Feeling Meh About Hue

Ahhh Hue, the imperial capital of Vietnam. Home to the citadel. A more authentic city. And Anthony Bourdain stopped here, so Hue must be pretty cool right?

Meh…

Here’s proof that not every travel destination is amazzzzing.

For me, Hue was just a stop to break up the long-ass overnight bus ride from Ninh Binh to Hoi An, both places I absolutely loved. I thought, “Hey, I’ll see some history, eat some bún bò Huế (the local noodle soup specialty), and sleep in another $5 bed.” Why not?!

And certainly, all of those things you can do if you are so motivated.

But honestly, that bus ride combined with the damp, gray weather of Hue meant that I couldn’t muster the energy to do much of anything. Okay, well I did a few things in Hue. Don’t get too excited though…

I got a blind massage. Which was, um, interesting. Oh yes, this is worth writing about.

For 60,000 dong (less than $3 USD), you can get an hour long massage from one of the residents of the local center and facilities for the blind. Whole families live and work there. It’s a great cause and I tipped the hell out of the woman (thank GOD I got a woman!) for her efforts, but if you want to know the truth about the blind massages in Hue, it was just a little weird. Lots of rubbing and chopping. The barest of basic massage rooms ever.

And then there’s the whole uncertainty of, “Is she fully blind or just partially? Can she see me at all?” Along with thoughts of, “I wonder if her other senses are actually heightened and she thinks I smell bad?” running through my head the entire time.

To be fair, our hotel owner said that the quality of these massages used to be a lot better. But hey, for three dollars, you can support the local community, have a strange experience, and perhaps come out with a good story.

This was not the last blind massage establishment I’ve seen on my tour of Southeast Asia. There were also places in Saigon and others in Cambodia. I hear they’re big in Indonesia too. If anything, the trek out of the city center to find the facilities for the blind provided me with a glimpse at more local life in Hue, like the elementary school, produce market, and lots of street-side barbers.

I also ate Indian food and had a two beer lunch. Foregoing the bún bò Huế, I gave into a month-long craving for Indian food. Ganesh, which turned out to be a family-owned Indian restaurant that we would later see in a couple other Vietnamese cities, was fabulous and left me overly full and ready for a nap. Or maybe it was the beers? Don’t judge. I mean, I didn’t quit my job to NOT drink beers at lunch! Am I right?!

[Just FYI, this thing about lunch beers will be a constant refrain on the blog and on Snapchat (@rsass). Sorry.]

So after my lunch, I sorted out my bus ticket for the next morning – to get myself the hell to Hoi An – and then decided to pull the ol’ camera out and go take some pics of this historic city despite the grayest weather ever. By the way, it’s been really hard not to make a stupid rhyming sentence or title this post something about Hue being really gray. (In case you were wondering about its pronunciation.)

You know what? I’m not even going to Wikipedia anything about the imperial fortress or the citadel to give you a preface for these photos, because I didn’t really know what I was looking at. I just crossed the bridge and followed the map to the fort with its walls and moat and grand structures.

But upon arriving, the best part turned out to be the people I found just hanging out among this 19th century stuff like it was nothing. People walking and running, kids playing badminton (oh man, badminton is everywhere in SEA), couples showing some rare, light PDA (definitely NOT everywhere in SEA), and best of all, children roller blading! They had skates for rent right in front of the fort; what a great (and oh so capitalist) idea!

This was the most interesting part of Hue for me. I didn’t even enter the actual complex containing the palace and tombs because it was getting late and um, the entrance fee. Could be awesome..?

As it got dark, I headed back into the the city center to have a nice meal (according to TripAdvisor, anyway – the place was FILLED with Western tourists). But still full from my big fat Indian lunch, I decided to go with the lighter option of pork lemongrass skewers with accompaniments of vegetables, rice noodles, peanut sauce, and rice paper to roll your own spring rolls. (A big thanks to my waitress for telling me NOT to eat the lemongrass sticks ahead of time!)

I know, it’s a travesty that I didn’t try bún bò Huế while I was there. I really should’ve really re-watched that episode of Parts Unknown to see where Uncle Tony went… but if I recall, even that show was a little gloomy. Which is how Hue appeared to me during my entire 21 hour stay.

I hate to knock any destination just because I wasn’t feeling it, so feel free to go to Hue and judge for yourself, especially if you’re an imperial history nerd. Personally, I’m starting to think that any traveler who actually recommended Hue just got hammered at their hostel.

I stayed at the Google Hotel (no shit) and rooms with two beds were between $10-12. It was near the bus stop. You can bargain and get a nicer room for the same price. Not bad, but it also felt very damp the entire time. Not social. Maybe stay in the hostel area of Hue to maximize your fun. I also hear that motorbike tours of the countryside can be nice. And you can arrange actual guides for the Imperial City complex. And maybe take a boat ride down the river?

Please prove me wrong about Hue! I’m waiting…