Day 49 - Thursday 17th September, 2026 - Hoi An - Hue
Next stop was at the Thien Mu pagoda - a historic Buddhist temple located in Ha Khe Hill near the Perfume River in Hue. Built in 1601 by Lord Nguyen Hoang.
We visited the recycle home for lunch and tried the local speciality salted coffee which was most enjoyable. The recycling part was limited to a few objects fashioned out of recycled plastic, plus a collection of old things, eg bike wheels, tyres, radios, boom boxes .. etc. Lunch included the Hue speciality dish of Bun Bo Hue ! - not bad ! The recycle specialty centre was located inside the Imperial Citadel, but we only just drove in and out of the area for lunch. We will be visiting the citadel again tomorrow.
We arrived at our hotel at around 15:00, didn't attend the optional home cooked meal tonight, but went out and walked the city crossing the river to visit the Do Bang Market - which had very close walkways and became hot and stuffy. We walked over 2 different bridges and the area was quite pretty at night as the lights came on. We got a Banh Mi and beer for dinner at a cost of $2.70 AUS.
Another early night and wifi was still hopeless at this new hotel.
Day 50 -Friday 18th September, 2026 - Hue - Hanoi
First stop was back to the the Imperial City, including the Forbidden City a place that was bombed during the war, but is slowly being restored to its formal glory. The palace building has only recently been restored.
Next stop was out in the country to an ancient covered bridge that was built in 1776 by a local business woman to enable workers in the village to cross the river safely and not have to swim across, particularly in winter. Alongside the bridge is the village market place, still operating the same way for quite a number of years. They sell fruit and vegetables, live fish and animals, meat , clothing, hardware and other household essentials.
We stopped a at Buddhist monastery for a vegetarian lunch which was delicious and were then dropped back to the hotel by the motorbikes by 13:30 - A great Day !!
A quick coffee, a shower at the hotel, a repack of our bags and the bus to the train station to catch the overnight train to Hanoi. The train was delayed a little so departed a little later then scheduled at 16:35. We shared a cabin of 2 double bunks with Sonia and Anna, 2 sisters one from Canberra and the other from the Blue Mountains. We could not adequately store our 2 larger suitcases, so the cabin became very crowded ! We eventually squeezed Graeme's suitcase under one of the bunks and settled in to our beds for the night. Some sleep was had but it was not the best night we have experienced !
You’ve left me on tenterhooks – what was the outcome of the prescription glasses you had ordered and were to collect the next day – hopefully in excellent functioning condition. I assume you did not forget them.
Cabin sharing – hmmm.