Hoi An to Hue

On the road to Hue

On Wednesday the 20th we traveled from Hoi An to Hue with stops in between. First in Da Nang where we visit the Cham Museum which houses the largest display of Cham art anywhere in the world. After departure from Da Nang  make a stop at what was called China Beach during the Vietnam war where solders had R&R and see a group of local fisherman using basket boats to set their nets and haul in the day's catch.  We pass through the Truong Son Mountains, the former border between North Vietnam and South Vietnan. This takes us through the Hai Van Pass, or literally Pass of the Ocean Clouds, which offered spectacular scenery, at the summit stop for a break and the fog comes rolling in.  We decend to the other side of the mountain and have lunch at an ocean front hotel. We continue to Hue stopping at a small fishing village.

Fishing village

Hue was the capital of the old Nguyen dynasty and traditionally one of Vietnam's cultural, religious and educational centers. Before getting to the hotel we stop at the tomb for the emperor Khai Dinh, which involves climbing 5 flights of stairs to the tomb which resembles a castle on the Rhine.It took 11 years to complete and was finished in 1931.

This evening we had a special, private dinner in a beautiful, restored royal home in Hue. The home is now owned by descendants of the Hue royal family. We had a discussion by the patriarch of the family who is a retired history professor who has been involved in many of the resorations of the Hue Landmarks destroyed by the French and the Americans.