A bit before Christmas and indeed before the Vietnameses New Year Festival ("Tet", 27 Januray 2009), we took a couple of days of leave and head towards Central Vietnam, Hoi An first, and Hue then.
1st day was a really nice day, we rented a motorbike to go around, along the beach and in between rice fields. 2 following days were very rainy and windy, hence we were kind of stuck at the Victoria Resort, in the comfort of the Suite ;) We still took our chance the last time and visited the ancient town of Hoi An, which is less and less attractive from a tourist point of view (more and more mendicity, streets are dirtier than a few years ago, etc.)
From Hoi An, we took a bloody bus, with beds, and after about 4 hours of backache, we arrived in Hue and check-in our hotel : the Orchid (which I review on tripadvisor). I was so glad to rent a motorbike shortly after we arrived, as the stubbornness of the "cyclos" is impressive... and indeed annoying.
Hue was actually the main point of the whole trip, as both of us never went there. We mainly visited the Thu Duc Mausoleum and the Old Citadel. Thu Duc was very pleasant and interesting. The Citadel, supposedly a must-see for tourists in Vietnam is quite pointless.
I'll post a review on TripAdvisor about these two sites shortly. Check out this page.
On the last night in Hue, we gave back the rented motorbike, but not before taking some night pictures of the Hue Bridge (and buying a bunch of shit stuff for Julie's friends). We also tried some fried food along the river in the evening, don't do it, it is a scam, and awfully don't worth it.
Bad, I mean real bad, weather turned out to be a positive point of the trip. Back in Ho Chi Minh City, you don't have to be Nostradamus to know tomorrow's weather : it never changes. So freshness was really welcomed and all in all, we had a great 6 days break.
My rating : 37/50 (Good)
7/10 for the scenario
6/10 for the visuals
7/10 for the music
9/10 for the acting
8/10 for the relevance
