On June 20th, we hired the hotel car to take us from Hoi An to a hotel in Hue, Binh Minh Sunrise Hotel. The drive took about 4 hours with a couple of stops. We took the old scenic route by the Marble Mountains and through Hai Van Pass instead of the short cut through the new tunnel. The ocean views were magnificent.
After checking into the hotel in Hue, we went out to eat lunch. Some cyclo drivers actually followed us to the restaurant where we were eating lunch (because Sandy said "maybe later") and smoked outside the open air restaurant while we ate. After lunch, we took a cyclo tour around Hue. Hue was the imperial city of Vietnam during the Nguyen dynasty. Our tour took us across the Perfume River and around the fortress walls of the citadel. There were many gardens, street vendors, and city parks along the river and along the fortified wall. The cyclo that Olivia and I were riding needed to make two stops to repair its flat tire so we had occasions to meet some local residents. The kids expressed an interest to join in the kite flying, but we had planned to swim at the Saigon Morin Hotel after lunch so we continued on with that plan. The cyclo tour was especially hot and sweaty which made the swim a real treasure.
After swimming, we ate dinner at the Tropical Garden Restaurant which was also an alfresco dining experience with live traditional music.
After breakfast at the hotel the next morning (June 21st), we rented bicycles for $1 USD each and biked about 4 km to a nearby temple, Thien Mu. The kids rode on the back of our bikes which they complained about a lot until we found an ice cream vendor. There was a man with a pet monkey on a leash (chain) that we visited and pet. We bicycled back into town and ate lunch at Little Italy. The kids loved the Italian food there. I keep trying variations of Vietnamese eggplant in a claypot and theirs had a creamy base.
After packing and showering, we toured the citadel (Ivy tried on clothes fit for an empress) and then bought and flew kites at a park near the wall. We ended our stay in Hue with dinner at a wonderful restaurant named, La Carambole. It is owned by a frenchman and his vietnamese wife and their menu is a blend of those food specialties. Afterwards we took a taxi to our hotel, then the hotel car to the airport to fly to Hanoi. We checked into the Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel late at night on June 21st.
Today (June 22nd) on our first morning in Hanoi, Ivy woke with a headache and fever. She vomited later this morning. I have made a short escape to the business office to send an e-mail to our tour guide for tomorrow to see if we can postpone our tour. Hopefully, the rest of us won't become ill. I couldn't resist posting an update since it has been several days. The kids are watching DVDs on the computer so I still don't have access to photos. This is the first hotel that hasn't had a kids TV channel available and the first day that we would have really appreciated one. Sandy will be pleased since I thought he was crazy for bringing the DVDs along.
FYI: Usually, I am unable to access Facebook. I understand that social networking sites are blocked here in Vietnam, but once in a while I am able to access it. I think someone else is unblocking the connection and then it gets re-blocked.
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