Days 90-91: 2/16-17/24 - Hoi An (pt. 2) and traveling to Hue
2/16
If you found this, go back, it aint ready yet
On our short (15 minute) walk into town to get some salt coffee, we were hailed down by no less than 3 tailors (all of whom had the best family tailors in Hoi An and would love to help us) and 2 drivers (yelling all the sights they would take us to). Making it past them, we bought some more tickets for the old town and explore the Tran family chapel, the Hoi An museum, and the museum of trade ceramics. For lunch we returned to Chickpea Eatery for cau lau khong gian xanh and a cheese plate. As we left, the owner spent some time chatting with us and shared some recommendations for Hue and Hanoi.
After avoiding the peak heat in our hotel room, we returned to the old town for the folk culture museum, an amuse bouche at Banh Mi Chay again, and dinner at vvegan. The Sa Huynh culture museum closed out our evening and our stay in Hoi An.
Musical instruments from the Sa Huynh culture museum.
2/17
In the morning we packed and had a taxi ride to Da Nang to catch the train to Hue. We stopped along the way at the “marble mountain”. Half historical site: with temples carved into the caves and built on the buttresses of a sheer cliff face, and half tourist trap: with a free tour of marble studio (exit through the gift shop) as well as a variety of smaller vendors with tchotchkes and bottled water, was an interesting visit on the ride. On the descent down the mountain, we both were very glad to have paid for the elevator ride up.
The train from Da Nang to Hue was beautiful. Views of the sea on the right and lush mountains on the left were stunning for the portion we were awake for (it is nearly impossible for both of us to stay awake on trains, buses, or planes anymore). Upon arrival, we would meet one of the many characters of our trip, as we have come to call them. Tommy Bao would be our taxi ride to our hotel and would be our tour guide in two days. If he is to be believed (and I am inclined to do so), he was previously an executive for the Hue Beer company who changed careers both because he found work in tourism more fulfilling and he wanted some distance from alcohol. More about him on the 19th.
Our evening consisted of wandering the neighborhood around our hotel, and getting dinner.
A tiny fraction of the marble statues on display!
Elevator up to marble mountain featuring multi-tier pagoda.
Pictures from moving vehicles are hard, but the mountains from the train were gorgeous.
Being the imperial capital for so long, Hue has a variety of culinary dishes to its name (from trying to impress emperors and dignitaries with new dishes). This unique looking dish is called Banh Loc Goi and features shrimp or other meat inside tapioca dumplings steamed in banana leaves.