Once we returned to shore from Ha Long Bay, our next destination was Hue. To get there, we flew from Hanoi, in Northern Vietnam, to Hue, in Central Vietnam. It was a nice change to leave the bustle of Hanoi for the slightly less bustling Hue It was also a fantastic break in car sickness to fly instead of drive.
Our first interaction – we were scammed by the airport shuttle that was to take us to our hotel. Vietnamese culture is to avoid answering no, but it is kind of inconvenient when the question is, “Will you take us to the hotel?” and the shuttle driver answers, “Yes.” but really means, I’ll take you to somewhere near the hotel and then say get out, and leave you to figure out the rest of the way. The rest of the passengers with us were NOT impressed.
Unfortunately, the names of the hotels are confusing , eg: Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn 1, Holiday Inn 2, Original Holiday Inn. And #1 and #3 might be across the street from each other, while the original is around the corner. You get the picture. We did find the place, but what a rainy nightmare that was.Hue is a beautiful city. We visited several temples, tombs and the Imperial City. We also did a short river boat trip on the Perfume River at the end of the day.
One fantastic site for the day – the MASSIVE Buddha statue that was visible from Tu Duc Tomb. We never did get to visit it, but He fits right in with Cristo Blanco and Our Lady of the Rockies.