Travel to Hue, Vietnam - Hue Imperial City and Trishaw (Monday, November 14th, 2016)

The distance from Hoi An to Hue is about 90 miles.  So as we rode along in the bus today, Khanh gave us a lot of information about the citadel which we will be touring later today and the Vietnam war. We also made a few stops along the way, the first was at a marble workshop that was located right next to Marble Mountain.  Marble workers in Vietnam are considered equal to the quality of the European sculptors but their pieces are about half the price.  Marble is petrified coral, so anywhere that marble is found was under an ocean at some point in time.

In the City of Da Nang, on our way to Hue, we crossed the Dragon Bridge and stopped for  a few pictures.

In 1858 Da Nang was the first city that France took over during the French invasion.  This is because Da Nang has the biggest sea port in Vietnam.

We stopped in the Da Nang bay to take some pictures of the bamboo water baskets.  The bamboo for these baskets has to be 3-4 years old to be strong enough to make the baskets.  The baskets are woven as tightly as possible and then sealed with a layer of cow or water buffalo manure.  Once the manure is dry, they are sealed with tar or tree resin.  Black baskets were sealed with tar, tan baskets were sealed with resin.  These boats will last 3 - 5 years.  Squid is the most abundant seafood in Da Nang Bay.  The bay is only 30 feet deep.

Shortly after leaving Da Nang, we headed into the mountains north of Da Nang.  All traffic used to have to go over a mountain pass, but around the year 2000, a big typhoon hit Da Nang and destroyed many parts of the mountains pass and left people stranded for several weeks.  Motorbikes, large trucks and hazardous materials vehicles are not allowed in the tunnel.  Motorbikes are loaded into small trucks and driven through the tunnel and then unloaded again on the other end.  Large trucks and haz mat vehicles still have to use the mountain pass.  The mountain tunnel is on highway 1 and is about 4 miles long.  Highway 1 was built about 100 years ago and runs from the north of Vietnam to the south, about 1400 - 1500 miles long.

As we emerged from the tunnel, we had the most beautiful view.

We pulled over at a roadside restaurant and convenience stop that over looked the bay.  While Steve grabbed us some Vietnamese coffees, I took some pictures of this local fisherman. I didn't realized it at first, but as he was rowing in, he was also bailing water out of his leaky boat.

When we got into Hue, we stopped at a little restaurant for lunch called Banana Mango.

And then off to our tour of the Citadel in Hue.

The Citadel was the King's palace, made up of three rings like a target.  The outer ring as where the commoners lived, the second ring was where the Mandarins (scholars or advisers) lived, and the inner ring, known as the Forbidden City, was for the King, his concubines (mistresses) and his eunachs (personal servants) only.

A large moat surrounds the two inner circles of the Citadel.

When we finished our tour of the Citadel, we had these cute little electric vans waiting to take us back to our bus.  It was really nice to have a ride as it was really hot and humid out!

And then it was time to check in at the Mondial Hotel Hue, our home away from home for the next few days.

Our evening outing was a cyclo ride to our dinner in the Citadel where we enjoyed a multi-course feast fit for a king.  

We weren't sure we were going to like the cyclo ride, it seemed a bit commercial, but we didn't want to miss this dinner, so we signed up and to our surprise, although a bit commercial, it was a very relaxing ride through the city with the cool evening breeze in our faces.  My only complaint is that by the time we reached dinner I was just a little too relaxed!

And we're off!

We encountered some pretty crazy traffic on this bridge, but  we just went slow and steady and they seemed to make their way around us.

Part of our Cyclo ride took us through the night market, which is always and experience no matter what your mode of transportation.

Here we are riding through the outer gate of the Citadel.

We made it safe and sound to our dinner restaurant after more then an hour of ride around Hue in the cyclo!

All of the food was so beautifully presented!  It was a shame to eat it, but eat it we did!

Yes, these little pepper looking things were even edible.  They were our dessert.

I was a little sad thinking about all of the meals I have prepared in my life, and how none of them ever look even remotely like the dinner we enjoyed tonight.  But I guess that's why no one has ever asked me to cook for royalty.  Maybe that will be in my next life!