We didn’t know exactly where we were going when we stepped off the train in Hue.
I did know that we should head straight into town, which was just a few minutes away, and find ourselves a place to stay. After dodging a few taxi/moto drivers, we paused to adjust our backpacks. That’s when a couple of young guys approached us with a card, encouraging us to come and check out their hotel. “No obligation,” they reiterated several times. Hardened from a month of travel, I was sceptical. Nothing is free!
But for all their exhortations to “come and have a look” at their cheap, centrally located hotel, complete with free transfer, T made the call to go along with them. Into their minivan we went, and surprisingly, it paid off.
At the Binh Duong 2, we stayed in style. For US$12, we enjoyed a huge room opening onto a private balcony with table and seats, a king bed, a bathtub, air con and ceiling fan, even crown moulding. Pretty solid.
As for Hue itself? It was a little dull, to be honest. We decided to skip the DMZ stuff and just check out the Imperial City and a tomb (Tu Duc). There were walks along the riverside, rides over the bridge and around town, a brief beach excursion, a morning at the local shopping centre and some confusion around the parking protocol.
Along with a couple of local Couchsurfers (who backed up our view that the Citadel etc were somewhat underwhelming), I also got to sample amazing local coffee and fresh fruit smoothies, and wander around a bucolic temple hidden away amongst a bush setting, where we spotted a group of monks halfway through a game of soccer.
All in all, a good place to wind down and take it easy.
After a while, you think everyone is hustling you! It is nice to know not every one does.
Beautiful photos! I am also jealous of the coffee you had – I love Vietnamese coffee.
On a trip such as yours (trying to see as much as you can in a limited time-frame) its nice to take a day off and relax. Quietly enjoy where you are in that moment 🙂 Sounds lovely to me! Loving the $12US hotel that was nicer than many you’d get in North American for 10x that price, lucky find!
We also stumbled over a great hotel in hue, however agree that the city itself its actually quite dull!
Wow, I’ve had similar leads but never ones that have paid off in travel like yours did. Can’t wait to hear about your next adventures.