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| Military Museum |
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| Hot Pot! |
So leaving off from my last post... mom had one more full day with me before flying home from Hanoi around midnight on October 16. We continued to explore Hanoi that day, there was much to see and the weather was really mild compared to the other places I traveled. We visited the Vietnam Military History Museum, Ho Chi Minh House/Museum (his body was not in the Mausoleum that month, unfortunately) and the Temple of Literature. We capped off the day with more walking (of course), beer and spring rolls (yum) before putting mom in a taxi to the airport.
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| Temple of Literature |
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| Moto Taxi selfie |
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| Train View |
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| Temple |
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| Citadel |
The next day (flying solo) I hopped on a quick one-hour flight to Danang, where I immediately went to the train station to board a train to Hue. The train trip between Danang and Hue was pretty amazing. It followed the coast and provided some ridiculous views of the ocean and lush mountains near the water. Even locals peered out the window for most of the ride.
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| Tomb of Tu Duc |
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| Pagoda |
Hue was a neat city, much more manageable than Hanoi. The first thing I did when I arrived was hop on the back of a moto taxi to take me to my hotel, it was clear I was no longer traveling with mom! Moto taxi turned into my preferred method of transport for the short rest of my stay in Nam. I really enjoyed Hue, there was much to see and most of it was walkable. Hue has a massive citadel (moat and all) and then inside that is an Imperial Enclosure (with another moat!) where the Emperor used to live. The Enclosure was massive and featured some great temples, pavilions, gardens, palaces and other art. It took me much of the morning to tackle. After the Citadel I walked outside of town about 4km to see the Thien Mu Pagoda, which was really impressive. It provided a great view of the Perfume River (that flows right through Hue). From there I moto taxied to one of the royal tombs outside of the city. The Tomb of Tu Duc was mighty impressive, except it was under major restoration at the time. I got the idea though. With many sites, Hue definitely attracted lots of travelers which ensured there were also some tasty restaurants and fun bars at nighttime.
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| Hue view |
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| Danang Beach |
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| Asparagus/Mushroom wrapped in bacon |
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| Dragon Bridge! |
After a couple nights in Hue I trained back to Danang for a night. I knew Danang had a decent beach and I was attracted to the idea of lounging for a day. Bizarrely I arrived at the gorgeous, white sand beach and no one was there... who doesn't love a private beach?! That afternoon I enjoyed some great food, refreshing water and of course some local beer served ice cold in a bucket, all on my private beach! Later I learned the crowd arrives at the beach at the end of the day (when the sun goes down and I guess when it comes up too). That evening I roamed around Danang. What an awesome, electric city! It was a Monday night and there were so many people out and about. Danang is not a tourist destination (for Westerners), but I imagine it will be someday. My favorite was the dragon bridge stretching across the Han River right in the middle of the city. A great way to end my time in Vietnam...
From Danang I flew to Luang Prabang, Laos... this choice was on a whim and last minute, but I took the advice of friends and glad I did. I had no idea what to expect, but immediately loved it. In LPB I toured the many temples and monasteries (I guess there are over 30) as well as the Royal Palace Museum, Phu Si (big overlook hill in the middle of town), markets and ate some great food. One afternoon I also rented a moto and rode out to this awesome Kouang Si Waterfall for swimming. It was a spectacular ride through the countryside and the falls were beautiful, perfect for a dip on a hot day. LPB was one of the smallest towns I visited, but it was very lively and full of tourists from all over the world. I ended up hanging out with some fun Dutch travelers and shut down LPB one night with the help of a heavy dose of Beerlao!
Hue was a neat city, much more manageable than Hanoi. The first thing I did when I arrived was hop on the back of a moto taxi to take me to my hotel, it was clear I was no longer traveling with mom! Moto taxi turned into my preferred method of transport for the short rest of my stay in Nam. I really enjoyed Hue, there was much to see and most of it was walkable. Hue has a massive citadel (moat and all) and then inside that is an Imperial Enclosure (with another moat!) where the Emperor used to live. The Enclosure was massive and featured some great temples, pavilions, gardens, palaces and other art. It took me much of the morning to tackle. After the Citadel I walked outside of town about 4km to see the Thien Mu Pagoda, which was really impressive. It provided a great view of the Perfume River (that flows right through Hue). From there I moto taxied to one of the royal tombs outside of the city. The Tomb of Tu Duc was mighty impressive, except it was under major restoration at the time. I got the idea though. With many sites, Hue definitely attracted lots of travelers which ensured there were also some tasty restaurants and fun bars at nighttime.
From Danang I flew to Luang Prabang, Laos... this choice was on a whim and last minute, but I took the advice of friends and glad I did. I had no idea what to expect, but immediately loved it. In LPB I toured the many temples and monasteries (I guess there are over 30) as well as the Royal Palace Museum, Phu Si (big overlook hill in the middle of town), markets and ate some great food. One afternoon I also rented a moto and rode out to this awesome Kouang Si Waterfall for swimming. It was a spectacular ride through the countryside and the falls were beautiful, perfect for a dip on a hot day. LPB was one of the smallest towns I visited, but it was very lively and full of tourists from all over the world. I ended up hanging out with some fun Dutch travelers and shut down LPB one night with the help of a heavy dose of Beerlao!
The dragon bridge in Danang looks cool! I didn't remember seeing that when we were there, so I had to Google it....I guess it had started construction when we were there, but we missed the finished piece. Glad you made it to Laos!
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