Travel to Vietnam part 3

Central Vietnam boast the most beautiful beaches in the country, being the narrowest part of Vietnam, the centre lies along South China Sea, from Quang Binh to the former capital city of Hue, ancient trading town of Hoi An, the white sand beaches of Nha Trang...


Being the capital city of Vietnam in 19th century, together with Hoi An, Hue is a must for all travellers taking Vietnam trip to the centre.

Hue is famous as a Buddist city, most people are religious, no doubt the city has many pagodas and temples, visitors to Hue cannot miss the Forbidden Purple citadel, or Noon gate, the former citadel of Nguyen Dynasty, a Dragon boat trip on the Perfume river visiting Thien Mu pagoda. Hue is also known for the Emperor's tombs, of which King Tu Duc mausoleum is the largest, and most beautiful. Travellers to Hue are impressed by young student girls wearing purple Ao Dai (long dress), and Non La Bai Tho (conical hat with a poem on it), women in Hue are said to be very pretty, conservative, gentle and lovely, a lot of photographers have taken pictures of young students cycling over Trang Tien bridge, a symbol image of Hue.

Food in Hue is also an attraction for tourist, many restaurants in Hanoi or Sai Gon serves Hue food such as Bun Bo Hue (Hue vermicelly soup), Com Hen (rice with mussel), and vegetarians must have grab some vegetarian food at the monastery with the friendly nuns.

Something very impressive for travellers in Hue is city of the dead, a nickname by local people for a cemetary with thousands of splendid graves, Hue people are very proud of their ancestors as the Kings and royal mandarins of Vietnam and they spent a lot of money building the graves like palaces, many travellers consider the Dead City in Hue as an interesting point which cannot be missed in Hue.

Typical tour packages will take travellers to both Hue and Hoi An, budget travellers who go on open tours usually travel by open bus from Hue to Hoi An, aproximately 4 hours drive, before the Hai Van tunnels were built, travellers had to go on Hai Van pass, famous as one on the most spectacular passes in Vietnam, Hai Van is also a very dangerous pass, in 1980 there were thousands of accidents on the pass which killed a lot of people, and that's why there are small shrines along the 20 km long pass, on top of the pass, traveller can have a comprehensive view of the South China Sea, there is also a gate built on the peak of the pass in the Minh Mang King's time, praising Hai Van pass as the best spectacular sight in the Vietnam sky, at the foot of the mountain is a village for the people with leprosy, the village was set up 200 years ago by the King of Nguyen Dynasty.