DID: Into town for brunch/pho and shopping along the canal market. Bought Rhys a Hue-style motorcycle helmet (looks more like a baseball batting helmet, and has enough padding to probably protect him if takes a spill onto the balcony from the big wheel trike.) Loads of merchants in conical hats carrying baskets suspended from a pole over their shoulders. Does not look comfortable.
Back to the hotel for an afternoon swim and I booked myself in for a mani/pedi at the hotel spa. Confirmed that indeed all the good nail technicians have been exported. Actually I shouldn’t say that, she did a great job with the shape and the polish. But there was nothing special about the service (she didn’t even put topcoat on the polish so it was scratched within minutes) – surprising especially because it must have been the most expensive mani/pedi in Vietnam ($50 – even London is cheaper than that). The most notable thing about it was that clipped my nails. Yes my nails were long enough to warrant clipping. Mom, rejoice.
Headed over to the Citadel (Hue’s Forbidden City) after dinner, concierge said it would be lit up at night. Um, no. Well yes, there were lights on, but none of them were directed at the buildings. So that was a bust but on the way we saw a childrens’ amusement park so we had the taxi bring us back there. Cheap thrills – rides ranged from 15-25 cents so GnR got to ride everything they wanted for a total of $3 on the night. Plus the rides were mega-long – to the point where Gavin was kind of getting bored about halfway through. Best ride in my mind was the free child-sized ‘bucket bikes’ – bikes with a bucket seat attached to the front wheel for a passenger, similar to ones all over town carting tourists. I’d love to have one of these for our balcony!! But if you asked the locals, they’d probably say that GnR were the main attraction. They were slightly more covert in getting photos – GnR would get on a ride that was empty, then other people would run up to put their kids in the cars right next to them.
Stayed until closing at 9.45, then headed back to the hotel to pack up. Three days in Hue is definitely enough to soak in the city, of course we could have done more with more time but I felt ok to leave.
ATE: Breakfast, pastries from La Boulangerie Francaise. (www.laboulangeriefrancaise.org). Day old and showing their age. But shop works on the Jamie Oliver principal (employs underprivileged kids to give them vocational skills) so we’ll just call it a donation rather than a meal!
Brunch, pho at Pho Yen. Jason said it was good but still not at all like he’s had at home. Rhys enjoyed petting the baby chicks and crowing at the rooster at the back of the restaurant.
Snack baguettes at Hung Phat Bakery. Nice and crispy crust, dough a bit buttery.
Iced coffees at Café Hoang Pho. We were hoping for another round of pho but they weren’t serving food at 2pm.
Dinner at Quan So. What a find! Nothing special, two floors of outdoor seating on plastic chairs amidst giant poster-sized photos of the food and puke-green décor – but the food was just right. Cold rice noodles with grilled pork, fresh meat spring rolls in rice noodle wrapper, beef and egg noodles in XO sauce (we ordered a second plate of these and contemplated a third), pork skewers with DIY rice paper wraps and greens, crispy pancake with shrimp, chicken and beansprouts. Hung Beer on tap.
SLEPT: Fable tonight was a repeat (the mosquito one). Boo. Internet connection at the hotel stinks, even in the hotel’s internet lounge. Hope it’s not the same all over Vietnam!
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