Most hotels offered a choice of Western or Vietnamese breakfast food. I alternated between the two. For my last morning I took the bun bo, beef noodle soup. It was quite good.
I didn't buy anything on this trip and I had discarded a pair of worn jeans so I would be returning with lighter carry on luggage.
At the airport I spent the rest of my VND on a few fried spring rolls and a fresh coconut.
At KLIA2, I treated myself to a 6-hour stay in a room and napped before grabbing a light dinner then boarding the overnight flight home.
So my last evening in Central Vietnam. I think I had arranged just the right length for the trip. A bit longer would have been boring, and a bit shorter and I would have to had to leave activities out.
I explored a bit further south this time. There is this feminine looking sculpture on the promenade. I think having a lot of marble to hand gives rise to sculpture.
There are a lot of pigeons in Da Nang. These dovecotes seem to indicate they are cared for. Or do they harvest some for food? I didn't find out.
A relic of old fishing village days I think. Notice the Chinese characters.
This is the Galina Danang Mud Bath and Spa. Rather Las Vegasian design I thought.
Night falls on the beach and lamps illuminate the sand.
Dying light, and the Buddha statue in the distance.
I had a coffee at Cloud Garden again before packing for departure and turning in.
I had booked two food tours, the second one for the morning. For this I had to catch a taxi to the city. Unfortunately there was some kind of obstruction near the bridge and my taxi had to take the long way around on another bridge. Fortunately Vietnamese taxis are relatively cheap.
My guide, Dung, told me that I was the only one on the tour that morning. We started off with some bò né, meaning avoid the beef, because it comes on a sizzling plate.
At the next place we had bánh cuốn, savory rice rolls and bánh bèo, water fern cake, although those look like rice noodles in the picture to me. This was accompanied by sữa đậu nành, soy milk, which is consumed all over Asia.
At a coffee shop, we had cà phê, which needs no translation. Vietnamese are crazy about coffee, there are shops all over the place. Possibly because it's a producer nation. The coffee was made by filtering hot water through grounds in a metal container with a wire mesh at the bottom, dripping onto condensed milk. When you ask for milk with coffee in Vietnam you will get condensed milk. It was strong and full of flavour.
At a local market, the other one to the Han market, we had nước trái cây, fruit juice; mine was some kind of sour fruit.
By this time I was quite full so I asked for a light snack. I mentioned that I had bánh xèo already so I think she crossed it off her mental list and instead took me to a place serving nem lụi, BBQ pork sticks and bò lá lốt, beef in a leaf. It came with rice paper and salad. But I forgot to take a picture of them. There were so good that I asked for the leftovers to take away and had them for dinner later.
Finally we finished up with dessert: chè thập cẩm, mixed bean sweet soup and chè xoa xoa, jelly sweet soup.
The great thing about Vietnamese food is that each area has their own variations on dishes. It's also a healthy cuisine as they use a lot of vegetables.
Along the way I had an interesting conversation with Dung, who explained a lot of things about Vietnam.
On the train back to Da Nang I managed to take a better photo of a beach through a clean window.
I had booked a couple of nights in the Mai Boutique Hotel in the My Khê area of Da Nang, for a restful change. It was still cheap by Aussie standards, about 45 AUD per night.
In the evening I walked about 10 minutes to the beach and strolled on the sand. The glowing statue in the distance is the largest female Buddha statue in Vietnam.
Unlike the Chinese, the Vietnamese have no hesitation dipping into water.
A fashion shoot perhaps, or just a pretty girl wanting some nice photos.
Among other activities, one can parasail at My Khê.
And here are some people doing it.
Big hotels and wide boulevard.
I finished up the evening in the Cloud Garden Coffee Shop, just behind my hotel.
Unfortunately the walking tour that I had signed up for had been cancelled so I would have to explore Hué on my own. These are the tour boats again, in morning light.
One in use in the middle of the river.
I crossed the river on the pedestrian walkway of the road bridge. I passed hawkers of fruits, mostly oranges, carrying their load to the city. Vietnam is still a developing country, although it has made great strides in recent years and foreign investment capital is flowing in, as evidenced by the construction all over the place.
I stopped briefly to buy some water and a snack at the Co-op Mart, which was just a supermarket on the ground floor and household goods on the first floor. It even had a Lotteria (Korean hamburger chain) in it. But I was more interested in the Dong Ba market. This had household goods and produce for sale.
Lots of those dragon fruits again.
I debated with myself whether to visit the citadel, the palace of the old Nguyễn dynasty. In the end I decided I wasn't that interested in history so took some pictures of the exterior of the citadel.
For a light lunch I visited La Boulangerie Française. The special thing about this establishment is that it trains underprivileged Vietnamese youngsters in baking arts to help them find a career in the catering industry. Then I napped the hot afternoon away. It was a pity to sleep away holiday time, but I didn't really feel like walking around in the heat.
Usually I prefer to break new ground, but Nina's Café was a good thing so I went back. They recognised me from the night before. I had some noodles with pork strips in a peanut sauce.
I treated myself to a dessert of sweet beans in coconut milk and ice, a common dessert in South East Asia.
Wandering further down the river promenade I came across a cultural performance. A female duo was playing what I think was the đàn tranh, a Vietnamese zither. It was very lyrical.
There was also a traditional furniture gallery nearby.
This is the night market under the bridge that I was too tired to explore the night before. There were some odd foods like snails.
The bridge is decorated with LED lights that change colour.
I finished the evening with a nightcap at The One Coffee Shop again.
I had the morning before catching the train to Hué around noon. So I took myself to the Han markets. Actually I sort of stumbled upon it while wandering along the river bank. Again durians were for sale. Too much temptation.
I bought a bunch of Lady Finger bananas from this vendor. They are also called sugar bananas, are harder to find than the common Cavendish here, are sweeter and have thinner skin.
Other fruits include dragon fruit, and a bit of a surprise for visitors, green oranges, green in colour, not unripe.
A view from the first floor which houses clothing stalls.
I grabbed another bánh mì from the stall we visited the first evening for lunch. The train I took, the Reunification Express, was about 30 minutes late arriving from points south.
The price of the ticket for 100 km travel was ridiculously cheap at around 3 AUD. The Internet booking fee actually cost more than the tickets. It wasn't the most luxurious carriage but was air-conditioned.
Unfortunately the windows were dirty which made my camera autofocus on the window rather than the distant scenery so I got few good pictures of the coastline seen from the pass the line went over. Many of the beaches were undeveloped.
At Hué station, a driver from the hotel met me, as arranged. Hué looked more cultured to me, as we passed a school of music and I saw mention of a university on the way from the station.
The staff of the Holiday Diamond Hotel were very courteous and helpful. The hotel fittings were a bit old, but quite serviceable. Hué is slightly inland so less of the sea breezes of Da Nang, but the air-conditioner worked well.
This not the hotel but a café I found in the city.
Here I had an afternoon coffee with a pâté chaud, a triangular meat pie. The French left a few good things, such as baked goods.
The front of the café, designed for watching the street.
In the evening I took an Internet recommendation and dined at Nina's Café where I had a bun bo Hué, Hue style beef noodles. It was very tasty and cheap at around 3 AUD.
I was glad I went early around 1800 as it was stating to fill up as I left.
The promenade on the bank of the Perfume River.
Boat in the sunset.
Locals enjoying the evening air with the road bridge in the distance.
A riverside restaurant.
I received blandishments to take a river boat tour.
The bustling nightlife in the heart of the city. It's not a large city, one could walk from one end of the main drag to the other in an hour.
