Hue

We arrive in the old emperor’s city by train in the early afternoon and take a taxi to our hotel. The place is neat and cozy, the staff super-friendly and it costs us about USD 30 per night.

An obligatory visit for me, we are going to the town’s market. It is huge and overrun by merchants, tourists and locals alike. As always on vacation the candy I need every day is more exotic than the usual chocolate bar and this time I discover fried banana in coconut dough. Yummy!

Compared to other Vietnamese and Cambodian markets so far there are more household goods, plastic, but the wide variety of fruits and vegetables is equally impressive.

Suddenly we hear music and Boney M.’s “By the Rivers of Babylon” rings out throughout the market. Somewhat abstract, yet funny, we are attracted to the music’s source and realize it had to do with Women’s Day, a kind of Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. Women do not only get small, in my opinion a bit tacky, presents or flowers. They have even build a stage for tonight’s entertainment and the sound test was going on.

Typical for Vietnam cook shops pop up everywhere, so we find a spot not far from the stage to watch what was happening and sat down on the tiniest of little plastic stools. As always the street food tastes fabulously, consisting of meat of your choice on meat on skewers, veggies and herbs, fish sauce and rice paper to wrap everything.

I also become a huge fan of the slimy dessert that takes a little getting used to and is made of beans, coconut and other things I haven’t recognized.

// where we stayed at in Hue: Orchid Hotel

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