825km Down - 825km To Go

We are currently in Hue, which is very close to the DMZ, or mid-way point, between South and North Vietnam. While historical and war-based differences between North and South are downplayed here, there is no denying that there are some residual attitudes and outlooks that define each region. Saigon and the southern cities have been exposed to  British/North American values and economic standards since the French were booted out of the country in 1945, while the North has always stuck to its Communist guns. The North won, and we are curious to see how this fact affects the feel of cities such as Hanoi, Ha Long, and Lao Cai. 

We definitely felt a difference between Saigon/Vung Tau/Nha Trang and the cities of Hoi An and Hue. While Hoi An and Hue are technically in the South, there are actually the main cities of Central Vietnam, and they have a unique feel. First, French colonial architecture remains well preserved here, and Hoi An's Old Town was designated UNESCO World Heritage status for this architecture in 1999.  Hue's walled Imperial City is also impressive and fairly intact, considering how heavily it was bombed in the 1960s. Second, these two cities are smaller than Saigon, Hanoi, Danang, and Nha Trang...and they have fewer tourists. This provides them with a calm character, and it also means that the touts are less aggressive.

Hoi An Holla

IS it Cool that Hue's Imperial City has Elephants?

For You Cissy! Hoi An's Trademark Cao Lau Dish

Kate's Custom Silk-Lined Jacket

This area is also known for its Cham ruins. We visited My Son (pronounced mee sun) while we were based in Hoi An. They were fun to explore, but they did seem tiny when compared to Angkor Wat. To their advantage, the My Son ruins are older than Angkor.  We also visited the Marble Mountains one morning. These are five marble and limestone hills in the middle of flatlands, between Danang and Hoi An, that are filled with caves, pagodas, and Buddist sculptures. While a few areas within the complex are kitschy (we thought it was just plain wrong that a group of little old ladies had setup a cafe ON one of these sacred mountains), some of the caves are jaw-dropping in their scale and ambience. We also spent a day in Hoi An's old quarter, where there are  tons of cute cafes and shops, and more than 300 tailor shops in a 3km radius. We broke down and ordered some custom clothing, including a dress shirt for me and a silk-lined spring jacket for Kate.

We were originally planning to spend a few days in Dong Hoi, in order to cut-down our travel time up to Hanoi, but a few travelers we spoke to suggested we stop in Hue. We are glad we did, despite the 13-hour sleeper bus that we had to take in order to get to Hanoi in time. We spent a day visiting the Imperial City, and hired a pedicab to drive us around the Citadel in the afternoon. As we have done throughout the trip, we rented bicycles one day. We biked 10km down to the Royal Nguyen Tombs, which was harder than we expected due to the 35C sunshine. Our next entry will be from Hanoi, the capital of the North. We have four days to explore the city, and then we are taking an ecotour up into the hills, near the China border.