for hills climbed and for hills driven up, the views are incredible and worth every step from my aching legs.

**Coalseam Conservation Park, Western Australia**

**Loch Lomand and The Trossachs National Park, Scotland**

The view is always better at the top, but I think I’m over the hill for getting over the hill!

Hue is the ancient capital of Vietnam and is a city in Central Vietnam, and sits on the banks of the Perfume River. There are many historical monuments here and we hope to visit a few in the three days we will spend here. Australian passport holders do require a visa which is easily obtainable online. Vietnamese currency is the dong.

We flew into Da Nang to meet our driver Alex, who I had organised online through Hue Private Cars. It was a great service, so nice to be met at the airport instead of waiting in line for a taxi and be bombarded by different companies trying to offer you a taxi. I had agreed on a route beforehand to Hue which was over the Hai Van Pass and not through the tunnel. The day was perfect for travelling the three hour drive to our hotel in Hue. There was breathtaking scenery on the way and we stopped at a very tranquil place for lunch just past Lang Co Beach.

Hai Van Pass

View from the top

Lang Co Beach

Waiting for a La Rue

Arriving at our hotel at around 4pm we checked in to a fantastically large room. We were staying at the Saigon Moirin. This hotel dated back to 1901 and the French owners have tried very hard to keep it in line with its origins. Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard stayed here on their honeymoon and every night we were treated to the film “The Dictator” on the screen in the garden!

Views from our room and the hotel:

corridor to our room

Busy Bridge

Saigon Moirin Garden

From our balcony

Enjoying a cocktail

Sunset from the balcony

The road in front of our hotel was extremely busy, with the traffic lights sometimes working sometimes not. So Anthony just grabbed my hand and off we went, dodging motor cycles to get to the otherside. How the motor cycles miss each other is a mystery!

Dinner that night was at a Vietnamese restaurant called Elegant Vietnam which I had read good reviews about. We were not disappointed especially with the good wine list! The service was fantastic and food excellent.

For the next two days I used the hotel concierge to organise some trips for us as they had such interesting trips on offer. On the first day we were driven to some very famous tombs and the hidden bridge. To begin with we went first to the hidden bridge – Thanh Toan. It was incredibly hot!

Elegant Vietnamese Gentleman

Baby chicks

Plowing the fields

Red Tiled Thanh Toan Bridge

Hue, Vietnam

We then went to Khai Dinh Tombs and Minh Mang Tombs. Below are some shots from Khai Dinh. Beautiful ceramic tile decoration.

Dinner that night was at Les Jardines de la Carambole just across the river. What a fantastic restaurant and great service too. It is off the beaten track so you need to “google map” it. Delicious food and good wine.